The Great Nashville Hot Chicken Exploration

Do not attempt to correct the color of your screen. This image you are seeing was taken under calibrated white balance with a very sharp lens. The chicken you see is exactly as the chicken appeared moments before we began devouring it. Bravely (stupidly?), I chose to take on what the proprietor of Bolton’s called “Lava Hot.” Though I will admit that the chicken was extremely hot, I am happy to include there was no shortage of flavor. As we ate, the conclusion was mutually arrived at that the chicken must have been brined.

I am about to make a strong statement: Bolton’s is better chicken than Prince’s. There are many who will post counterarguments, but having eaten Prince’s fare three times at three different times of the day and night, I can say that our one trip to Bolton’s around 7:30 P.M. yielded better, tastier chicken with more flavor in the meat and no shortage whatever of heat. In fact, enjoying my breast quarter, baked beans & cole slaw (both of which were very mediocre), and hot water cornbread I experience moments of zen and moments of strong discomfort due to the heat. After all, the lava hotness is not inappropriately named.

To further my argument that Prince’s cannot hold a candle to Bolton’s I will submit the following factors: 1) Bolton’s service was very friendly and inviting, a factor that Prince’s has been lauded for showing the opposite. 2) There was no line, and a relatively short wait for five servings of chicken and only one cook. Prince’s often has three or four cooks and the wait is still long, due to demand rather than inefficiency. 3) The chicken tastes better. While the crispy, succulent, flaming hot exterior of Prince’s is a rare indulgence, Bolton’s chicken does not lag at all in exterior heat and flavor. However, once you reach the heart of the breast quarter on a typical Prince’s portion, you are left with the typical, relatively flavorless (if still piping hot) chicken meat. At Bolton’s the chicken’s meat was flavorful throughout. Even while my mouth was scorching, my lips seared and numb, I was still tasting a somewhat salty, tender, very juicy chicken breast.

And as any true hot chicken lover can attest, the 4th factor is one that both makes and mars the chicken experience: the after-effects. I’ll skip the physiological terminology for the moment and write euphemistically on this issue. If, Prince’s chicken may be seen as a par of very high quality hot chicken, the one thing that makes it difficult to part take of regularly is the ravaging a full portion does to your digestive system. Never once while enjoying Prince’s did I escape an equally flaming trip to the loo. You simply take it in stride, you sweat it (both euphemistically and otherwise), you grip whatever you have handy to grip while moving things along, and you emerge victorious though not unscathed. With Bolton’s however, despite the fact that I undertook the so-called “Lava Hot” chicken, I can say that my post-chicken pit stop was no worse than when I enjoy the mild or medium chicken at Prince’s. How is this possible? I have no idea. Nor do I have any idea why five orders at Bolton’s took 5 individual confirmations from the order taker spaced out through the duration of our visit, the last of which occurring even after some of us had received our chicken.

Digression aside, the fact is that Bolton’s chicken will flame you once and warm you later, where Prince’s will flame you once and more than flame you shortly thereafter. For my money, Bolton’s is the superior establishment.

Where to next? None can say, but check back after Wednesday and we will see where the hot chicken takes us.

A Few Pics from the Bolton’s Experience