The Great Nashville Hot Chicken Exploration

Attending the recent Music City Hot Chicken Festival, I was curious to try out Murfreesboro’s much touted hot chicken restaurant, The Chicken Shack. A full write-up of the festival is to come, but I thought I would first make comment on the restaurants and food which are always the primary focus of this blog.

The Chicken Shack is not technically in Nashville, which is why it was not previously included in our exploration. However, as they made the trip to the Music City Hot Chicken Festival carting a deep fryer, tent, and myriad heat-augmenting ingredients, I believe the NashvilleHotChicken.com team may have to hit the road soon. In any case, they were in Nashville for a day and so are now a part of Nashville Hot Chicken.

If swagger counts for anything, The Chicken Shack at least sounds like the best hot chicken in town. Lingering behind the tent trying to glean as much information as I could about their chicken, I had the good fortune of witnessing the festival judges taste testing The Chicken Shack’s best. Kenyatta Pumphrey, the owner of The Chicken Shack, prefaced the judges’ tasting by asking if they wanted the best chicken at the festival or the hottest, stating that both were available.

The “best” chicken I think will always be subject to conjecture, but I think after tasting The Shack’s “Iron Mike Death Row”chicken even I might stand behind Kenyatta and John (the other half of the The Chicken Shack’s culinary duo) saying they’ve got the hottest on lock down.

I hope you’re wondering, “Iron Mike Death Row–is that really a flavor?” as I did. Belying it’s strong name, the chicken looks very tasty and appealing. Looks however can be deceiving. After placing my order, an older gentleman asked the teenager taking orders what “Iron Mike” was like.

The teen replied simply, “Oh, you really don’t want that.”

I, however, had already ordered my basket of six wings and was prepared to take on whatever that meant.

I bought two 20 oz. bottles of water and found a shady place to eat my chicken. My tidy little cardboard box contained six large wings, very unlike the massive chicken breast quarters that you find at Bolton’s or Prince’s. The Shack was scaling down their menu for the festival.

I lifted the first wing to my mouth. The first bite revealed a good bit of heat and an excellent flavor: lots of spices, saltiness, and fair moistness for fried wings. I paused for a moment to savor the chicken (which was almost too hot to eat, having come out of the fryer only a few moments before). That pause was both the smartest and dumbest thing I had done all day.

This is the look of what I bit into. It looked to me like standard fare, seasoned fried chicken.  I should have known by the pungency of the scent that I was in store for much more.

You may note in the photo above that there are some darker patches on the surface of the chicken. Prying John and Kenyatta for information behind the scenes I found out that their seasoning includes a spice called African Bird Pepper (among many other things which they kept very mum about).

Rather than beat around the bush any further, I will say simply that, second only to Richie’s villainy the night we stopped there, The Chicken Shack has the hottest chicken I have ever eaten. I don’t say that as a clear endorsement though, because eating Iron Mike Death Row really is more like an endurance challenge than an enjoyable dining experience. Compared to Prince’s Extra Hot, Iron Mike Death Row wings are hotter at the peak of the heat and much, much, much longer lasting.

I sat in meditative silence for something like five minutes trying to come to grips with the intensity of the heat on my lips and in my mouth before giving up and making a quick walk over the the Farmer’s Market Watermelon booth. A donation and slice selection later I was feeling a bit of relief, though I have to say there was still a period of heat, not unlike a nuclear half-life where, though diminished by a factor, the heat was still very intense. Something like twenty minutes later I finally found myself able to talk and smile as I was before.

To Kenyatta and John–you’re evil, evil geniuses.

For those of you whom I’ve scared away from Iron Mike (or for those of you like me who will never eat it again unless forced at gunpoint), The Chicken Shack actually has delicious flavors that don’t veer into the gray area of cruel and unusual. Their “Slap Yo’ Mama” chicken (a clear reference to Friday After Next with Ice Cube) is a serious contender for best hot chicken you can eat. Unlike many of the places you will eat hot chicken, The Chicken Shack’s offerings all look like the yummy fried chicken you might recall from childhood. Chicken from places like Bolton’s or Prince’s can be a bit intimidating to a first timer, but The Chicken Shack offers familiar golden brown chicken with a kick as strong as your own boldness will lead you to attempt.

In the weeks to come, NashvilleHotChicken.com will be making a road trip to The Chicken Shack to try their fare in its native environment. Until then, look for a full write up of the Music City Hot Chicken Festival. And for the sake of your taste buds, remember what Kenyatta says about his hottest concoction–a bout with Iron Mike and in “45 seconds, you’re on the ropes.”