by Iggy C » Mon Jan 04, 2016 2:10 pm
As a native Nashvillian, The first time I ever had hot chicken was back in the 90s at a place that no longer exists called Mr. Boo's that grew their own secret hybrid pepper. I remember my dad taking us to Lorrie Morgan's place, too. Prince's was and is the gold standard, but these days I really like 400 degrees, partly because it seems more open and accessible than Prince's, which is often either closed or a madhouse with a 45-minute wait. I am glad Hattie B's is successful (the line was huge last time I was in Nashville) but I don't like their chicken quite as much as at the first two. (NB: I've eaten at Bolton's a bunch but have only ever gotten he fish.) Overall it's nice to see people enjoying a uniquely Nashville thing. It is also interesting to see how they scale up a food that typically takes like thirty minutes to make.
We went to Royals last week, and I liked it a lot. Solid crunch, and it had obviously not been long out of the fryer, since the breast was too hot to fully pick apart with my fingers -- all as it should be. I got a hot plus some great cheese grits, which were sharp and creamy. The spice paste was pretty thick and had some interesting sweet flavors which I wasn't expecting but I liked.
The heat level was a bit less intense than a Prince's medium, which is my standard order there. I found this slightly bothersome, but the crunch and flavor made up for it. My wife got a medium, which wasn't particularly spicy (which was good bc she didn't want it spicy) but still had a substantial layer of spice paste for flavor. I am pretty sure that when you get the mild at Nashville chicken places you just get normal fried chicken, so this is an interesting innovation (I have never gotten mild, so I'm not sure on that point.) I guess my only quibble would be that the spice paste on my hot was pretty thick and can be a little distracting, and that it wasn't quite hot enough. I will have to go back and try the extra hot. Oh, and the place looks nice. I imagine keeping tables neat has got be rough at a hot chicken place that's has a mostly white color scheme. They might consider a public sink the way crawdad places often do...
Incidentally, I went to Joella's a few weeks ago and was disappointed by soggy breading and low heat for the hot level, but am willing to go back to try the extra hot if they're doing a better job cooking it crispy. If not, I think it's a pale imitation.
Overall, neither of the new hot chicken places are quite at the level of Prince's or 400 degrees IMO, but Royals is hitting closer to the standard while also being more successfully innovative to this aficionado. I will withhold final judgment until I try the extra hot at both places. It is certainly nice to have a solid option for hot chicken without having to drive 3 hours and then wait 45 minutes on top of that -- no doubt Wendell Berry would approve.