Posted by Michael Stern on May 13, 2007
I cannot absolutely say that Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville serves the best fried chicken on earth, given that this planet is also home to Keaton's, Stroud's, the Blue Willow Inn, Chicken on the Way, Brenda's Diner, and the Bon Ton Mini Mart; but if I did declare it #1, I would sleep well at night. It is spectacular.
First, a word of warning: It is not for all aficionados of fried chicken which, generally speaking, is a gentle-tempered comfort-food dish. This bird is h-o-t. Of the four degrees of Scoville scale pain Prince's offers, even mild packs a punch; hot made my eyes water and lips tingle; frankly, I chickened out on trying extra-hot. Unlike typical hot wings, these quarters and halves are not bathed in sticky hot sauce; they are relatively dry and ferociously seasoned down to the bone; and their crust, which strips off in luxurious patches that are equal measures crunch and chew, is radiant with red-orange spice. It's salty but not throat-parching; and the miracle of it is that the flavor of plush chicken imbued with plenty of natural schmaltz (chicken fat) bursts right through the heat.
One woman in the parking lot told Jane and me that she ate lunch – extra-hot – at Prince's Tuesday through Saturday (it is closed Sunday and Monday), and that the one time when she got home and discovered she accidentally had been given a paper bag full of mild, she drove the 30 minutes back to Prince's to exchange it for the right stuff.
All meals come from the kitchen in brown paper bags, even if you plan to dine at one of the few tables in the storefront restaurant, where seats are scarce at mealtime. You will always wait for your food because there are no heat lamps here; every order is made as it is called back to the kitchen.
At first, when 55 of us from the Roadfood Nashville eating marathon tour arrived, I thought we might have made a mistake to consider this little place a good choice for so many people. The staff seemed to be overwhelmed. It took over 30 minutes for the people at the back of the line to get their chicken, and some got breast quarters when they wanted leg-thigh quarters. But such inconveniences are utterly trivial in the presence of fried chicken greatness.
Overall: Worth driving from anyplace
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Reviewers "Must Eats" List
"Leg Quarter, extra hot. This is fried chicken to dream about, and good reason to consider relocating to Nashville. We devoured even the soft white bread because so much chicken juice and spice soaked in and made it delicious. (Bruce Bilmes photo)"
Michael Stern
"Forget princehood. Here is the King of Chicken!"
Michael Stern
