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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 these three top hot chicken joints in Nashville:
- Party Fowl
- Hattie B’s
- Red’s Hot Chicken
Who reigns supreme (according to us)? Read to the end to find out!
Party Fowl
719 8th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203
https://partyfowl.com/
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. 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.
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
Hattie B’s
112 19th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203
https://hattieb.com/
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 Door Dash 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, in my opinion, is far from overrated. It was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, 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 tenders 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
Red’s Hot Chicken
115 27th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37203
https://redshotchicken.com/
Red’s…how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. You may have guess that I saved the best for last!
This spot was at the top of my list of hot chicken places to try, so we made our way over to the Centennial Park area and ordered up a plate of thighs with two sides (medium spice on the chicken).
For our side choices, we went with the pimento mac and cheese and the mustard potato salad. The portions of everything were generous – from the big thighs to the sides!
Red’s medium spice was the perfect spice level for us, with just enough heat to make your lips tingle. The thighs were crispy on the outside, and extremely juice on the inside. The flavor profile was on point as well!
Both of the sides came out swinging too. The pimento mac and cheese was extra creamy, and was by far my favorite mac and cheese dish we tried in Nashville. And I am not normally a big potato salad fan (because mayonnaise), but this one was heavily focused on mustard flavors and I appreciated that. Probably the best potato salad I’ve had.
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 some of their hot chicken!
Pro Tip: Order your hot chicken and head over to the dive bar next door. Let the Red’s team know where you’re heading, and they’ll bring your order over when it’s ready. 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.
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
- Waldo’s Chicken & Beer
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.