there are those with the serious belief that if nashville were to have only one food to call their own, ‘hot chicken’ would be it. many nashvillian’s are quick to claim this fiery fare, whereas say barbeque for instance, is more of a memphis kinda thing. but hot chicken? we got ya hot chickin, rat he’a. but as are most things that rely on taste - whether it be art, a pair of shoes or your cologne of choice - the best of anything is highly debatable. but even so, if per chance some mighty fine spicy fried chicken happened to be on your mind, this town is where you’d find it. and arguably, ‘prince’s’ would be the place.
in an unassuming strip mall on a rougher side of town you’ll find ‘prince’s hot chicken’. it’s got a cheery vibe with walls colored a close cousin to ‘tiffany‘ blue, a fact that few of the patrons - and to their credit - would ever know. this is a down home kinda place. straight forward and to the point. white meat or dark. then choose your level of pain. mild still makes your nose run and puts sweat on your brow. there are tales of native cajuns who ordered the extra hot - but just couldn’t do it. i’m not sure who would ever want to go there and why, but i suppose if you’re drunk enough, it’s available.
i mean it’s pretty much your standard fried chicken, but the crust is now loaded up with varying degrees of cayenne pepper. it’s perfectly crisp and even the white meat stays on the moist side. you really can not fault this chicken. it’s a finely executed bird with some major freakin’ attitude.
the place was pretty busy and the tables were all taken but ileka, a beautiful and kind woman, invited us to join her at her booth as she had just stopped in for a ‘medium breast’ solo lunch (and you KNOW what i mean so stop being 12). every order only hits the fryer when placed so you’ve got about a solid 20 minute wait ahead of you.
my friend Z brought along some semblance of a green vegetable to surround the otherwise bereft plate of anything considered truly nutritious. there were also below mediocre ore-ida style frozen crinkle fries that you ate for no other reason than a possible cooling factor, a decent potato salad and a so-so coleslaw. but the cakes were damn good. we ordered two. an almond cake with lemon icing and a very very fine version of the much loved southern caramel cake.
and then there are the locals, born and raised on the stuff who still yearn for it on occasion. i happen to know one “mr. pink” who is quite partial to the hot chicken experience so i took him a medium spicy breast to go. while i was driving, with both the windows and the heat up, i suddenly noticed that the smell was permeating my clothing and hair and i had this powerful olfactory recollection of ‘white castle‘ burgers left in my car one summers day. did you ever see the seinfeld episode where jerry valet’s his new bmw and then has to sell his car? anyway, i lifted the bag only to see the cayenne infused oil bleeding onto my leather seat. toxic leakage…
one of my dining buddies told me that prince’s used to give you a section of newspaper with every to go order so that the bag wouldn’t ruin the carpets on your floorboard. he told about a friend of his who used to keep a white frisbee in his trunk to contain the stain since it would invariably soak through the newspaper after eating through the bag.
then it melted the frisbee.
21 responses so far ↓
1 ElZorro // Dec 7, 2007 at 10:03 am
So ya think the whole pourpose of the Bunny Bread was to soak-up the Nu-ku-lar sauce?
Because unless your jaws have the PSI of a hyena, it will be difficult to eat a bone-in chicken sammich.
2 pogo // Dec 7, 2007 at 10:24 am
Gotta love those pictures of broccoli…
3 Klinde // Dec 7, 2007 at 11:14 am
I am ashamed to report that I have lived in Nashville since 1979 and have yet to experience hot chicken. I keep meaning to but have yet to get around to it. I love the Frisbee part of the story though!
4 John // Dec 7, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Hey, you made it to Prince’s! I have yet to go myself, but my boyfriend and his brother went a couple years ago and returned with a bit of advice for male customers. Guys, if you’re in the midst of eating some hot chicken and have to take a restroom break, you might want to wash your hands BEFORE peeing. Sorry to bring up such an unseemly subject, but it had to be said.
5 lucy // Dec 7, 2007 at 12:48 pm
i know feel much less guilty about the onion rings i just had for lunch. thankie.
tell me more about southern carmel cake.
6 minimally invasive // Dec 7, 2007 at 12:50 pm
It is SUCH a cruel fate that bloglines decided to update my feed just as I’m thinking about grabbing a late lunch, and sushi at that. The hot chicken sounds like mighty fine eating and I’m entirely jealous of your experience.
7 Yveala // Dec 7, 2007 at 2:08 pm
i think i put on a couple of pounds just sitting here looking - good thing i’m many miles from nashville because i’d have to indulge…
8 Lesley // Dec 7, 2007 at 4:13 pm
D’oh! Both of those cakes sound delicious!
I hope the car seat recovers. And were you able to wash the smell out of your hair?
9 FireDog // Dec 7, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Sounds like a 3 alarm fire!
Sshwweeet!
10 mr. pink // Dec 7, 2007 at 10:47 pm
As if the world didn’t already know: Claudia, you are an angel. And oh, that hot chicken smell. I’d be tempted to dab it behind my ears as cologne, if it didn’t cauterize flesh on contact.
Word to the wise: Don’t try washing it down with a carbonated beverage. That just makes it mad.
11 ponyboat // Dec 8, 2007 at 7:40 am
I am going to FRET when I stare down my Boca chicken sandwich later today. Why exactly did I give up meat?
Pink, you crack me up!
12 Lauren // Dec 8, 2007 at 9:34 am
Remember those blue with white speckled camping plates, southern staple from way back. I’m guessing if they can survive camping, they may be able to withstand the chicken. Though I’m sure the chicken would put up a fight.
13 shannon // Dec 8, 2007 at 9:44 am
I am so glad I checked in today. You kill me.
This goes on my list of Nashville “musts”.
14 ElZorro // Dec 8, 2007 at 10:02 am
For those of you thinkin’ that such a unique dish should be served in different surroundings… Well, Nashville is littered with the abandoned shells of “Hot Chicken” restaurants the fail’d to blossom…
Mrs. Boo’s
hotchickens.com
Jody’s Hot chicken?
Bolton’s at the arcade
15 J // Dec 9, 2007 at 8:57 am
C — Thanks for this! ElZorro is right — it’s a unique dish for a unique market.
Gotta brag: last summer, my son was one of the 6 finalists in Mayor Purcell’s first ever July 4 Hot Chicken Cook-off at East Park — he came away not with the trophy but with a great deep fryer, and a great personal recipe for Hot Chicken that I’ll get him to share with us (we sampled his efforts for 2 weeks before the contest, daily. That’s another story). Commercially, I’m partial to Bolton’s on Main, with its walk-up window and convenient location on the way home to East Nashville.
You didn’t mention the white bread that accompanies the hot chicken. My opinion is that it’s there to soak up the oil, but there are some, including our former Mayor, who consider it a delicacy in its own right…..
J
16 The Professor // Dec 9, 2007 at 8:57 pm
I had the “pleasure?” to dine at Hot Chicken at it’s original location on Charlotte Ave. in 1967. My boss took me there and I was the laughing stock of the entire place, I had never been exposed to such heat, now I love the place and I enjoy telling this story every time I get the opportunity.Great food…a must eat stop.
17 ElZorro // Dec 10, 2007 at 8:50 am
J:
I cryptically alluded to the pourpose of the white bread on the first post.
The 1st. time I went to Prince’s I thought it was supposed to be a chicken sammich, not fried chicken with a bunny-bread sponge.
18 claudia // Dec 10, 2007 at 9:45 am
i, of course ate the bread. white bread with spicy grease. there’s a healthy food for ya… it was kinda good. chris said that they empty out the deep fryer late night and sell the crispy cracklings on the same bread. it had a name but i can’t recall…
professor - what made you the laughing stock? couldn’t take it? the mild is plenTy hot for me.
j - that is beyond cool. i loved hearing that. what a proud pappa you muxt be! does he make it for you often?
z - why all the failures? just wondering why there aren’t more of these…
pink - if $5 and a little car interior damage could make you that happy, how could i not?
pogo- that Z… he’s a funny guy… no doubt.
klinde - grab the german and GO!
john - chris said the very same thing!!! you guys must know… yikes.
lucy - i’ve not made a caramel cake but they are indigenous to here and are WONDERFUL. but i love me some cake… the frosting is where it’s at and the cake is yellowish… so so good.
lesley - no permanent damage to anything
pony - you’ve gone veggie?
yveala and min. inv. - come visit. i’ll take you for sure!
lauren - if i were going to be a regular - those plates would be the way to go for sure…
shannon - you gotta take that man of yours and go. it’s fun. a true nashville thang.
firedog - doing what you do, the boys in the firehouse would get a kick outa this…
19 melissa // Dec 11, 2007 at 2:43 pm
just to return to this post for a moment… I showed the hot chicken to steve last night and he drooled and slobbered all over the screen. he’s texas born and raised and misses chicken fried as well as those pieces are. and I’ll admit, they look pretty great to me too.
20 Big Daddy // Jan 29, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I ate at Prince’s and will eat there again and want to tell everyone that the chicken is really great and very juicy so when you lick your fingers its good to the last licking. If you are really brave get the Hot but if you want a great tasting piece of chicken just get the medium and you wouldn’t have to fret the bathroom afterwards.
21 FatFood Lover // Jun 2, 2008 at 5:56 pm
The first time I’ve ever had hot chicken was in Hyde Park (South Side of Chicago) back in 1990. It was a place called Harold’s Fried Chicken. It’s actually a Hot Chicken chain started in 1950 in Chicago. Let me tell you I was hooked. I’ve craved that chicken ever since and now that I’ve relocated to Nashville I’ve been reunited with one of my favorite foods…Hot Chicken. The “Fry Sandwich” which is the white bread soaked with grease and hot sauce containing whatever fries that weren’t consumed with the chicken was the icing on the cake towards the end of the meal. Prince’s is wonderful and look people, if it’s a novelty to go to the “bad part of town” you all need to get out a little bit more and get over it.
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