Howdy Nash
Howdy Nash
The history, the heat levels, the best spots. Plus the answer to the question every visitor asks: Hattie B's or Prince's.
Nashville hot chicken is fried chicken coated in a cayenne-heavy paste so spicy it changes color, served on white bread with pickles. It was invented in Nashville in the 1930s. Prince's started it. Hattie B's made it famous outside Nashville. And in the last 10 years a dozen new spots have spread the dish across the city.
This guide gives you the origin story, breaks down what each heat level means, ranks the 6 spots worth your time, and answers the question every out-of-towner asks: where do I take a first-timer.
The legend: in the 1930s, Thornton Prince had a habit of staying out late. His girlfriend got tired of it. One Sunday morning she fried him chicken and dumped a load of cayenne on it as revenge. The plan backfired. Thornton loved it so much he refined the recipe and opened a restaurant.
Prince's Hot Chicken Shack opened in North Nashville in the 1940s. For decades it stayed a Black-owned, late-night, cash-only operation that locals drove out to in the middle of the night. The dish stayed local. Andre Prince Jeffries (Thornton's great-niece) took over in 1980 and ran it through the 2000s.
Then Bon Appetit wrote about Prince's. The Food Network put it on TV. Hattie B's opened in 2012 and brought hot chicken to a mainstream audience. By 2020, hot chicken had spread to KFC menus, Chick-fil-A, Whataburger, and Popeyes. The dish went national. Prince's stayed where it always was.
Every hot chicken spot has its own heat scale. They are not consistent. A medium at Hattie B's is hotter than a medium at 400 Degrees. A Prince's hot is hotter than most places' hottest level. Here is the rough map.
Translation table: if you would normally order spicy at a Thai place, start at Hattie B's medium or Prince's mild. If you eat ghost peppers for fun, jump to Prince's hot.
5814 Nolensville Pike (main) and 123 Ewing Drive (north Nashville). The original. Heat builds slow and gets serious. Quarter dark or quarter white, plus white bread and pickles. Cash and card. Lines on weekends run 30 to 60 minutes. The interior is unfussy. This is the one to try at least once.
112 19th Avenue South (Midtown), 5209 Charlotte Avenue (Charlotte Pike), and 4 other locations. The famous one. Cleaner setup, faster lines (sometimes), bigger menu with sides like pimento mac and cheese, southern greens, and banana pudding. Heat is more controlled. Better for groups with mixed spice tolerances. The Midtown location has the longest wait.
624 Main Street (East Nashville) and 2 other locations. The other original. Bolton Polk worked at Prince's and split off to start his own place. Bolton's is hotter, thicker, and the catfish holds its own against the chicken. Order the half catfish dinner with two sides.
1000 Gallatin Avenue (East Nashville). The hipster pick. The Tender Royale is a chicken tender stacked between two grilled cheese halves with comeback sauce. Heat scale runs hot. Shorter lines than Hattie B's. Local favorite.
319 Peabody Street (downtown). Owned by Aqui Hines, the first woman to open a hot chicken restaurant in Nashville. Heat scale runs slightly milder than Prince's. The 400-degree level is plenty for most. Great for downtown lunch.
719 8th Avenue South (The Gulch) and 2 other locations. The sit-down option. Full bar, brunch on weekends, hot chicken plus southern bar food. Hot Chicken Nashville Hot Pasta and Hot Chicken Bloody Mary are the signature moves. Best if your group wants chicken plus drinks plus AC.
Hot chicken and food tours with local guides. Free cancellation on most bookings.
Howdy Nash is the free Nashville travel app. Share live location with your group, track who paid for the meal, and ask the AI concierge for the closest hot chicken spot to your hotel.
Out-of-towners go to Hattie B's. Locals go to Prince's. Tourists go to Hattie B's because the Midtown location is closer to Broadway, the line moves faster, the menu is broader, and the experience is more polished. Locals go to Prince's because the heat is real, the original feel matters, and Hattie B's lost some of its edge once it grew.
If you have one meal: go to Prince's. The chicken is hotter, the bread is thinner, the experience is the original. If you have two meals: Prince's for the experience, Hattie B's for the sides (pimento mac, banana pudding, southern greens). If your group has people who do not handle spice: Hattie B's mild is forgiving. Prince's mild is not.
If your visitor will only eat hot chicken once: take them to Hattie B's. The line is shorter, the menu is broader, and the experience is forgiving. Mid-tier heat. Solid sides. Group photo of the bright red chicken on white bread.
If your visitor wants the real thing: drive 15 minutes south to Prince's on Nolensville Pike. Order at the counter. Wait the 30 minutes. Eat at a folding table. This is what hot chicken was for 70 years before it got famous.
If your visitor wants a sit-down with cocktails: Party Fowl in The Gulch. Full menu, bar, brunch.
Music City Hot Chicken Festival. Every July 4th. East Park (700 Woodland Street). Free entry. The big Nashville hot chicken spots set up booths and serve quarter portions for $5 to $10. You sample 5 places in 2 hours. Gets crowded and hot (literally) by 1pm. Go at 11am when it opens, eat 4 quarters, leave by 1:30pm.
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Brunch Guide · Things to Do in Nashville · Neighborhoods Guide · 3-Day Itinerary · Best Honky Tonks · BBQ · Food Halls · Vegan & Vegetarian · What Is Hot Chicken? · Midtown · Hattie B's vs Prince's · What Is a Meat-and-Three