The story
Hot chicken is Nashville's own, rooted in the city's African American community. The best-known story belongs to the family of Thornton Prince, a man with a reputation as a ladies' man. Legend says that after one late night out, a girlfriend fried his breakfast chicken with a punishing dose of pepper as revenge, but he loved it, and by the mid-1930s he and his brothers were selling their own recipe at the BBQ Chicken Shack; some accounts date the shop to 1945. His great-niece André Prince Jeffries took over in 1980 and renamed it Prince's Hot Chicken Shack. The fiery style later spread far beyond Tennessee.
Also known as Nashville hot chicken, Nashville hot.
On the Meridish menu
Hot chicken was the main course on menu No. 14 on October 14, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Fried chicken painted with a fiery cayenne paste, served on white bread with pickles. Legend says a scorned girlfriend cooked it as revenge in the 1930s, but he loved it.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_chicken
- nashvillesites.org/tours/food-and-social-justice/princes-hot-chicken-shack
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
