400 Degrees Hot Chicken in Nashville !

This past weekend we took a road trip to Nashville and the surrounding area. My main mission? My first ever taste of Nashville's famous "Hot Chicken." After reading several reviews and doing my homework, my restaurant of choice was 400 Degrees Hot Chicken. I chose wisely!

Due to two baseball teams getting there before me, unfortunately they were out of breast quarters. I opted for the chicken strips instead and they were a great substitute. The fries were dusted with paprika/cayenne.

Without a doubt, these were the MOST PERFECT BAKED BEANS I've ever had in my life. True story people.  You can trust me on this one.

Now, before we go any further your next question may be, "What is Hot Chicken?" Here's a quick lesson:

Although the components of the dish largely remain the same, the preparation of the dish can differ greatly.A pressure fryer or deep fryer can be used, although most restaurants serve a pan fried product. Nearly all hot chicken is marinated in buttermilk to impart flavor and to retain the meat's juices upon frying. Some preparations of hot chicken are breaded and fried after application of the spice paste; the more traditional method has the paste applied immediately after the chicken is removed from the fryer.

A typical Nashville-style hot chicken spice paste has two key ingredients: lard and cayenne pepper. The two are mixed together, three parts pepper to one part lard, and heated until they form a thick sauce. Some restaurants vary the composition of the paste, adding sugar, garlic, or additional hot sauce. The paste is applied to the fried chicken by the server using a spoon and latex gloves; it is lightly squeezed into the finished chicken by hand. The heat level of the chicken can be varied by the preparer by reducing or increasing the amount of paste applied.  

At 400 Degrees, as the name suggests, you can choose from 0 degrees, 100 degrees for mild, 200 degrees for medium and 400 degrees....well. Let's just say that 200 degree version was plenty hot for me.  

Harold chose the leg quarter and cole slaw. Each entree has white bread under the chicken and is served with pickle slices. The cole slaw was crisp and crunchy.

And here's a picture of one of my chicken strips. These are not little wimpy chicken strips either. They were large and perfectly fried.

As with all things great....patience is a virtue. We were told when ordering that it would take about 45 minutes to fry the chicken. True to their word, at 43 minutes, our order was ready.  

The location is convenient (within easy walking distance) of The District in Nashville and the owner, Aqui Simpson, was attentive to every customer, making sure that everything was satisfactory with every order.

She graciously agreed to a photo op with me. I've made a new friend in Nashville! Hopefully, I'll be back to see her soon.