What Are the Heat Levels at Hattie B’s?
- 2 sections
- 1 table
- 2 sources cited
Hattie B’s has six heat levels: Southern, Mild, Medium, Hot, Damn Hot, and Shut the Cluck Up, plus Sweet & Smoky, a dry rub with no heat. In the restaurant’s own description, Southern is the original “no heat” level, Hot is “our classic, true-blue ‘Nashville Hot’ heat level” and the biggest jump in spiciness is from Hot to Damn Hot. The top level, Shut the Cluck Up, blends cayenne, habanero, and ghost peppers to make the chicken “three times as spicy” as Damn Hot (Hattie B’s FAQ).
The Levels in Order
| Level | Hattie B's description |
|---|---|
| Southern | the original "no heat" level |
| Sweet & Smoky | the newest not-spicy option, a dry rub |
| Mild | where "a lot of folks start" for a little spice |
| Medium | a step up toward Hot |
| Hot | the classic "Nashville Hot" level |
| Damn Hot | a habanero-forward heat; the biggest jump from the level below |
| Shut the Cluck Up | cayenne, habanero, and ghost peppers; "Only for the most extreme heat-seekers" |
For a sense of scale, Wikipedia’s Scoville table puts cayenne at 25,000 to 50,000 heat units, habanero at 100,000 to 350,000, and ghost pepper at about 1 million (Wikipedia).
Ordering Tips from the Restaurant
- Start where you’re comfortable, as Hattie B’s recommends.
- Get one spicier tender with your milder ones if you want to test your limit and keep a safe option, a suggestion from the same FAQ.
- Grilled works too. Hattie B’s says it will grill tenders or a sandwich to order and spice them to any level, from Southern to Shut the Cluck Up.
- Mind the jump from Hot to Damn Hot, which the restaurant calls the biggest step on its scale.
How Prince’s scale compares is in the heat levels at Prince’s, and why the heat lingers is in how spicy hot chicken really is.