There is no consensus, which is itself the most Nashville answer possible. The city’s hot chicken debate has been ongoing for over a decade and locals align themselves along lines that reveal as much about who they are as which chicken is objectively better.
The Two Camps That Actually Matter
Locals who grew up eating hot chicken before the tourist economy found it tend to go to Prince’s. Kahlil Arnold, chef and owner of Arnold’s Country Kitchen, calls Prince’s the OG and says 99 percent of Nashville agrees with him. Edgar Victoria, who runs the Alebrije food truck empire in Nashville, echoes the same sentiment. For this cohort, Prince’s is not a choice made because the chicken is necessarily better on any given day. It is the restaurant you go to because it is where the dish comes from, and eating there is an act of fidelity to the tradition.
Locals who discovered hot chicken after Hattie B’s opened in 2012, which includes a significant portion of the city’s transplant population, tend to split between Hattie B’s and the smaller spots that occupy the middle ground between institutional and tourist-facing. They go to Hattie B’s because the experience is reliable and the sides are good, or they go to 400 Degrees, Bolton’s, or Red’s Hot Chicken because they want something with fewer lines and more character.
The Spots Locals Mention When Tourists Are Not Listening
The Tripadvisor forums where Nashville locals answer tourist questions consistently mention several spots that do not appear in mainstream travel coverage: 400 Degrees at 3704 Clarksville Pike in North Nashville’s Bordeaux neighborhood, which has a devoted following among serious hot chicken eaters; Helen’s in North Nashville near Fisk University, cited for heat consistency and never-dry chicken; and Red’s Hot Chicken on 27th Ave N, which The Infatuation has elevated to the top of their Nashville rankings and which has no meaningful wait time.
Bolton’s on Main Street in East Nashville gets strong local support despite some inconsistency noted in recent reviews. The restaurant’s history as the second oldest serious hot chicken spot in the city gives it credibility that newer operations cannot replicate, and on its best days it is the most intensely flavored chicken available anywhere in Nashville.
The Honest Local Position
Most people who have lived in Nashville for a decade or more have a personal hierarchy they defend with the conviction of a sports allegiance. Asking for the definitive local preference is like asking which Nashville bar has the best live music. The correct answer depends entirely on who you ask and what kind of experience they are trying to have.
What locals broadly agree on: Hattie B’s is good and they will admit it, but they will not call it the best. Prince’s is the original and that matters even when the chicken is uneven. The spots with no wait time and fewer tourists are often the ones worth visiting. The hot chicken worth eating is rarely the hot chicken most prominently advertised to visitors.
Sources
- Eat This, Not That, “5 Best Hot Chicken Spots In Nashville In 2024,” https://www.eatthis.com/best-hot-chicken-in-nashville/
- Tripadvisor Nashville Forum, local perspectives, https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g55229-i154-k13582921-BestNashvilleHot_Chicken
- The Infatuation Nashville, “The 9 Best Nashville Hot Chicken Restaurants, Ranked,” https://www.theinfatuation.com/nashville/guides/best-hot-chicken-restaurants-nashville
- H.D. Miller, “The Nashville Hot Chicken Rankings,” https://eccentricculinary.substack.com/p/the-nashville-hot-chicken-rankings
- Timeout Nashville, “11 Best Hot Chicken Spots in Nashville According To A Local,” https://www.timeout.com/nashville/restaurants/best-nashville-hot-chicken