Update on the Nashville Hot Chicken Odyssey

© 2014 Mary Brace all rights reserved.

   Since I started on my Nashville Hot Chicken quest in July, I've hit almost all of the major places at least once. Pepperfire, twice. Tenn 16 twice. But I keep returning to Hattie B's Hot Chicken. And returning. To the point where, if I can go more than two weeks without a fix, either there's a ton of stuff going on, or I'm flat broke.
  More than any other Nashville Hot Chicken restaurant I've been in — and you are free to spit from the peanut gallery, because I still haven't gotten to Prince's — Hattie B's is consistently tender, consistently moist, and consistently flavorful. In all probability, I'll crown them champs, if only because it takes about 20 less minutes to get to Hattie B's midtown location on 19th (and soon, Sylvan Park) than it does to North East Nashville.

Just sayin' ...

Nashville Hot Chicken Day 6: Hot Stuff

All photos ©Mary Brace 2013. All rights reserved

Here's another of the relative newcomers to Nashville Hot Chicken: Hot Stuff, in Antioch, has been with us since some time in 2010. Located in a fancy shmancy Bell Road strip mall just across Blue Hole Road from the Family Fun Center (ie, mini-golf), it's one of the lesser-known joints as that's not exactly a fashionable or touristy area. If the changes Metro is shepherding along in the former Hickory Hollow Mall take hold, who's to say how that may change.

I arrived shortly before 6 on a Sunday evening, placed my order (six tenders, two ways: 1/2 Hot and 1/2 Sweet Heat) and was served in about 20 minutes time. Here's the scoop:

Tenderness: 6* Because I ordered take-out for a change, it was a good 20 minutes before I got to the eating, so I'm adding on a point for the delay. The tenderness seemed about average at first but as I went on, the lack of it was more noticeable. Nashville Hot Chicken was Nashville still pretty warm chicken in this case.

Moisture: 6* Again, I'm giving Hot Stuff's tenders an additional point because of time in the box.

Grease: 9 Very little. The Sweet Heat batch had no noticeable grease.

Flavor: 7. The Sweet Heats didn't impress me, the Hots were better, although I have to say I think more of the flavor came from the coating than the chicken. On the downside, there was something a bit doughy about those coatings.

Atmosphere: 5. Flavorless strip mall.

Sides: 8. Not a lot of selection, but the fries were good. Thin crinkles with just the right amount of salt.

Overall: 7

I would make a return visit if I was in this part of town, if for no other reason than to eat them fresh out of the pan and see if it made a difference in tenderness & juice. Definitely worthy of consideration.

Nashville Hot Chicken Day 5: Pepperfire

All photos ©Mary Brace 2013. All rights reserved.

For this one, it's back to East Nashville, the acknowledged home of Nashville Hot Chicken. Pepperfire restaurant, on Gallatin Road, opened in 2010 as a walk-up, cinder-block joint with a barred window. The barred window is still there, as a reminder that hey! you're on Gallatin Road! In East Nashville! and you just have to deal with it.  Improvements have come in the form of a covered shelter and picnic tables so that, if the barred window doesn't put you off, you can eat in.

 

       Pepperfire has two things on its Nashville restaurant menu that you do have to try at least once in your life: Tenders Royale, which consists of chicken tenders served over a deep-fried, grilled cheese sandwich (it's hard to wrap your brain around it without actually seeing it) and Applefire, which I had on the day of this visit. Applefire is a take on chicken & waffles, but with apple pie filling as the sweetener instead of syrup. Of the two, it's probably the one you're more likely to ever order a second time, if you're not a frat member.

     Pepperfire serves its heat 5 ways: mild, medium, hot, extra hot, and extra, extra hot. I've always ordered hot, and had a bite of a friend's extra hot and wondered if they had the orders mixed up. Pepperfire's hot is DAMN hot. And they don't have a soda fountain, so you don't get free refills. Just warning. They'll tell you at the window that their heat level will be equal to two steps up from the average Hot Wings order. As finding genuinely good, hot, Buffalo style wings is a quest of its own, in Nashville, I'd say they are perhaps one degree above.

Tenderness: 6. Decent, but not exceptional.

Moisture: 6. Again, not remarkable. Definitely not dry, though.

Grease: 10. This is one area where Pepperfire excels. They don't use breading to coat, and what goes on the chicken after its fried is a pretty dry rub. There's very little coating, beyond the rub itself, to hold grease.

Flavor: 7. You will notice the actual chicken flavor for up to 5 seconds before the heat kicks in.

Atmosphere: 5. In spite of the barred windows, it's not a bad space. It's just pretty obvious that it's not a space where the owners want anyone hanging out for long periods.

Sides: 8. I've never actually had any of their sides, but am giving Pepperfire's Nashville Hot Chicken  bonus points for creativity with Applefire and — yes — the Tenders Royale.

Overall: 7  I don't think Pepperfire's chicken is the best in town, but the overall vibe, originality and affordability make it worthy a return trip, anytime.

Nashville Hot Chicken Day 4: 400 Degrees

All photos @Mary Brace 2013. All rights reserved

Today's Nashville restaurants venture comes from another of the spiritual grandchildren of Prince's Hot Chicken: 400 Degrees. Owner Aqui Simpson grew up on Princes and now has her own place, tucked in a stand-alone food court at 4th & Peabody. I'd never been in a food court that wasn't attached to a mall, and while the signage for Quizno's and Nuvo Burrito was clear, I had to do a double-check to make sure I was at the right location.

400 Degrees is ready-made for franchising, if you're interested. I'm even tempted. For the record, we got the medium hot, 200 Degrees.

Tenderness: 8 ... this hot chicken could have been made by one of those food scientists you hear about, who come up with ways to give consumers something that's both crispy and tender at the same time.

Moisture: 8 That also was good although honestly, it was partly due to the sauce.

Grease 6: On the downside, there was more of it than I'd have liked. So much grease went into the underlying bread that it became easy to resist the urge to gobble up all of that, too.

Flavor: 9 A simple combo of cayenne & paprika, according to their literature. Like the saying goes, if all you've got are three chords, make sure they're good chords. 400 Degrees does it right.

Atmosphere: 6 Food court. Pretty anonymous homogenous.

Sides: Sides were limited, so I declined. Not taking any points away or giving.

Overall: 7.5. Love the dish, dislike the corporate atmosphere.

Nashville Hot Chicken Day 3: Tenn 16

Today's heat is brought to you by a restaurant that's new both to Nashville and the Nashville Hot Chicken scene. The Woodland Street digs (1016 — very clever, n'est ce pas?) have a New Orleans flair with open-window seating, Mardi Gras beads for chandeliers, and they're very, very proud of their po'boys. But that's not what induced me to sit down in the middle of East Nashville's Tomato Art Festival.

Tenderness: 10 Wow. I've had quite a lot of buttermilk-induced texture since this trek began and so far, Tenn 16 has it down.

Moisture: 8 These two, tenderness and moisture are no doubt, related. Tenn 16 had plenty, although it wasn't dripping chicken juices. An element of their coating added a little bit.

Grease: 6 But there was a little bit of that; plenty of sauce soaked into the bread below the meat.

Flavor: 8 This Nashville restaurant's hot chicken has an element I haven't tasted anywhere else (yet). Rather than rely on cayenne (although I'm sure there's some) Tenn 16 uses a ginger/white pepper combo that's distinctive without over powering the chicken itself.

Atmosphere: 10 I am a sucker for those window seats. If you are a people watcher, this is a destination spot in Nashville.

Sides: 5 The dish automatically comes with coleslaw. I didn't think to ask for something different and, as I'm not a slaw eater, can't tell you how Tenn 16's ranked.

Overall: 8

Great Nashville Hot Chicken Odyssey Day Two: Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish

    What price, authenticity? Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish has plenty to spare. The owner had an uncle who trained at Hot Chicken originator Prince's, then started his own restaurant, and passed down his recipe. That's pretty serious cred.

    East Nashville location. Check.

    Beaten up cinderblock shack with an order window. Check.

    And yet ... All the authenticity in the world isn't going to cut it with people who want an authentically great experience. Although I admit to being a hot chicken neophyte, my two previous experiences have left me cold on Boltons. Let me count the ways.

Moisture: 5 Although there was the appearance of moisture with the first couple of cuts into each piece, it dissipated fairly rapidly. 

Tenderness: 5 Nothing objectionable, just nothing remarkable.

Grease: 9 This is where the East Nashville restaurant got its highest mark.

Flavor: 6 What was noticeable was the bird pieces got most of their flavor from the coating, a thin dry mix of dredged flour & spices,
a lot of which appears to be added after it was out of the cooker. Once the heat wore off some chicken taste did come through. (This order was medium hot.)

Atmosphere: 3 Eesh. Back to the authentic thing, maybe? Some people might say I'm dissing Bolton's because unlike so many other joints that spend tens of thousands of dollars to have the appearance of a dive, Bolton's actually is a dive. Appearances are obviously not anyone's concern, but it's hard not to be concerned for one's safety when the counter person closes the darkened safety glass after taking your order. I understand, this is East Nashville, and Main Street at that, but maybe matching tables, and clean tabletops, especially,
would go a long way. I'm not sure if the surroundings are in defiance of the high score for cleanliness, or it's the other way around. 

Sides: 5 The fries were good, not great, on their own but compared to the mac & cheese, they were stellar. Of the latter, the pasta was overcooked and the cheese aspect was a peppery sauce. Not even cayenne-peppery, but pre-ground,  grocery store box-peppery. 

Overall: 5.5  If the chicken itself was fantastic, the atmosphere would be forgivable, but there's way better out there.

The Great Nashville Hot Chicken Odyssey

360 Burger

At this point, I think I've had almost every burger in town worth trying, almost. I haven't posted a Pharmacy review, and do plan to later this week. Unless my next visit finds things have changed, the gist will probably be something along the lines of, "great hangout, okay burger," and they'll get high marks for presentation and atmosphere. Just a hunch.

I think there's a place in Lennox Village I have yet to try, Capitol Grille, and some sporadic family restaurants whose burgers I hear good things about and do promise to report back every once in a while. But for the most part, we've done that. I've seen other bloggers and media outlets replicate what Michael and I did, but I think we've done the best job of any of them and believe me — anyone who'd tell you Five Guys has one of the best burgers in town has an addiction to Velveeta they can't get over. That's okay. We like Velveeta, too. We just don't think it can overcome an otherwise unremarkable chunk of beef.

Pepperfire in the piehole

I was late to the party but last winter I finally had my first taste of Nashville Hot Chicken, at Pepperfire.  It was so hot I'm still not sure I tasted the chicken but what I do remember was how incredibly moist it was, probably due to soaking in buttermilk. We have an army of publicists in town who are working to make Nashville Hot Chicken our answer to Buffalo Wings. Why not? Have you seen the price of wings, lately?

And so ....

Nashville Hot Chicken Day One: Hattie B's Hot Chicken — Mary's Notes

All photos: Mary Brace

     Although this restaurant is a relative newcomer to the Nashville Hot Chicken scene, Hattie B's Hot Chicken gets ranked among top contenders — and it's the closest to my location, so it was east to make it the first stop.
     My lunch companion was Rose Laycox, who runs the local Meetup group for ethnic food lovers, called "What the Pho." We tried to suss out what basic criteria for characteristics Nashville Hot Chicken is supposed to have. We agreed that it should be moist; tender; the heat shouldn't overwhelm the chicken flavor; it shouldn't be too greasy. Everything else is bonus.

Feelin' hot hot hot

       I got Hattie B's regular hot, hot. Rose got "Shut the Cluck Up," two steps up ("Damn Hot" is the level between).  Everything is made to order, and at 1pm on a Sunday afternoon, Hattie B's was packed to the gills with Vandy students, tourists, and African-American families, so we had a good 15-20 minutes to chat and take in our surroundings while we waited. As Nashville restaurants go, it was an interesting mix.
      Seating at Hattie B's is provided in the form of picnic tables, with smaller tables indoors and larger ones on the 19th Avenue South-facing porch. There's a little bit of a pub atmosphere in that, if you want to sit outside, and you don't have a party of 6 or more, you're going to sit with

strangers, if there's a line outside the door. It was full when we arrived, so we ended up sharing a table with two families; one that was already there when we arrived, and one that grabbed the empty seats when they left. Once you get your brave on and relax enough to talk to your unknown neighbors, this turns into a great casual experience. So let's get down to it and hope Hattie B's score doesn't suffer from having gone first. 

"Shut the Cluck Up" is the hottest you get

Moisture: 7 Neither of us had any complaints, but I wouldn't write home about it.

Tenderness: 7 Again, good and tender, but nothing to stop a truck.

Flavor: 8 Now we're talking. Plenty of chicken savoriness came through the heat (hot; I tried a bit of Rose's dish and couldn't taste anything but hot hot hot), and during our wait the smells on the porch were whine-inducing. Of the coating, obviously there was cayenne, but there was more to it. This wasn't like someone just shook a jar of Frank's Hot Sauce over regular fried chicken.

Grease: 8 There was very little remarkable separation.

Atmosphere: 9 I likes it. I like the communal seating, I like that there's a screened-in porch in Midtown Nashville, and I like that the clientele is anything but homogenous.

Cluck & Waffles (Sundays only)

Sides: 9 The Pimento Mac & Cheese was excellent. I'm not a grits lover and can't be a fair judge there, so I'm not taking any points off for those. I've had worse.

Overall: 8 Hattie B's makes a great yardstick for beginning our hot chicken journey. Definitely a place to return to.