NashvilleTN Live NashvilleTN Live

Hot chickenEast Nashville$$$$

Brave Idiot

A Main Street truck that critics rate for both its hot chicken and its Crispy Boi smashburger. Carry your order into a neighboring bar.

Brave Idiot
Photo: Brave Idiot

#5 in Hot chicken#9 in Burgers

Google 4.9 358 reviewsYelp 4.8 46 reviews

Hot chickenLocals' favorite

Directions

What to get

  • Chicken tenders at level 4
  • Hot chicken sandwich with pimento cheese and pepper relish on a Charpier's bun
  • Crispy Boi double smashburger (add lettuce and tomato)
  • Picksey Chick (a tender in a dill-pickle boat)

When to go

Pair it with a drink: you can carry your food into neighboring No Quarter or Hubba Hubba (Eater). Hours are posted on social media, not the website.

Insider tip

Show a photo of your cat at the window for a discount (Infatuation).

Heads up

It's a truck: limited seating and no posted hours.

Find it

Reservations
walk-in only

Recognition

Checked Oct. 1, 2026. Ratings are a snapshot from Google and Yelp; ranks are ours (how we rank). Something out of date? Tell us.

Eat & Drink

More in Hot chicken

  • #1Hot chicken · Midtown

    Hattie B's Hot Chicken

    The hot chicken most visitors try first: a clear heat scale, good sides and a line that keeps moving.

  • #2Hot chicken + bar · East Nashville

    Party Fowl

    Hot chicken for a crowd: big tables, boozy slushies, and an East Nashville location open until 1 AM on weekends.

  • #3Hot chicken · South Nashville

    Prince's Hot Chicken Shack

    The family that started Nashville hot chicken, still frying it on Nolensville Pike. A plain room and serious heat.

  • #4Hot chicken · Midtown

    Red's 615 Chicken

    A walk-up window a block from Centennial Park, doing hot chicken and a hot chicken crunchwrap with its own following.

  • #6Hot chicken counter · North Nashville

    400 Degrees

    Owner Aqui Hines deep-fries her hot chicken instead of pan-frying it, for an extra-crunchy crust. A small counter on Clarksville Pike.

  • #7Hot chicken + hot fish · East Nashville

    Bolton's Famous Hot Chicken & Fish

    A Main Street counter where locals come for the hot fish as much as the chicken.

Back to Eat & Drink

The NashvilleTN Insider · 10K+ readers

The best of Nashville, in your inbox.

The shows worth buying tickets for, what just opened, where happy hour is good right now, the weekend plan, and a heads-up before we go live.