Thursday, August 29, 2013

Hattie B's Hot Chicken

 The first meal that T and I had on our Nashville adventure was lunch at Hattie B's.   We were determined to hit up a non-touristy joint for our first meal in Music City.  There's nothing that I hate more than feeling like a tourist; I always want to do what the locals are doing.  We asked our friendly valet guys at the hotel for ideas of some places off the beaten path, and they suggested Hattie B's Hot Chicken.  He told us that they had great chicken, tasty sides, and a good selection of local microbrews.  We were sold. 


The menu is somewhat limited, so you only have a few choices to make when you get up to the counter to order.  I like that concept for a restaurant- figure out what you're good at and do just that.  I don't care about having a huge selection of food on the menu, I just want it to taste good.   So, first came the ordering of the chicken.  You choose small or large, white or dark.  Then you choose your heat.  The heat levels range from Mild all the way up to Shut The Cluck Up.  Don't you just love that?  We were forewarned that even the mild had some heat, so that's what I went with.  T had the medium, and almost regretted it.  We love spicy food, but Hattie B's don't mess around. 


Then it was time to order our sides. We chose the baked beans, potato salad, pimento mac and cheese, and southern greens and shared all four.  I'm a collard greens snob enthusiast, and these things were good. Cooked perfectly, not bitter, with just the right amount of pork flavor and a little bit of heat.  Potato salad and baked beans were also very good- pretty standard.  And the mac and cheese was awesome, but I've never met a mac and cheese that wasn't. 


This was a perfect way to start our trip, and it encouraged us to continue getting out of the downtown area for other meals. It's so easy to fall into those tourist traps on Broadway, but I know we would have regretted it.  If we had been in Nashville for longer than 3 days, we would have definitely gone back to Hattie B's a second time, it was just that good!

Hattie B's Hot Chicken on Urbanspoon

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