The original — the unassuming strip mall restaurant where Thornton Prince III invented Nashville hot chicken in the 1930s after his girlfriend allegedly added cayenne to his Sunday fried chicken as revenge. The historically significant hot chicken experience in the city.
Why It Belongs on the List
Prince's Hot Chicken Shack is where Nashville hot chicken was invented — the legend holds that in the 1930s, Thornton Prince III came home late one night to a furious girlfriend who laced his usual Sunday fried chicken with a quantity of cayenne she intended as punishment. He liked it so much he started selling it. Four generations of the Prince family have operated the restaurant since, and it is still run by André Prince Jeffries, Thornton's great-niece. The experience is deliberately unspectacular: a strip mall restaurant with plastic chairs, Styrofoam trays, and chicken cooked to order after a wait that can exceed an hour during peak times. The heat levels run to Xxtra Hot, which is described by regulars as a physiological event rather than merely a spicy food. The historically authentic hot chicken experience in the world.
What Stands Out
- The original Nashville hot chicken restaurant — where the dish was invented in the 1930s
- Four generations of the Prince family — currently run by André Prince Jeffries, Thornton's great-niece
- Xxtra Hot: not merely spicy — a physiological event, approach with respect
- Wait times can exceed an hour — part of the experience
- The historically significant hot chicken destination in the world