Where to Find the Best Hot Chicken in Nashville
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When it comes to planning a trip to Nashville, thinking about what/where to eat often comes down to one very important meal: Nashville Hot Chicken. But the burning (pun intended) question remains: who makes the best hot chicken in Nashville? How do you decide which of the many hot chicken joints to try? What level of spice do you go for, and which sides accompany hot chicken best?!
After scouring reviews and collecting recommendations from others who have visited the city, we set out on our own quest to compare some of the best hot chicken in Nashville. In this post, you’ll find a comparison of five spots for Nashville hot chicken:
- Party Fowl
- Dino’s Bar & Grill
- Hattie B’s
- Brave Idiot
- Red’s Hot Chicken
Who reigns supreme and why? Read to the end to find out!
Party Fowl
Website | Multiple Locations
Party Fowl was the very first stop on our Nashville hot chicken quest, simply because it was in relatively close proximity to where we were staying in Nashville at The Thompson. They have since closed the location we went to but their other spots get really good reviews!
We sauntered in on a Wednesday afternoon and were sat right away. Our server was friendly and attentive, and happy to answer our questions when it came to recommending the appropriate spice level for our meal.
We settled on the three-piece Hot Chicken Tenders with medium spice, a side of mac and cheese, and honey mustard for dipping. Since we were daring, we also got one Nashville Hot breast on the side, which is just one level lower than their hottest “Poultrygeist.”
Overall, flavors of the tenders with Medium spice and the breast with Nashville Hot spice were good, but we found the meat to be a tad dry. Medium was the perfect spice level for us. The Nashville Hot was not totally unbearable, but we definitely could not eat a lot at once. You will pay for that later!
The mac and cheese was tasty, and the jalapeno honey mustard is a good choice for dipping sauce to cool the heat. The food did take quite a while to come to our table, which was a little disappointing considering the restaurant was pretty empty, so I’m knocking them a bit over that too.
If I had a do-over, I’d definitely go for the half chicken so you can get some more tender dark meat!
Overall rating for Party Fowl: 3.5/5
Dino’s Bar & Grill
Website | 411 Gallatin Ave, Nashville, TN 37206
This classic dive bar in East Nashville (once visited by the great Anthony Bourdain) isn’t exactly known for their hot chicken – it’s their classic cheeseburgers that draw you here. However, we found ourselves here one afternoon and it was on the menu so my husband and I figured why not?
We got their tenders with medium spice, along with a side of animal fries (and yes, we tried their cheeseburger too). The hot chicken itself had pretty good flavor and was crispy, but I felt the tenders could be a little more moist.
The animals fries, however, are exceptional. They taste almost double fried and are the perfect size and texture. Top marks there.
Dino’s is just a great casual spot for cheapish drinks and bar food – perfect if you’re doing an East Nashville dive bar crawl.
Overall Rating for Dino’s: 3.75/5
Hattie B’s
Website | 112 19th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203
If you read blog posts about where to eat in Nashville, Hattie B’s will probably be on almost every list for where to find the best hot chicken in Nashville. So, of course, we had to try it for ourselves! Is it worth the hype or is it overrated?
Knowing that Hattie B’s generates long lines of patrons salivating for their hot chicken, we ordered DoorDash to our hotel room one evening to avoid the wait. Could that have backfired on us? Sure. I mean, you probably want your hot chicken as fresh as possible right? Well, it turned out to be a great idea and our Dasher got our food to us nice and hot and the chicken was still crispy.
We ordered the Large Dark Plate (two legs/two thighs) with hot spice level, crinkle fries, Southern greens, bacon cheese grits, pimento mac and cheese, and pickles. For good measure, we ordered a tender on the side with the medium spice level.
The hot chicken here, in my opinion, is far from overrated. It was both crispy and moist and delivered great flavor. The Hot spice level was barely spicy, and we actually could have gone up a notch. The Medium tender was juicy (proof that Party Fowl could get their dry tendies under control if they wanted to) and also had great flavor.
Where Hattie B’s was sorely lacking for us was their sides. The bacon cheese grits were good, but the greens were inedible and the mac and cheese desperately needed some flavor injected into it. At least the shining star, the hot chicken, delivered!
Overall Rating for Hattie B’s: 4/5
Brave Idiot
Instagram | Parked behind No Quarter, 922 Main St, Nashville, TN 37206
This food truck permanently parked behind the No Quarter dive bar in East Nashville is cooking up some hot chicken that rivals my all-time favorite!
Aside from a great flavor profile, Brave Idiot’s hot chicken has a unique breading that’s kind of crumbly – almost reminiscent of a cornmeal coating. Whatever the secret is, I enjoyed it. Most importantly, their tenders are just really, really juicy. I’m always impressed when people can deliver juicy breast pieces over thigh meat!
We were being literal brave idiots this day and ventured a little outside of our usual “medium spice” comfort zone and bumped it up to a Level 6. Let me tell you, you are going to want a nice cold beer over at No Quarter to wash down those bites. A Level 6 is hot!
I also loved their cat-themed spice pyramid and kudos to you if you can handle anything above a Level 6.
You can take your hot chicken into either No Quarter or Hubba Hubba Tiki Bar so you can have drinks with your food (you’ll definitely want something to cool your tongue off with). We pulled up a chair at No Quarter and had a couple of IPAs with our chicken.
And bonus if you’re a cat lover, you can show them a picture of your cat and get 10% off.
Next time, I’m getting the Picksy Chick – a tender served in a pickle boat with ranch or reaper sauce. I bet the extra bit of pickle helps provide a nice balance to the hot chicken!
Overall Rating for Brave Idiot: 4.5/5
Red’s Hot Chicken
Website | 115 27th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37203
Red’s…how do I love thee? Let me count the ways! You may have guess that I saved the best for last.
Red’s, located right next to Centennial Park, continues to be at the top of my list for best hot chicken in Nashville. We’ve now been here a couple of times and I can confirm, it’s still my favorite out of them all.
Our go-to here: the two thighs with two sides plate (with medium spice on the chicken). Red’s medium spice is the perfect spice level for us, with just enough heat to make your lips tingle.
Their thighs and tenders also have an extra thick, crunchy coating from a flour-based batter and are extremely juicy thanks to their buttermilk marinade. Overall, the chicken and batter here delivers the best all-around flavors.
For our side choices, we always get the pimento mac and cheese and the mustard potato salad. Both of these sides consistently come out swinging!
The pimento mac and cheese is extra creamy, and is by far my favorite mac and cheese dish we’ve tried in Nashville. And I am not normally a big potato salad fan (because mayonnaise), but this one is heavily focused on mustard flavors (which I love). It’s most definitely the best potato salad I’ve had.
The portions of everything are so generous, from the big thighs to the sides!
Pro Tip: Order your hot chicken and head over to the dive bar next door. You can enjoy an ice cold beer while you wait and/or while you eat your glorious chicken! Make sure you bring cash for the bar as they don’t take cards.
This is going to be the spot you’ll crave time and again and I constantly think about going back to Nashville just to get more of their hot chicken!
Overall Rating for Red’s Hot Chicken: 5/5
Other Hot Chicken Joints in Nashville
To be fair to all hot chicken joints in Nashville, we haven’t eaten at them all (though I’m sure someone out there has).
Here’s a list of some of the other restaurants in Nashville where you can get your hot chicken on. When we revisit Nashville, you can be sure I’ll be adding some of these to my hot chicken showdown!
- Prince’s Hot Chicken: Touted to be the original creator of the famous Nashville Hot Chicken
- Bolton’s Spicy Chicken & Fish
- Pepperfire Hot Chicken
- Helen’s Hot Chicken
I hope you enjoyed this rundown on our quest to find the best hot chicken in Nashville! Have you been to Nashville? If so, what was your favorite spot for the best hot chicken?
I’m traveling to Nashville for work and needed this article to find the best hot chicken!! Thank you!
Thanks for checking out my article KP! Let me know where you end up! I still have many more hot chicken spots to try myself.