What Is the Difference Between Prince’s and Hattie B’s?

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Prince’s is the family restaurant credited with originating Nashville hot chicken; Hattie B’s is a newer chain that has spread to several cities. The family of André Prince Jeffries is generally credited as the dish’s originator (Wikipedia), and Jeffries rebranded the family’s BBQ Chicken Shack as Prince’s Hot Chicken in 1980 (Resy). Hattie B’s lists locations in Nashville and in other Southern and Midwestern cities, among them Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Chicago, Dallas, and Memphis (Hattie B’s). The practical differences for your order are the heat scale and the menu: Prince’s runs from plain to XXX-Hot, and Hattie B’s from Southern, with no heat, to Shut the Cluck Up.

Side by Side

Prince's Hot Chicken Hattie B's Hot Chicken
History the family credited with the dish; renamed Prince's in 1980 (Wikipedia; Resy) a multi-city chain (its site)
Heat scale plain, mild, medium, hot, and extra hot in Jeffries's 2020 account; eight levels from plain to XXX-Hot per Garden & Gun in 2025 Southern, Mild, Medium, Hot, Damn Hot, Shut the Cluck Up, plus no-heat Sweet & Smoky
Owner's or restaurant's guidance Jeffries: people who want it hot order medium "because our medium is pretty hot" Hot is "our classic, true-blue 'Nashville Hot' heat level"; the biggest jump is from Hot to Damn Hot
The Infatuation, October 2026 tenders and a sandwich with a sweet heat sauce; tagged as a classic establishment "a consistently cooked bird just about every single time"; tagged for sitting outside
Nashville locations named on their sites Nolensville Pike, 5055 Broadway, Cane Ridge Parkway, BNA, Jefferson Street Midtown, West, Lower Broad, Melrose

Sources: Garden & Gun, March 2025; Prince’s locations; The Infatuation.

Which to Choose

  1. For the history of the dish, go to Prince’s.
  2. For a scale you can read before you go, Hattie B’s, whose site names and describes every level, including a no-heat option; Prince’s posts its menu as an image.
  3. For a heat comparison, do not assume the same name means the same heat at both; start low at each.

Each scale in detail is in the heat levels at Prince’s and the heat levels at Hattie B’s, and other spots are in the best hot chicken spots in Nashville.

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