Haven Hot Chicken isn’t just bringing the Nashville heat to New England—it’s redefining fast-casual in the Northeast. Since launching in 2020, Haven has quickly gained a cult following with its crave-worthy tenders, bold flavors, and crunchy sandwiches. 

Behind the scenes, their team has remained laser-focused on sustainable growth. To achieve this, they needed better guest insights to optimize their menu to match evolving guest behavior and improve guest frequency without compromising portion sizes, quality, or brand identity.

With a premium product, higher-than-average order values, and a vision to be the Northeast’s #1 hot chicken brand, Haven’s leadership knew they needed better guest insights to fine-tune their strategy. With an AOV nearing $30, Haven had proven that guests saw value in their food and were willing to spend on their generous portions and great taste. 

While high spend was a great sign of value alignment, it often came with lower frequency. Guests were showing up hungry and leaving satisfied, but they weren’t returning as often as the Haven team wanted.

“We wanted people to come to Haven for more than just celebratory meals,” said Sobocinski. “Our vision was to become their go-to for lunch, snacks, and quick bites, but we needed the right data to scale our concept. Bikky has helped us dig into dayparts more strategically.”

The team began exploring ways to adapt and optimize their menu using guest data from Bikky alongside their review data. To increase guest frequency, they wanted to identify lower frequency items, introduce more flexible portion sizes, and expand their reach across dayparts with new offerings. But to make the right calls, they needed data that could look beyond PMIX alone— and understand the impact of their menu on long-term guest behavior. 

Using Bikky’s data, they had a clear goal for frequency. They could already see that their “fully onboarded guests,” who visited at least 4 times in 90 days, had a significantly higher LTV and reduced churn risk. They wanted to optimize their menu to increase frequency and create as many onboarded guests as possible.

Using Bikky, Haven set out to discover the role each menu item plays in driving repeat visits and how they could create offerings that serve a wider range of occasions and increase frequency without compromising their brand or value proposition.

They began by breaking down their most iconic item: the Tendie Trio. The three-piece option was generous, but possibly intimidating for a lunch guest or light eater. To give guests more flexibility, they introduced a Tendie Duo. They also tested a single tender option, but when data showed low engagement and retention, they removed it from the menu. 

Meanwhile, the team considered removing their Caesar Salad from the menu, a slow mover on paper. But Bikky uncovered a different story. By analyzing frequency data, they found the Caesar Salad quietly played a critical role in retention. While few new guests ordered it, many guests returned for it regularly, ordering the salad every second or third visit, as a lighter and healthier way to engage with Haven on a more frequent basis. 

“It wasn’t a volume play—it was a frequency play,” Sobocinski said. “Without Bikky, we would’ve cut the salad completely.”

The launch of the Tendie Duo had an immediate impact. Lunch sales increased, and the team saw a 5% point shift in daypart mix from dinner to lunch. While AOV during lunch decreased slightly, the drop was more than offset by a meaningful lift in frequency. 

The results validated a core hypothesis: guests loved the food, but needed a more accessible option to enjoy it more frequently. The Tendie Duo provided that balance, maintaining the brand’s signature quality while expanding the occasions Haven could serve.

Retaining the Caesar Salad allowed guests to engage with the brand in a lighter way, whether they were seeking a “healthier” option or simply something smaller. It reinforced Haven’s position not just as a special treat, but as a versatile, everyday choice. The data reframed the salad not as a weak seller, but as a strategic asset in building long-term guest relationships.

Now armed with insights and a more flexible menu, Haven is expanding its base and market reach without diluting what makes their brand unique. With Bikky, they’re exploring late-night opportunities, optimizing their daypart strategy, and evaluating real estate in new markets. Whether it’s a tendie at midnight or a salad at lunch, every item now has a job to do—and data to back it up.

“For our first few years of operation, we didn’t spend money on marketing. Once it was time to invest, Bikky helped us be much more targeted and intelligent about how we were deploying capital to better understand and serve our guests.” – Etkin Tekin, Co-Founder & CEO, Haven Hot Chicken