Hot chickenSouth 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.
#3 in Hot chicken
What to get
- Leg quarter (dark), Medium: the most consistent item (Infatuation)
- The Andre Chicken Sandwich with sweet-heat sauce over ranch, slaw piled on top (named to Infatuation's best sandwiches in America)
- Tenders by the piece in different heat levels to taste the ladder
- Crinkle-cut seasoned fries
When to go
Weekday lunch: Infatuation calls the South shop a quick-moving, fast-casual line good for a fast lunch. Closed Sundays. If you're downtown, the Assembly Food Hall counter is tucked on the second floor and the line is 'often fairly short' (Eater).
Insider tip
Shaded tables outside at Nolensville Pike for nice days. The downtown Assembly Food Hall counter is open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
Heads up
Infatuation flags inconsistency (a dry or salty piece is possible), and the South location is a strip-mall drive from downtown. The original 'shack' atmosphere left with the Ewing Drive location.
Find it
- Phone
- (615) 810-9388
- Website
- princeshotchicken.com
- Reservations
- walk-in only
Recognition
- Nashville Scene Best of Nashville 2025, Readers' Poll: Best Hot Chicken (winner; Hattie B's second)
- Nashville Scene Best of Nashville 2024, Readers' Poll: Best Hot Chicken (second place)
- James Beard Foundation America's Classics award
- Nashville Scene City Guide: 'the yardstick by which everyone measures hot chicken in Nashville'
- Nashville Scene Food & Drink Issue 'Strip Mall Gems': critic Chris Chamberlain calls it 'the first, the best and the one I suggest'
- The Infatuation Hot Chicken Power Rankings: #6 (7.6)
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 Something out of date?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.
-
#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.
-
#5Hot chicken · East 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.
-
#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.
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.