‘This is a community brand’: Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks CEO Derrick Hayes celebrates opening of new flagship locationAfter Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks flagship location closed in June 2024 due to irreparable damage from Atlanta’s massive water main break, founder and CEO Derrick Hayes is finally opening the doors of a new location on 300 Marietta St. The Atlanta Voice talked to Hayes about the grand opening set for Saturday, January 20 at 12 p.m. and what the popular spot has meant to the community. The Atlanta Voice: You announced the new flagship location in July. How does it feel now that the day to open up has finally arrived?Derrick Hayes: “Six months later, it feels really good. Not too many people can lose their location in six months and build another one in the same area. I know God is watching over me. I know my father is watching over me. I got angels watching over me right now, and it’s making this thing happen for me, so I’m not alone in this.”AV: I love that. You experienced a wave of support after the water main break caused you to close the original location. What did that say to you about what Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks has meant to the community since 2019?DH: “Honestly, it shows me everything. You know that saying, ‘We come as one,’ and with Big Dave’s, they treat it that way. When I announced that I wasn’t reopening the location, a lot of people were hurt by it, and I saw that. I got on the builders every day, like, ‘Come on, let’s get this together. People are waiting for me.’ I care about the community. I hire in the community. The community keeps me lifted. They keep my doors open. Without the community, I’m nothing. So, I always try to bring the community in and make them a part of everything when it comes to Big Dave’s. This is a community brand.”Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta VoiceAV: You mentioned that not many people can open up a new location in six months. Can you talk more about how the community and the city have rallied behind you in these past six months and allowed you to open up a new location so fast?DH: “First of all, I want to give a big thank you to Mayor Andre Dickens for helping me on my roadblocks. Whenever I got stuck in certain parts of the build-out and trying to figure out what department is what, he led me to the right people. The other thing was the community keeping me uplifted, keeping my battery charged, and letting me know that they still believe in me, and they’re waiting for the new location to open; they kept me in good faith. All of those things just kept me aligned with happiness. If you don’t have the key people in your corner and your community, it kind of puts a downer on you. So, they kept me up the whole time I was building it, and now it’s time for me now to show them how much they’ve been keeping me up. And I’m gonna show them the location they kept me up for.”The former location of Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks on Forsyth Street, NW. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta VoiceAV: With this location, you’re really amping up this feeling of Big Dave’s paying homage to Philly in Atlanta. Can you talk about how you’re blending the authenticity of the two cities together with this new flagship? DH: “With this flagship, I’m bringing the Liberty Bell on this one. I got the Liberty Bell made. I’m gonna have a big cheesesteak hanging from the ceiling. That’s the Dave’s way. I got a really big announcement that I’m making on grand opening day that I did a partnership with Philly Pretzel, which is a staple in Philadelphia. That’s a big deal. I still can’t believe the deal is done. I’m gonna have hot pretzels coming out of Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks straight out the oven — pretzels that people never tasted before in the South. And then for the people that come from up North, stuff that they miss, I’m gonna have it. From Halal beef to the 18-inch cheesesteak, this location is opening up with a whole bunch of new things and excitement for the community.”AV: At the opening, I know there will be a lot of people who have eaten at Big Dave’s before, but for those who don’t know what the restaurant is about, what makes it special?DH: “What makes it special is the story. I’m just an inner-city kid from West Philadelphia, no college education. I just wanted to change my life and make something of myself, and I know there’s a lot of kids out there just like me trying to figure their life out, and they can look at exactly what I’ve done and give them the motivation to do the same thing. I think that’s what Big Dave’s represents — more than the food does is hope. I’m selling hope, and I’m selling a good meal. Secondly, when they get that hope, they just want to support me and believe in me so that they can push their own mission. “And that’s what I do it for, honestly, because at a certain point, you get used to making money. Money is good, but it ain’t everything. You want this moral support, and you want to really be a trendsetter to people and really want them to change their lives. Because a lot of inner-city kids, they’re not bad kids. They just don’t have the opportunity. I mean, it’s like a box. You grow up in these lower-class, low-income neighborhoods, and you can have a big dream and don’t know how to put it in drive. Well, I’m showing you how to put it in drive. You gotta keep working and dream with your eyes open; don’t dream with them closed.”AV: For those that are coming out to the grand opening on Saturday, is there anything more you want to touch on that they can expect?DH: “I want people to come out there happy. Come out there like you’re coming to a college basketball game or NFL game; we’re tailgating. We’re getting ready for the big game.”The post Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks makes move to new Marietta St. location appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.