Nashville Eats: Hattie B’s Hot Chicken

Hot chicken is to Nashville like barbecue is to Memphis in the state of Tennessee. You can’t take a trip to Nashville and not include a visit to a famous hot chicken establishment – there is something quintessential about it – an integral part of the culture. A right of passage for any new Nashvillian is their first taste of hot chicken, a superbly spicy yet flavorful version of a Southern classic – deep fried chicken. Over the years there have been two establishments that stand out from the rest – Prince’s and Hattie B’s. Prince’s claims the rights to the original hot chicken recipe – the start of the cult classic dish – dating back likely to the mid-1940’s. Then enter Hattie B’s, a newcomer to the scene, opened in 2012 and they’ve managed to take the city by storm. So popular they’ve already opened a second location. Prince’s is located in North Nashville in a non-descript strip mall. Hattie B’s has a location in Midtown Nashville and a second in West Nashville past Tennessee State University.Since we were hanging out near Vanderbilt, we opted to try Hattie B’s Midtown location due to convenience. Their hours are 11:00am-4:00pm on Sunday and apparently you better get there at 10:50am. It wasn’t too bad though – we arrived at around 12:35 and the line was around the corner to Gigi’s door; we ordered by 1:00 and had food by 1:20. Keep in mind that they make the chicken fresh – hence the 20 minute wait for our food.Hattie B’s serves their chicken plate style with two sides. You can get white or dark meat, a 1/2 bird, tenders or wings. And you can choose your heat level between southern (no heat), mild, medium, hot, damn hot and shut the cluck up. We learned that Sundays they serve a special brunch menu in addition to their regular menu meaning you can order waffles with your chicken. 🙂 They also serve bacon cheese grits – a side special only available on Sundays. Once you get inside the door, make your decisions quickly because you’ll need to order as soon as you step up to the counter. You will feel the pressure to order fast as you sense the line growing behind you. You can take a number and find a seat at one of ten or so tables inside or head out to the patio where there is a bit more breathing room or if you order it to go like us, you’ll need to find a spot out of the way (as in not right in front of the counter where the food comes out) and wait for your name to be called. The inside is a bit cramped, so you have been warned if you feel anxious in claustrophobic situations. Just look at it like an adventure, a food adventure. 🙂I ordered the small white plate in mild (I was afraid). Basically a whole breast with the wing attached that comes with a slice of white bread and two pickle chips. It was so fresh it was PIPING, burn yo fingers, HOT, but it was so FREAKING GOOD. The chicken was tender and juicy, the coating was perfectly crunchy and coated the chicken nicely. I hate when you get fried chicken and the crunch coating is like a shell that just pulls right off. The flavor though was amazing – super complex with tons of spices going on – paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne and a hint of brown sugar. The mild was very very mild. Honestly, I could have upped the heat level and been okay after trying Remington’s HOT heat level – that’s saying something for a wimp like me. Remington ordered the chicken tenders and waffles, which came with a side of strawberries. The waffles were amazing considering this is a chicken joint and if the waffles are that good, you know the chicken has got to be good. So he loves spicy food and got his chicken with a heat level of HOT. You can visibly see the difference in the color of his chicken versus mine – it clearly has more cayenne pepper in it and possibly just more sauce in general since it looks shinier. The flavor was incredible. I thought the heat would overpower the flavor of the spice blend in the chicken, but it didn’t. In fact, it only added to the complexity and made it that much more delicious. Like I said, I honestly wished I had ordered Hot. It was definitely hot, but not an unbearable burn. And the tenders were also still piping hot, perfectly cooked, still very tender even though this was white meat cooked off the bone. Finally the sides…we tried the black eyed pea salad, pimento mac & cheese, southern greens, and bacon cheese grits. They were all really good. The black eyed pea salad had a nice vinegar kick to it, but the dressing was not over the top. The mac & cheese was super creamy, which is really all you can ask of a good mac & cheese, but it was also well seasoned. The southern greens were cooked perfectly and flavored with a hint of bacon. I felt they needed nothing – no additional vinegar or anything. I really liked them and I can be picky about my greens. The bacon cheese grits were thick, creamy, cheesy and loaded with flavor. The bacon and green onion added the perfect bite of salt and savory to them. If you go on Sunday, get the grits for sure. All in all, we totally agreed with the hype – a trip to Nashville is not complete without a visit to Hattie B’s. The chicken was dang good and worth the wait. We will be back.