DaBaby has officially added restaurateur to his résumé, opening No Knife Chicken & Waffles in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina—a new upscale fast-casual concept inspired by the rapper’s viral cooking videos and his unusual habit of refusing to use a knife.

But almost immediately after the restaurant opened its doors, another part of the business began getting attention online: the prices.

No Knife Chicken & Waffles is located in North Charlotte and combines Southern comfort food with a more polished dining experience, offering chicken and waffles, seafood, burgers and other dishes alongside a health-and-wellness beverage bar and a full traditional bar.

The restaurant represents a significant expansion of the “No Knife” persona DaBaby has developed through his “Cooking With Kirk” videos, where the rapper—whose real name is Jonathan Kirk—has shown himself preparing meals for friends, family and guests.

Now he is attempting to turn the concept into an actual hospitality brand.

The Prices Quickly Got People Talking

While much of the initial attention centered on DaBaby opening his first restaurant, screenshots of the menu quickly began circulating online.

That shifted the conversation.

The restaurant's chicken-and-waffle combinations are positioned above what some customers might expect from a traditional neighborhood chicken-and-waffle spot, while larger entrées and specialty dishes push prices higher.

Social-media users responded with a mixture of criticism, jokes and curiosity, with some arguing that the restaurant's pricing appeared steep for comfort food.

Others defended the prices, noting that No Knife is being marketed as a more upscale dining experience rather than a low-cost fast-food restaurant.

That distinction is important.

DaBaby isn't presenting No Knife as a conventional fried-chicken counter.

The restaurant describes itself as an elevated fast-casual concept, with a designed dining room, full bar, wellness drinks and a menu intended to extend beyond its signature chicken and waffles.

Still, once menu screenshots reached social media, the numbers became part of the opening-week story.

And in an era when diners are already sensitive to rising restaurant prices, celebrity ownership added another layer to the discussion.

From ‘Cooking With Kirk’ to a Real Restaurant

The restaurant did not come completely out of nowhere.

DaBaby has spent years building food into his social-media personality through “Cooking With Kirk,” a series of videos showing him preparing meals and experimenting in the kitchen.

The rapper developed the “No Knife” nickname from his preference for eating without using a knife.

Rather than leaving the phrase as an internet joke, DaBaby turned it into a restaurant concept.

No Knife Chicken & Waffles takes that branding and places it at the center of the experience.

The restaurant's identity is built around Southern comfort food, particularly the combination in its name, but the menu stretches beyond chicken and waffles.

The concept also includes healthier beverage options through a wellness-focused bar, giving customers alternatives to the heavier food on the main menu.

For customers looking for something stronger, the restaurant also operates a full bar.

That combination reflects DaBaby's attempt to create something broader than a celebrity-branded chicken restaurant.

DaBaby Keeps the Business in Charlotte

The location is also significant.

DaBaby could have launched the concept in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami or another entertainment-heavy market.

Instead, he opened it in Charlotte, the city most closely associated with his rise.

Although DaBaby was born in Cleveland, his family moved to Charlotte when he was young, and the rapper has repeatedly identified North Carolina as home throughout his career.

Charlotte became central to his early music career before his commercial breakthrough transformed him into one of rap's biggest stars.

Opening his first restaurant there keeps another part of his business portfolio connected to the community that helped establish him.

DaBaby has increasingly expanded his activity beyond simply releasing music, using his audience and personality to build ventures around himself.

No Knife may be one of his most ambitious attempts yet.

Operating a restaurant requires far more than attaching a celebrity name to a product. Food quality, service, staffing, operating costs and repeat customers ultimately determine whether the business can survive after the excitement surrounding its opening disappears.

The early pricing debate could therefore become an important test.

Customers may be willing to pay a premium to visit DaBaby's restaurant once.

The bigger challenge will be convincing them that the food and experience are worth coming back for.

A Viral Opening for ‘No Knife’

For now, the controversy may actually be helping introduce the restaurant to a much larger audience.

People who had never heard of No Knife Chicken & Waffles are now discussing its menu.

Some are criticizing it.

Others want to try it themselves.

And that attention has pushed DaBaby's newest venture beyond Charlotte and into the broader hip-hop conversation almost immediately after opening.

The rapper built the idea from an internet personality trait—cooking as Jonathan “Kirk” while famously avoiding a knife—and turned it into a physical restaurant bearing the joke's name.

Whether customers ultimately embrace the pricing will depend on what happens after they sit down and eat.

But DaBaby has already accomplished one thing every new restaurant needs.

People are talking about it.