Houston TX Hot Chicken Regains Accuracy, Confidence & Visibility.

How Houston TX Hot Chicken Turned Inventory Accuracy Into Margin Control

About Houston TX Hot Chicken

Houston TX Hot Chicken (HHC) is a high-growth fast-casual brand dedicated to serving premium, never-frozen Nashville-style hot chicken with a Texas-sized personality. Known for its sleek, modern aesthetic and Halal-certified menu, the group offers everything from signature sandwiches to "Houston We Have a Problem" spice levels for the truly brave. By prioritizing fresh ingredients and a bold, flavor-first philosophy, HHC has quickly evolved from a local standout into a premier destination for hot chicken enthusiasts nationwide.

The Challenge: Growth Outpaced Operational Visibility

As Houston Hot Chicken continued to grow, operational visibility became harder to maintain across locations. The team relied on a mix of pen-and-paper inventory counts, delayed invoice visibility, and a system that struggled with real-world food weight variability — especially critical for a chicken-centric menu.

“When we were using a previous solution, invoices and products weren’t showing properly, and weight variances made the numbers hard to trust,” said Christian, Director of Operations. “By the time we caught issues, the week was already closed.”

Key challenges included:
- Inaccurate inventory counts due to fixed-weight assumptions
- Limited ability to correct invoices when actual delivered weights differed
- Manual inventory processes that slowed GMs down
- Retroactive problem-solving after costs were already baked into the P&L
- Limited reporting to help operators understand why variances occurred

“We were actually using pen and paper for inventory. By the time we reviewed it in meetings, if something was miscounted, there was no way to go back and check it.”

— Christian, Director of Operations

The Solution: Rebuilding the Operational Foundation

Houston TX Hot Chicken initially adopted Craftable, but real transformation began when new operational leadership took ownership of the system.

“When Christian and I really got involved and built the platform the way it was meant to be used, everything changed,” said Luis Lopez, Director of Training.

The team standardized their approach:
- Cleaned up POS mappings and modifiers
- Aligned pricing and units across vendors
- Implemented accurate conversions for chicken by weight and count
- Mandated consistent operational workflows across franchises
- Integrated POS data from Toast for deeper accuracy

This groundwork enabled Houston Hot Chicken to move beyond surface-level reporting and into live operational insight.

“The shelf-to-sheet setup made it a lot easier to organize inventory by storage location.”
— Christian, Director of Operations

Craftable replaced manual inventory counts with shelf-to-sheet digital workflows, dramatically reducing admin time for managers and increasing trust in the data.

“Now we’re doing inventory on iPads or computers, and I can check it live,” Christian shared. “If something looks off, I can address it immediately — not a week later in a meeting.”

The Impact: From Pen & Paper to Live, Coachable Operations

The operational gains were immediately noticeable. Faster, cleaner inventory counts, accurate tracking of variable-weight proteins, live visibility into what’s moving in and out of stores. Not to mention fewer surprises at week close and the reduced admin burden for GMs.

But what was really impactful for the HHC crew, Craftable changed how leaders coached their teams.

“The reporting lets us guide managers to the issue instead of just telling them the answer,” said Luis. “They learn faster, and they actually understand what went wrong.”

For Houston Hot Chicken, reporting isn’t about catching mistakes — it’s about developing operators.

“I don’t want to just give the answer,” Christian explained. “I want them to see the why. Craftable gives them the tools to figure it out themselves, live.”

With week-over-week comparisons, audit reports, and category-level visibility, managers can:

- Spot variances immediately
- Understand which categories are driving cost changes
- Take corrective action before margins drift further

This live feedback loop supports career growth while protecting profitability.

“Being able to compare theoretical versus actual inventory and see what’s missing has really opened the team’s eyes.”

Why Craftable: Built for Operators Who Put the Work In

Luis describes Craftable as a system that rewards operational discipline. “It’s operator-oriented. You have to do your due diligence — but that’s true of any system. Once we did the work, it started working amazingly for us.”

What stood out most for them was the flexible conversions for real-world food delivery variance (essential for a chicken operation), deeper and more actionable reporting than their previous tool, and an inventory workflow that mirrors how kitchens actually operate. The result? Confidence in the numbers - and the people using them. 

Today, Houston Hot Chicken operates with accurate food cost reporting, confident and well-trained GMs who spend less time on admin and more time leading, and live visibility into inventory and variances.

Craftable didn’t just replace a system — it became a shared operational language across the organization.

“It really is a great system for us overall - but you have to put the work in.”
— Luis Lopez, Director of Training