Hattie B's Hot Chicken - Charlotte Avenue

These are boom times for Nashville’s very own hot chicken — a subset of fried chicken, to the uninformed — variations of which have popped up on restaurant menus nationwide. And family owned and operated Hattie B’s Hot Chicken has become one of the go-to local spots, starting in Midtown in 2012, two years later a Charlotte Avenue location, and in November 2017 on Eighth Avenue South in the Melrose neighborhood, each of which feature lines out the door at peak times. (Go early or order takeout to beat the longest lines.) Connoisseurs generally acknowledge that Hattie B’s “Hot!” heat level is more like hot chicken originator Prince’s medium. But make no mistake that this is one bodacious bird. You should try the hot. It’s called hot chicken, after all. A kids plate with chicken tenders is among the offerings.

Beer available, but you’ll be wanting, and needing, to drink plenty of water as well. Serving lunch and dinner 11 am-11pm Mon-Thu, 11 am-midnight Fri-Sat, 11am-4 pm Sun. 

MUST EATS: Hot chicken, Southern greens, pimento mac & cheese, banana pudding

“Nick Bishop and his dad (who can also take credit for Bishop’s Meat and Three in Franklin, Tennessee) cook their chicken perfectly, then douse it with a heat profile that goes from a legit mild to “shut the cluck up” (a.k.a. burn notice).”

— Celebrity chef and TV host Andrew Zimmern, April 7, 2014