Best Thing About Nashville…Hot Chicken!

There’s a lot to like about living in Music City. The music scene is pretty spectacular and a definite part of the city’s identity. So much so that a first time visitor arriving at Nashville’s International Airport might be surprised to see a talented musician serenading arriving passengers retrieving luggage.

But if there’s one thing that I am really liking about my new adopted city, it’s Nashvillians obsession with hot chicken!

What’s hot chicken, you might ask?

Well, technically it’s spicy fried chicken sandwiched together in between two thick slices of white American bread garnished with pickle chips.

But this description does not do justice for the succulent combination of cayenne seasoning and southern fried chicken.

And like asking a New Yorker for the best slice of pizza or a Philadelphian for the best cheese steak sandwich, just about every Nashvillian will give you a different answer on who has the best hot chicken in town.

There’s the original, Prince’s Hot Chicken in East Nashville that according to local lore came up with the recipe when the girlfriend of the restaurant operator at the time wanted to exact revenge on the purported womanizer by cooking up an extra spicy meal. Impossible to verify, but it sure does make for good story, doesn’t it?

Prince’s Hot Chicken has plenty of competition including Hattie B’s and newcomers like Party Fowl that are capitalizing on the seemingly insatiable demand for hot chicken by offering different shades of spicy. At Hattie B’s, there’s Hot, Damn Hot, and then there’s Shut the Cluck Up that comes with a cautionary reminder when ordering: Burn Notice.

Variety makes sense considering the number of transplants that are making Nashville their new home. Which is why it’s not entirely surprising that Men’s Journal magazine recently named Nashville as the number 2 best city to live in the U.S. right now.

And therein may be the secret behind Nashville’s hot chicken renaissance. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, than Nashvillians and all those that visit, are the biggest beneficiaries of Prince’s Hot Chicken original hot chicken.