The Nashville Hot Chicken Rankings

My Leaderboard of Spicy Delights

Bolton’s Hot Chicken

A big storm raced through Nashville last night just as I was whipping up a new article for your entertainment. The power was knocked out and didn’t return until after midnight, meaning what I was working on—a piece with the clickbaity title, “Eat Sour Milk and Live to Be 180 Years Old”—will have to wait until next week. In the meantime, I’ve put together a brief something to entertain you: my Nashville hot chicken rankings.

On Monday, I stentoriously announced that Bolton’s hot whiting sandwich was the best fish sandwich in America, and mentioned in passing that for Nashville hot chicken, Bolton’s was third on my list. A few of you asked about that, and so here are my top ten Nashville hot chicken places.

A note about methodology: this list is based on one dish only, a fried chicken breast quarter at the “hot” spiciness level. I may mention sides, or other dishes, or ambience, but I’m passing judgement only on the hot fried breast quarter, which is my most standard order.

1. 400 Degrees - 3704 Clarksville Pike, Nashville, TN, 37218

   Not just the best but has been the best for a number of years, every since it was downtown in a little food court on 4th Ave. Owner and chef Aqui Hines is a genius at fried chicken. Unlike most of the others, who pan fry their chicken, Aqui deep fries her bird. It’s crunchy, juicy and delicious. The heat levels are 100 degrees, 200 degrees, 400 degrees and 800 degrees. The 400 degrees is about the same as Prince’s “hot”, so plenty spicy, but not deadly. If I had to eat only one hot chicken meal in Nashville, this is it.

2. Prince’s Hot Chicken — 5814 Nolensville Pike, Nashville, TN, 37211

   The OG hot chicken shack, now updated and suburbanized. Still one of the top three, even if the atmosphere is more sports bar than chicken shack. The lines aren’t as long as they used to be, and the wait after ordering isn’t as long, but the chicken is still memorably awesome. If I were arranging a hot chicken history tour, Prince’s would, by necessity, be the first stop.

   

   Prince’s Hot Chicken

3. Bolton’s Spicy Chicken and Fish — 624 Main St, Nashville, TN, 37204

   As you already know, their hot fish sandwich is the best in the country, but their hot chicken is also amazing. Bolton’s is the hottest of the hot chicken joints. It’s the only place where I order “medium” which is just about the same as Prince’s “hot”. Not only great chicken, Bolton’s also gives you the original chicken shack experience. They’ve been in the same spot for a quarter century. This is how hot chicken is meant to be eaten: at a battered table on a bare concrete floor, low rent surroundings full of character, but with off-the-charts delicious chicken.

4. Pepperfire — 5104 Centennial Blvd, Nashville, TN, 37209

   The first time I ever ate hot chicken was at the old Pepperfire location on the Gallatin Pike, shortly after I arrived in Nashville in 2011. I went to Pepperfire because it was the only hot chicken place open on Sunday afternoons, Nashville then being a Godly place. You’ll never forget the first time you have hot chicken. I certainly won’t, it was a singularly memorable experience. My eyes were watering, I was gasping for breath, my mouth was on fire, but I couldn’t stop eating that chicken. It was so good, I went back the next day they were open, Tuesday, and ate the same meal again. Still excellent chicken.

5. Hattie B’s — 2222 8th Ave South, Nashville, TN, 37204

   Being a hot chicken originalist, I really wanted to hate Hattie B’s when it first opened, and regularly derided it as “hipster hot chicken”. But, dang Hattie B’s is good chicken. That shouldn’t be a surprise, because, far from being hipsters, the Bishop family, who runs Hattie B’s, has been around a long time, running Southern cafeterias and meat-and-threes. Yes, they were the first to repackage the hot chicken experience for timid middle-class people, but it wouldn’t have worked if the chicken weren’t extremely tasty. It’s corporate and family friendly and very well run, but so is Prince’s at this point.

   

   I didn’t want to like Hattie B’s, but I do.

6. Big Shake’s Hot Chicken — 1203 Murfreesboro Road, Franklin, TN, 37064

   Shawn Davis, a.k.a. Big Shake is determined to turn himself into a celebrity chef, and has largely succeeded. I started eating at his original Franklin restaurant, Big Shake’s, before he jumped on the hot chicken bandwagon, when he was all about the shrimp. What brought me back then was his collard greens, which were simply the best I’d ever eaten. When he finally started doing hot chicken he hit the mother load, and is now franchising the heck out of himself, mostly in Northern Alabama. Solid delicious chicken, with top-ranked sides. Still the best collard greens.

7. Hurt’s Hot Chicken — a food truck, check the Facebook page for location.

   I’ve eaten at Hurt’s once and was mightily impressed. It was excellent chicken. Here’s the problem. Nashville hot chicken is a highly perishable substance. You have to eat it as soon as it comes out of the pan or it loses much of its charm. Sure, I can eat Hurt’s hot chicken in my car, if I want the interior of my car to be covered in bright red grease. Or, I can take it home, at which point it’s cooled off and gotten soggy. Still, despite being a truck, Hurt’s is highly recommended by knowledgable hot chicken fiends... I guess I could eat it on the hood of my car. (Stand by for a report.)

8. Helen’s Hot Chicken — 1801 Jefferson St, Nashville, TN, 37208.

   Until I just visited their homepage, I had no idea that Helen’s was so widely franchised, with branches in Texas and South Carolina. I remember when Helen’s was dishing out of a trailer on Rosa Parks Blvd, and then a storefront on Jefferson Street. The thing about Helen’s chicken is that it’s lighter than other places, by which I mean, the breading is not as thick, nor is it as oily. It’s very crispy and very chickeny, and the heat level is moderate. So, the “hot” is not really that hot. The bad thing about Helen’s is that the staff is notoriously inattentive, and often borderline rude. Everyone has stories about that. But, one can forgive a lot if the chicken is good, and Helen’s chicken is definitely good.

9. BJ Hot Chicken — 818 Murfreesboro Pike, Nashville, TN 37217

   Very flavorful, crispy chicken. Friendly, corporate surroundings. The “hot” is moderately hot. I like BJ Hot Chicken a lot, but this is Nashville, and the competition is high. In any American city north of the Mason-Dixon line, BJ Hot Chicken would be regarded as a culinary treasure and have a line out the door at all hours. In Nashville, it’s a place you go for lunch if you’re near there.

10. Red’s 615 Hot Chicken — 115 27th Ave N., Nashville, TN 37210

    I have to make an exception for Red’s as they don’t offer a traditional breast quarter. The closest they come are chicken tenders and boneless thighs, the latter of which are very good. The other reason I make an exception is because Red’s has a limited menu with a couple of notable novelty dining options, the chief example being a “Hot Chicken Mac and Cheese Crunchwrap.” It’s rare I say something is over the top, but this is over the top. My one experience with this dish was almost too much to process, too gooey, too rich, too confusing. Having said that, the boneless thighs deserve your attention, and Red’s storefront is a nouveau shack. Plus, it’s very near the Parthenon if you’re doing the tourist thing.

    

    Hot Chicken Mac and Cheese Crunchwrap - stunt dining.

I would happily, eagerly, eat at any of these places right now. They all serve very good chicken.

There are a few places I’ve yet to try, like Grandaddy’s Famous Hot Chicken in Joelton, Slow Burn Hot Chicken in Hendersonville, and Mack’s Hot Chicken in Smyrna, all of which are highly recommended by the hot chicken fiends of my acquaintance. There is also one place I have no desire to try, Party Fowl, which seems to cater principally to the rampaging bachelorette crowd, with “boozy slushies” and promises of “off the hook fun”. Sorry, but that’s not my scene.

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P.S. On Tuesday, a reader mentioned the hot whiting sandwich at Ed’s Fish and Pizza, a shacky Nashville restaurant with a fifty-year tradition of serving up hot fish sandwiches that have been praised by the likes of Jane and Micheal Stern. In my opinion, Ed’s hot whiting, served with mustard, onions and pickles, is a very good sandwich, but not as good as Bolton’s. Ed’s hot fish relies on hot sauce added after frying, while Bolton’s heat is in the dry spice in the breading, which results in a superior sandwich, the best fish sandwich in America.

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An Eccentric Culinary History is pretty good description of the general content of this newsletter, eccentric pieces that reflect my odd and wide-ranging interests, primarily culinary and historical in nature. Take a look at the archives for a better sense of what you’ll get twice a week.

Thanks again for your attention and support, and I’ll see you on Monday with something new.