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. Pepperfire - 5104 Centennial Blvd, Nashville, TN, 37209 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. They’ve been in the same spot for a quarter century. Not only great chicken, Bolton’s also gives you the original chicken shack experience. It’s the only place where I order “medium” which is just about the same as Prince’s “hot”. Bolton’s is the hottest of the hot chicken joints. If I were arranging a hot chicken history tour, Prince’s would, by necessity, be the first stop.īolton’s Spicy Chicken and Fish - 624 Main St, Nashville, TN, 37204Īs you already know, their hot fish sandwich is the best in the country, but their hot chicken is also amazing. 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. Still one of the top three, even if the atmosphere is more sports bar than chicken shack. The OG hot chicken shack, now updated and suburbanized. Prince’s Hot Chicken - 5814 Nolensville Pike, Nashville, TN, 37211 If I had to eat only one hot chicken meal in Nashville, this is it. The 400 degrees is about the same as Prince’s “hot”, so plenty spicy, but not deadly. The heat levels are 100 degrees, 200 degrees, 400 degrees and 800 degrees. Unlike most of the others, who pan fry their chicken, Aqui deep fries her bird. Owner and chef Aqui Hines is a genius at fried chicken. 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. 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.Ĥ00 Degrees - 3704 Clarksville Pike, Nashville, TN, 37218 A few of you asked about that, and so here are my top ten Nashville hot chicken places.Ī note about methodology: this list is based on one dish only, a fried chicken breast quarter at the “hot” spiciness level. 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. In the meantime, I’ve put together a brief something to entertain you: my Nashville hot chicken rankings.

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. A big storm raced through Nashville last night just as I was whipping up a new article for your entertainment.