Nashville hot chicken has become a culinary sensation that’s spread far beyond Tennessee’s borders. With its distinctive fiery red exterior and addictive flavor profile, this spicy fried chicken has devotees lining up around blocks and restaurants across the country claiming to serve “authentic” versions. But amidst all the heat and hype, one burning question remains: who REALLY has the original Nashville hot chicken?
Let’s dive into the spicy controversy and uncover the true origins of this iconic Southern dish.
The Prince Family Legacy: Where It All Began
If you’re looking for the OG of Nashville hot chicken, all signs point to the Prince family The story begins in the 1930s with Thornton Prince III, a man who apparently enjoyed the nightlife a bit too much for his girlfriend’s liking
As legend has it, after Thornton stepped out one Saturday night (he had quite the reputation as a ladies’ man), his scorned girlfriend decided to teach him a lesson. The next morning, she served him fried chicken that she’d doused with an excessive amount of hot pepper, hoping the spice would be his punishment.
But the plan backfired spectacularly Instead of suffering, Thornton LOVED the fiery chicken. He started sharing it with friends and family, perfecting the recipe, and eventually opened his first restaurant – originally called BBQ Chicken Shack – in the mid-1930s at 28th Avenue and Jefferson Street.
Today, Thornton Prince’s great niece, Ms. Andre Prince Jeffries, continues the family legacy. She took over in 1989, renaming the establishment Prince’s Hot Chicken and opening the iconic East Nashville location. Under her stewardship, Prince’s has maintained its reputation as the gold standard for hot chicken.
Prince’s Hot Chicken: The Ground Zero
Without question, Prince’s Hot Chicken is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of Nashville hot chicken. Food historian Timothy Davis, author of “The Hot Chicken Cookbook,” calls Prince’s “the ground zero of hot chicken.”
What makes Prince’s so special? Well, for starters:
- They’ve been serving hot chicken for over 100 years
- They maintain the original recipe and preparation methods
- They serve their chicken the traditional way – with briny sliced pickles and white bread to soak up the fiery, flavorful juices
- They offer multiple heat levels from mild to “XXX Hot” (which some claim is hot enough to make you hallucinate)
- They’ve never advertised, relying solely on word of mouth
Prince’s currently operates three locations in the Nashville area
- South: 5814 Nolensville Pike
- Assembly Food Hall: 5055 Broadway
- Tanger Outlets: 4060 Cane Ridge Parkway
The restaurant has garnered national recognition too, receiving the prestigious James Beard Foundation American Classic Award for inventing the dish.
The Secret Recipe: What Makes It Special?
There’s technically “no secret” to preparing hot chicken beyond “a ton of cayenne,” according to Davis. But that’s a bit of an oversimplification.
The traditional preparation method involves:
- Marinating chicken parts in buttermilk
- Breading the chicken
- Deep-frying until crispy
- Coating the fried chicken in a cayenne pepper-based paste
It’s that last step that’s crucial – the application of the fiery paste AFTER frying is what distinguishes Nashville hot chicken from other spicy fried chicken variations.
Prince’s is famously secretive about their exact recipe, which Ms. Andre Prince Jeffries guards zealously. Their method reportedly includes using cast iron skillets submerged in lard, which imparts a unique flavor profile that’s difficult to replicate.
Beyond Prince’s: The Hot Chicken Expansion
While Prince’s deserves its crown as the originator, several other Nashville establishments have built their own hot chicken legacies:
Hattie B’s
A newer player on the scene but one that’s gained enormous popularity, especially with tourists. They’ve expanded to multiple locations across Nashville and other cities.
Bolton’s
Known for their fiery fish and chicken, Bolton’s has been serving Nashville for decades and has a dedicated following.
Pepperfire
Another beloved local establishment with their own spin on the classic.
Each has their own devoted fans and slight variations on the hot chicken formula, but none can claim the heritage and authenticity of Prince’s.
A Hidden History: Race and Nashville Hot Chicken
One fascinating aspect of Nashville hot chicken’s story is how it remained largely unknown to parts of Nashville’s population for decades. Despite being a staple in the city’s Black communities since the 1930s, many white Nashvillians had never heard of hot chicken until relatively recently.
As journalist Rachel Martin discovered when she returned to Nashville after eight years away, hot chicken had somehow remained hidden from her experience growing up in the city. When she asked an older African-American woman about this, the response was enlightening: “Of course you didn’t eat hot chicken. Hot chicken’s what we ate in the neighborhood.”
For almost 70 years, hot chicken was made and sold primarily in Nashville’s Black neighborhoods. It wasn’t until the 2000s that it began to cross racial and neighborhood boundaries, eventually becoming the city-wide (and now nationwide) phenomenon we know today.
The Nashville Hot Chicken Explosion
In recent years, Nashville hot chicken has experienced an explosion in popularity. The dish now appears on menus from New York to Australia. The annual Music City Hot Chicken Festival draws thousands of attendees. Fast food chains have introduced their own versions.
Several factors contributed to this expansion:
- Food tourism and social media exposure
- The James Beard recognition
- Nashville’s growth as a tourist destination
- The dish’s perfect balance of pain and pleasure
But with this popularity comes questions about authenticity. Many places claim to serve “Nashville hot chicken” without honoring its traditions or origins.
The Verdict: Who Has the REAL Original?
If we’re talking about who truly has the original Nashville hot chicken, the answer is clear: Prince’s Hot Chicken. They not only invented the dish but have maintained its authenticity for nearly a century.
What makes Prince’s the definitive answer:
- Direct family lineage to Thornton Prince III, the creator
- Continuous operation since the 1930s
- Commitment to the original recipe and preparation methods
- Recognition from culinary historians and the James Beard Foundation
- The passionate stewardship of Ms. Andre Prince Jeffries
While other establishments may offer delicious variations, Prince’s remains the benchmark against which all others are measured. As Bobby Meadows, a 64-year-old Nashville native who’s been eating hot chicken since childhood, told NPR: “It’s got a craving worse than anything. And when you get to thinking about it and your mouth gets to water, you might as well turn your truck around and go get you some, ’cause it ain’t going to get no better.”
The Cultural Significance
Nashville hot chicken represents more than just a spicy meal – it’s a cultural touchstone for Nashville and a window into the city’s complex racial history. What began as a dish born from revenge has evolved into a culinary ambassador for the city.
The fact that hot chicken remained relatively unknown to white Nashville for decades while being a staple in Black communities speaks volumes about the city’s historical segregation. Its eventual crossover success mirrors Nashville’s ongoing evolution as a city.
My Experience Trying the Original
I gotta say, when I first tried Prince’s hot chicken, I wasn’t prepared for what hit me. I consider myself pretty good with spicy food, but their “medium” had me sweating buckets! The combination of that perfect crispy exterior, juicy meat, and the layered heat that builds with each bite is something truly special.
What struck me most was how the spice didn’t just burn – it had depth and complexity. This wasn’t just cayenne dumped on chicken; this was a carefully crafted flavor profile passed down through generations.
The line was long, the wait was considerable, but the experience was unforgettable. And that slice of white bread underneath? Pure genius for soaking up all that spicy goodness.
Final Thoughts: Respect the Original
If you’re a food enthusiast or just someone who appreciates culinary history, making a pilgrimage to Prince’s should be on your bucket list. While many places now serve Nashville hot chicken, experiencing the original provides context for the entire phenomenon.
Ms. Andre Prince Jeffries continues to uphold her family’s legacy, serving the legendary dish that Nashvillians have craved for generations. In a world of imitators and pretenders, Prince’s Hot Chicken remains the original and the gold standard for Nashville hot chicken.
The next time someone asks “who has the original Nashville hot chicken?” – you can confidently tell them it’s Prince’s. And remind them that behind this fiery dish lies a story of revenge, romance, and a culinary tradition that’s stood the test of time.
Just be prepared to wait in line. Some things are worth the wait.
I hate it when people date everything Southern back to the Civil War. But in this case, that’s where my story starts. That is when Nashville became a segregated city, a place where there were white neighborhoods and black neighborhoods and very little shared public space.
Before the war, about 700 free blacks lived in Nashville. Their houses were clustered in small enclaves, mostly on the northern side of the city. But there were over 3,200 enslaved people of color in the city. Most of them could not choose where they lived.
Many enslaved African-Americans used the war to claim their freedom. They left their homes and moved to the edges of Union camps. The places where the freed people lived became known as contraband camps. Some of these were migrant communities following the soldiers as they campaigned. Others were permanent settlements where residents plotted streets, built wood cabins and organized churches.
Federal troops captured Nashville in February 1862. The first Southern state capital to be taken, its early capitulation meant that the city became a key Union base. African-Americans from across Middle Tennessee fled there, and contraband camps sprouted up around the military installations perched on the eastern, western and southern borders of Nashville.
After the Civil War ended, the people living in Nashville’s contraband camps had a choice: return to the places they had lived before the conflict, hoping to negotiate new contracts with the whites who once claimed to own them; strike out for somewhere new, gambling that they would find more opportunity in the North or the West; or stay in Nashville, building a new life in the growing city. Many chose to remain. Between 1860 and 1870, African-Americans grew from being 23 to 38 percent of the population.
One of the largest Union camps had been Fort Gillem, north of downtown and near where the free blacks lived before the war. When the Union Army pulled out, Fisk Free Colored School took over the grounds. Rechartered as Fisk University in 1872, it became a leading institution of African-American higher education. The wagon road through the fort was renamed Jefferson Street. A prosperous black business district grew up along it, and houses popped up around it.
Several other large African-American neighborhoods developed around former camps located in what is now known as East Nashville, just across the Cumberland River from downtown. Like the Jefferson Street area, these were neighborhoods filled with professionals, businesspeople and skilled laborers.
Another black neighborhood grew up a few blocks northwest of the state capital. Known as Hell’s Half Acre, it housed the poorest African-Americans in the city. It had unpaved streets and no sewer system. The city’s disinterest left the area open to trouble. It became known for saloons, prostitution and other vices. It also had some of Nashville’s oldest black churches and schools.
Hot chicken has left the neighborhood. But new restaurants specializing in the dish are popping up across town.
“They’re like pizza places, all over,” Andre Jeffries tells me. “Everywhere you look, there’s a new one opening.”
The craze for hot chicken started in 2007 with the first Hot Chicken Festival. Mayor Purcell was stepping down after two terms. He still went to Prince’s regularly, referring to it as his second office. He urged his friends and colleagues to try hot chicken, though when he brought new customers to the restaurant, he would pull Jeffries aside. “He’ll tell us to give it to them hot, don’t give it to them mild. You don’t know if he’s their worst enemy or what!”
Purcell also set Prince’s up with free advertising, making them the face of the new hot-chicken trend. “Why?” Jeffries asks. “Because he knows I have to pay my bills.”
Purcell was looking for a way to celebrate the city, which was approaching its bicentennial.
“Hot chicken is truly our indigenous food,” he explains. “It seemed a way to convene the city around something special to us, worth celebrating but also allowed everybody to participate.”
He founded a festival committee, and they decided to put the festivities in East Park, which is near the entrance to East Nashville. This meant it was close to downtown, but it wouldn’t be swallowed up by other events happening in the city.
“And I was the mayor,” Purcell adds, with a little smirk. “East Park was close to where I live.”
The festival quickly grew in popularity, introducing people to the dish. Hot-chicken cooking contests became part of events around the city. New hot-chicken restaurants were founded, most of them run by young white men in popular gentrifying districts.
Isaac Beard was the first of the new generation of hot-chicken restaurateurs. He opened Pepperfire Chicken in 2010.
“I believe I was born to do something with hot chicken,” he told food columnists Jane and Michael Stern. “I am a hot-chicken evangelist.”
The most successful of these new ventures is Hattie B’s, owned by Nick Bishop Jr. and his dad Nick Sr. The first Hattie B’s opened in 2012 in Midtown, right in the heart of a new, hip area.
“Hattie B’s is almost in both Music Row (the area where country recording studios are located) and the campuses of both Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities, making it a much nicer area than Prince’s seedy strip mall,” food blogger Dan Angell wrote of his visit there. “The idea of being in a more protected area was appealing to us, and since you can’t go through Nashville without having experienced hot chicken, Hattie B’s was the choice.” Soon, the Midtown location had a loyal following. They opened a new spot on the edge of a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood once known as the Nations, which developers are trying to force us to rename Historic West Town.
I asked Andre Prince Jeffries if she’s worried about losing her customers.
“My customers, they try all these different places that are popping up,” she says. “They come right back here. Might take ’em a little while, but they come back to the real thing. They tell me all the time, ‘You still got it.’ ’Course that makes me feel good. Have mercy.” Her only question, she insists, is which family member will take the restaurant next.
Nashville’s Original Hot Chicken Is From Prince’s, A Legendary Family Restaurant
FAQ
What is the most famous Nashville Hot Chicken?
Hattie B’s – Debatably the most well-known Hot Chicken spot, Hattie B’s helped bring Nashville Hot Chicken to the main stage.Mar 15, 2024
Which hattie b’s is the original?
The original Hattie B’s location opened in the Midtown neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee, on August 9, 2012. The restaurant chain was founded by Nick Bishop Sr. and his son, Nick Bishop Jr., though the family’s roots in the hot chicken business began earlier at a different establishment.
Who is the creator of Nashville Hot Chicken?
Thornton Prince is credited with inventing Nashville hot chicken in the 1930s, with the popular dish evolving from his family’s restaurant, Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, in Nashville. According to the story, his spurned lover tried to get revenge by making him an extra spicy fried chicken, but he loved it so much that he perfected the recipe and opened his restaurant, according to the official Prince’s website and Fox News.
Who started Nashville Hot?