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Fri-Sat. 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
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Awesome chicken, go with the MILD as other reviewers have stated for your first try at this place. YELP has proven worthy of advice. REALLY AWESOME!
The rest of the place needs a big bottle of PURELL.
It is also worth the adventure. The GF and I went last night and someone had crashed their car into the next store front which was empty and was some fried fish place (Luckily no one was hurt, but it did cause a stir). Guess they couldn't wait to get some chicken, either.
Prince's is like a beautiful flower that smells like a human anus.
The chicken is amazing! No argument, but the service is worst than bad. Nothing is more tragic than a resturaunt that makes great food but is served by apathetic and lazy people.
The Yelper concensus is that you should visit this place, like going to see Transformers 2 at the theater. But no one ever says "I feel like waiting over an hour for some chicken tonight for supper." This is not a place that you're going to ever regularly visit. It is a BAD business. Go there once and get it out of your system.
I propose that we Yelpers try to figure out how they cook their chicken and get some one else w/ a work ethic to open up their own shop in Nashville.
C'mon, I post it as a challenge to you foodies out there.
This is what my guess is:
-Deep fried in vegetable oil
However the oil dripped onto the wonderbread comes out orange, which makes me believe that there is chili powder in the oil. Idk.
-The paste is something simple: I think it is mostly chili powder. Plus it's old chili powder which would explain some of the reviews saying that the extra hot was bitter.
-The coating is dense so it's probably just flour w/ a little bit of corn starch.
I have risked my life many a night to come to this beacon of Ghetto Fabulousness for the Extra Hot. And for the Pimp and Ho- watching, which makes the hour and a half wait as enjoyable as watching a movie in which every single character is played by Eddie Murphy.
On my last foray, at 2:00am on a Saturday Night, we were approached at our table by a pleasantly drunk man sporting a bandolier of knockoff colognes for sale.
My brother comes from Rhode Island several times a year for this stuff, and my foodie boyfriend actually relocated to NashVegas from the SF Bay Area after this chicken first made sweet-sweet -love to his taste buds. (He tries to say it was *me*, but I know better, and I have watched him steadily gain 30 lbs over the past year. I keep threatening to spike his Extra Hot with Lipitor). The chicken is so hot, my brother's glasses fog up on the *inside* while he eats it. He also brings his own pint of milk to cool off his mouth.
Prepare to laugh, prepare to wait, prepare to have the hottest chicken you ever wrapped your lips around...and prepare to WASH YOUR HANDS *BEFORE AND AFTER* YOU GO TO THE BATHROOM!
The complaints are all valid -- it's a dump, the set-up is strange, and, let's face it, the service is lousy. But the chicken, man...it's every bit about the chicken (I prefer the medium). It's amazing. Just ask Yo La Tengo if you don't believe me.
All of that said, I did have a "bad" experience once when the chicken was a little bit too far on the greasy side. No worries. All the other times it's made me happy as hell. Do it.
Dirty hole in the wall chicken shack (serious, its dirty, I recommending bringing your own hand sanitizer since the chicken is finger lickin good) . Damn good chicken that will make your eyes bleed with spicy delight! Try the Chess Pie for dessert.
Be prepared to wait 20-45 minutes for your food.
The sign says "HOT" chicken, and they aren't lying.
My buddy ordered the hot, then I ordered the medium. The woman at the counter was like, "Glad you got some sense, boy". Damn!
Some dudes in there heard my buddy got the hot, and they were oohin and ahhing and throwin out "dammmmmmmmnnnn"... so you know it's hot when it's hot for the locals.
That to say, the chicken was pretty amazing. It pushed the limits of fried chicken. It was extremely tender, fall off the bone. The fried exterior was perfect, the medium spice hot but not debilitating.
Since 1945, they've been getting down and dirty with serving the best hot chicken around... so don't expect them to stop now.
These places don't exist in a lot of the USA, so if you're around Nashville and want an authentic legit place filled with old school urban ambience and some amazing chicken... you can't miss out on this place!
Thanks to Yelp I was lucky enough to find out about this place. At first, I was curious how come this place had such good ratings.... So on my first time trip to Nashville from LA, I sought out this place.
Now the hours are a lil funky.... when I found this place it was closed. Not sure why it was closed but is was closed. So I came back 2 days later. And boy I was glad I did. This place is a shack, but it's not run down or anything.... but not a date place either. You come here to get your hot chicken. It's hot as in spicy but not TOO crazy spicy. I was trying to compare it with Arnold's that I had a few days before but it's hard to compare. It's cooked just right and so juicy with the right amount of kick to it. I wanted to order a few more but I knew my arteries didn't want to handle it. If I lived in Nashville.... I'd be coming here A LOT..... and pack on several pounds.... in a week. When I go back to Nashville.... i'm coming back.
You kiddin' me? Tennessee has at least TWO places that has orgasm-inducing fried chicken? What else are you guys hiding from me? As other yelpers have noted, this chicken is HOT. Don't underestimate the spiceness. I usually will get chicken hot but tried medium on this one and the medium on this one is hotter than the hottest in most other places. The chicken is sooo flavorful. I don't know how they do it. The outside is crispy and buttery and the inside has soft meat that falls off the bone. Their side dishes are also amazing. Best cole slaw I've had in a longgg time. They are also very good about being flexible with their closing time. We kept ordering food after closing and they didn't seem to mind! Now that's a good place!
I'm not sure why this place has such rave reviews. My foodie buddy even recommended it years ago before I'd even heard of it on yelp.
This place is a ghetto hole in the wall which is perfectly fine, since I've eaten at some amazing little hole in the wall spots, but this one was just not that great.
I mean the whole spicy fried chicken thing is novel - I dont think I've seen it anywhere else, so I see the appeal there, but the spiciness is this red paste they put on the chicken which tasted kinda fake. I agree with those who say dont go above medium because then it just tastes kinda nasty and bitter. I love spiciness, so it was kinda cool at first sweatin to the hot chicken with the hot spice, but it lost its novelty pretty quick.
They serve the chicken with white (wonder?) bread and pickles to help temper the spice, so good call by those who say extra pickles.
There is really nothing else worth mentioning besides the chicken. The fries are standard and the beans were goopy. Some guy came up to us while we were eating with a fake story asking for money adding to the ghettoness.
Ultimately, I'm all about the food and the chicken just wasnt that great. It was basic fried chicken with fake spice. Maybe I'm a snobby Californian, but there are plenty of places in Cali with way better fried chicken - like Honey Kettle for example.
to the girl that thought she was too good to deal with the wait everyone else has to deal with... you knew that going in. if you knew enough to post a review here, then one should hope you knew enough to KNOW that you would wait for a while here. anyway...
this place has chicken lovingly prepared by angels. angels that pan fry chicken that derives its spice from what can only be a baptism in capsaicin. now i'm not one for super mega spiciness, so of course there was some serious hesitation in trying this RED ass chicken. also of note, i don't really care much for fried food either. imagine my surprise when i discovered that some of the best chicken on earth is (gasp) FRIED!! i can't pile on enough superlatives to describe the taste of this chicken, but be warned:
this shit is HOTTT
and i mean savage hot. but the flavor is there in spades. i recommend everyone check this place out, and please don't think you get your food without waiting, because you're not that special.
eric b
Oh my God - this is the best fried chicken I've ever had. I call in my order on the way into Nashville (I stop by on my way to Louisville from Atlanta) so that I don't have to wait long. They fry the chicken to order, so you'll have to wait on it otherwise.
You've got to be completely insane to try the hot stuff. It's mind-numbing. (I did it once. I like pretty hot food, but i stick to medium.) If you're not into hot stuff, order the mild and avoid the crust. The meat doesn't absorb much spice, and it'll be the best you've ever tasted.
FYI, the chicken is really awesome the next day, too. I think the meat soaks up more of the flavor from the crust. I always get two halves when i go so that I can eat one hot and save one for the next day.
Wow, where does one start with such an amazing place. Well, if you like hot food, this is, without a doubt, the best fried chicken in the world.
But it's so much more than that. It's extremely addictive. As someone that now lives in New York, I can only dream about having that chicken. When my friend drove from Nashville to New York, I paid him 50 bucks to buy a whole chicken and bring it back for me in tupper ware surrounded by ice. It lost a bit of it's heat, but it was still excellent. The point being, I will do a lot to get my hands on this chicken.
The first time I went there I wasn't sure what to expect. I love hot food so I ordered the Extra Hot. Then I waited, and I waited, and I waited, and I waited, until finally my chicken was ready. The first bite I had I knew this was no joke. I did my best to finish it, but by the end I couldn't handle the skin anymore. Anyways, I went back several times and ordered the chicken medium. This was perfect. It's still extremely hot, but one can handle it. You still sweat a bit when you eat it and get that spicy food high when you're finished.
Lastly, in case it wasn't obvious, the service is hilariously bad and the restaurant itself is not the most beautiful place in the world. But if you know that going in, then no big deal. That wait will be more than worthwhile when you do finally get your chicken. If there were 10 stars, I would give it to Prince's.
This place is a Nashville legend and the original home of hot chicken, a style of food indigenous to Nashville... a style of food that was originally made as punishment for a man who was sneakin' around on his lady. For those really interested in the history, watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com...
Hours vary, usually opening around noon (keyword: "around") and closing at 4 am. I'd recommend going for lunch and trying to arrive maybe 15 minutes til noon so you can go ahead and get in line. Once the doors open and you've made your order, expect to wait at least 15-20 minutes to get your food. Seating is sparse with maybe six booths at most. Those new to hot chicken should order mild on the first visit. Get two or three cups of water; you'll need them because you'll feel like your face is on fire. Also, as Emily suggested, get extra pickles! It somehow helps cool you down.
I wouldn't care if this chicken literally did induce an orgasm ...I'm not waiting around an hour and a half for take-out. Now, let me make the disclaimer that we did not, in fact, eat the chicken since we left before our order was up (we waited 45 minutes and they had gotten 8---yeah, EIGHT orders out in that time and we had 12 more ahead of us). So, if you want to run the risk of wasting a shitload of your time, go for it. I got better things to do...like check out the other hot chicken shack and hoping they put a little effort into their customer service.
Wow. This chicken is the real deal.
My wife tried to order it spicy, and she was advised to try the medium first. It was good advice, and I recommend it for anyone trying Prince's for the first time. Even if you love spicy food, the medium doesn't mess around.
It's fiery delicious.
The service set up is a bit strange. You have to go behind what looks like a counter to go to a window. It seemed a little pricey as a "breast" piece was over five bucks, so we decided to order the medium "half chicken" and got it to go, with slaw and beans. When we got the bag, it must have weighed as much as a sack of potatoes.
We drove to our hotel twenty minutes away, then had to suffer through horrible check in service. By the time we got to our chicken, somehow it was still steaming hot! Turns out the "half" was two whole breast quarters with wings and a whole leg and thigh quarter. It was incredibly crisp and juicy. The spice had a delicous slow burn. It ruined me for normal chicken forever. The slaw was not good, but the beans were sweet, smokey and awesome. We were so stuffed I wound up eating the third piece for breakfast the next day and it was still crunchy! Amazing.
The food was steaming hot. You can order mild med or hot I ordered mild my bro-in-law ordered hot and it was hottttt. The place is a dive close your eyes or else you won't eat there. Overall I thought the food was just ok. My husband, sis,and bro-n-law thought it was great. We didn't wait that long.
Hands down, some of the best chicken in Nashville. This place is a Nashville institution, having been around for ever. I get a quarter chicken with white meat, and not too hot. Watch it because Princes makes their chicken extremely spicy it akin to eating 10 jalapeño peppers, seriously you will be breathing fire afterwards. But seriously, this is probably the best chicken that you can get in Nashville, if you can handle the heat! For lunch it is imperative that you get there early, because this place gets dominated by massive crowds of people.
Prince's Chicken is not even two minutes from my house, cause I live on Ewing Drive. I've been eating it since I was in this world. Friends of the family have owned that place forever. BEST CHICKEN IN TOWN, honestly. You can tell whoever otherwise but you'd be a lie. If you're trying to stay on your diet...get the hell awayyyy. haha. The food is greasy, but delicious. Call in and order before you get there though, or else you'll wait a while. Friday nights...it's ridiculous trying to get your food right away, but the wait is most def worth it. Just remember try to go EARLY...seriously. call in and order ahead of time, but Prince's will defiantly have your mouth watering for more.
We tried the medium and x-hot. The skin was amazingly crispy and we found the medium to be quite spicy already, but really flavorful. The chicken was moist and tender. The x-hot was totally drenched in this spicy paste that made it a bit bitter and masked all the flavor -- not recommended.
If you have to narrow your culinary adventures in Nashville down to just one, go to Prince's Hot Chicken Shack. It's been around since 1945 and serves up the best hot chicken in town. Be forewarned: this is not a nice restaurant in terms of decor or location but the food is incredible. A trip to Prince's requires patience (you'll be waiting in line no matter what time you show up) and preparation (order extra pickles and a side of fries to help deflect the spiciness) but it's worth the hassle. Dining at Prince's is a true food experience.
Every time I visit we get our fix here. Im a Princes fried chicken addict.....will toss your salad for Princes!
This place looks cool. Too bad I was broke when my friends decided to go there and I was in the car. I got a coke. Everyone else got big pieces of meaty chicken, red and crispy on the outside and juicy and steamy on the inside, and seasoned french fries and bread and pickles and what not. They said it was spicy but good. I said I wasn't hungry, but I stole a couple of my friend's fries. They were pretty good. I mean, she said I could have some so I guess I didn't steal them eh. Nobody pretty much finished their whole meal, but I wasn't going to be a marty moocher so I just sat there and sniffed all the good smells in. I had some water too. That was good, too. I like how the interior is comfortable and slightly greasy and homemade looking. I felt like I didn't have to worry about messing up the furniture like when I'm at the furniture store or my friend dave's house with all the expensive white modern stuff.
So I ended up at Prince Hot Chicken after reading all the hubbub on Yelp! And PS: it was a fantastic idea. I doubt this place has a very high health rating code, which is a fact I could overlook mostly because it felt so genuine and the minute I walked in I knew I was going to be getting some good chicken. Ok so let me describe this place: it's a shack, there are about 5 white pew bench seat booths, and there is a whole in the wall where you order food that will most likely have a woman holding a child taking orders (seriously, how fantastic does that sound?). I ordered a half chicken- hot!, a side of beans and a side of potato salad, that ran me about 14 dollars and then pigged out for about half an hour. The chicken was spicy, fried, and delicious, and though the side portions are small, the black beans were so incredibly good I didn't care. It took forever to get our food, but the place is so gosh darn colorful, that again I didn't really care. It was the most amazing people watching, fantastic fried chicken, ridiculously good beans, and all in all an experience in itself. You have to try it!
Had the chicken, it was all that. Ordered medium, which was spicy enough to make my nose run a bit but not full on tears. Juicy meat too. The wait was not terrible though i did fear for our safety having to wander the block trying to get change for $100 bill that they would not take. Would definitely go back when in Nashville, but will probably bring along a bodyguard.
Best fried chicken I've ever had. Their sides are good too. Note, however that the "mild" is not really mild. And that you can order the chicken "plain." But the plain, will still taste non-plain. Best to eat it hot and there! However, it's way too temperature-hot to eat there in the summer. Cash only, and even if you call ahead, they won't starting cooking your order until you get there and pay.
I was in Nashville for the very first time a few weeks ago. Before I dropped in, I asked some online friends recommendations for places to eat. At the top of the list was Prince's Hot Chicken Shack. However, they warned me NOT to order the "hot" version. With snow flurries dancing across the city, I braved the weather and traffic and made a beeline from Brentwood to Prince's on the north side of town. I got lost once or twice along the way, but finally found the shack -- tucked into a nondescript strip mall off the main drag. As it turned out, Prince's doesn't open 'til 12noon (actually, about 12:15 on that particular day), and I was half an hour early. I parked my car, got out, and was the second in a line that grew to about 20 frozen people before the doors opened. To make a long story short, I ended up ordering a hot (I'm not going all the way to Prince's freakin' HOT CHICKEN Shack just to order mild!) quarter chicken -- dark -- along with a side of fries. Man o' man -- the best chicken I have had in my life, bar none. For me, "hot" turned out to be perfect. The fries were good and the white bread soaking up all that yummy chicken juice and hot stuff was the icing on this protein-packed cake. If you're in Nashville, then skip the Colonel, Churches, Popeye's, and -- yes -- even the venerated Loveless Cafe. Run -- don't walk -- to Prince's and be prepared for the ultimate chicken experience!
I used to go to Prince's every Saturday for a half-dark hot with extra pickles. It was glorious. Prince's is one of my Nashville favorites.
Hot chicken is maybe the only food that Nashville can claim to do best, and Prince's is the gold standard. Order extra bread and pickles (they'll help cool you down). Medium hot will make you cry, but in a good way. The flavor is deep and unfolding in its complexity ....it's a party in your mouth that you'll never forget.
As I understand, "Hot Chicken" is a gastronomic delight which is unique to Nashville. Hot chicken is skillet fried chicken with plenty of spice, mainly Cayenne pepper I believe. It comes in varying degrees of heat from mild to xtra hot. Typically I like my food nice and hot, but I found that the medium is plenty hot for me. This place is out of the way and in a kinda shady part of town, but definitely well worth visiting. All of the sides I had were great: cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans and exceptional pickles. It was all quite a bargain, all the afore mentioned sides plus a half chicken for under 12 bucks; too much food for two people. If I ever return to Nashville, I will take the time to return to Princes'.
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Category: Southern
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