The United States Of Hot Chicken

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We've been huge proponents of hot chicken for a while here at Food Republic. In case you haven't had the pleasure, the original Nashville dish consists of a chicken breast, thigh and/or wing marinated in buttermilk, breaded and sauced with a heavily spiced, cayenne pepper–based paste and pan-fried before being served with pickles over white bread.

Biting in yields a burn quite unlike any you've ever experienced. The spice sticks to and around your lips and lingers for long, long minutes, scalding both your tongue and the back of your throat. Your eyes water with tears of pain, your sinuses are immediately cleared and your entire face feels some sort of masochistic pleasure...and that's just from a medium heat level. Somehow, despite the full-body discomfort, you always crave more.

The history of hot chicken in Nashville stretches all the way back to the 1930s. More than 20 restaurants in Music City specialize in serving renditions of the dish, altering the ingredients ever so slightly to affect the various levels of heat offered (which generally range from overwhelmingly hot to hallucination-generating). Locals vouch — often quite stubbornly — for their personal favorite. But what about outside of Tennessee?

It's taken a bit of time for Nashville hot chicken (or "Nashville-style hot chicken," as it's commonly referred to in other parts of the country) to catch on out of town. We speculate that's due in part to the famous secrecy of the recipes, and in part to doubts regarding the ability of non-Nashvillian palates to handle the incredibly spicy concoction. In the past couple of years, however, the U.S. has seen a steady rise in restaurants serving valiant attempts at the fiery dish — from the East Coast to the West Coast and pretty much everywhere in between. (There's even a hot-chicken joint in Melbourne, Australia!) Case in point: Fast-food joint KFC recently introduced a "Nashville hot chicken" flavor in its Pittsburgh-area stores. We're not even going to comment on that one.

The map above depicts a listing of venues currently serving some sort of Nashville-style hot chicken on their menu full-time, as well as those planning to open in the next few weeks or months. Full dish descriptions and addresses are included below. Be sure to let us know about your experiences at any of these restaurants, and alert us to any we may have missed! [Editor's Note: We've added on a couple of places below serving the dish. Thanks for writing in!]

And remember: 2016 will be the year of hot chicken. You heard it here first.

Currently Open

Hard Water

Pier 3 The Embarcadero

San Francisco, CA 94105

Nashville-style hot chicken — Parker house rolls & butter picklesThe Fremont Diner

2698 Fremont Dr.

Sonoma, CA 95476

Nashville-style hot chickenCrisp Kitchen + Bar

1837 1st St. NW

Washington, DC 20001

Nashville-style hot chicken (heat levels: spicy, extra hot) — pickles, shaved onions, homemade ranchGilbert's Underground Kitchen

510 S. 8th Street

Fernandina Beach, FL 32034

Nashville-style hot chicken — dill pickles + hot peppers/datil pepper mash, remoulade/jalapeño cheddar biscuitsLeghorn Chicken

959 N. Western Ave.

Chicago, IL 60622

Nashville-style hot chicken sandwichThe Roost Carolina Kitchen

1467 W. Irving Park Rd.

Chicago, IL 60613

Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich or Nashville-style hot chicken

Thunderbird

1127 Shelby St.

Indianapolis, IN 46203

Hot Chix — Poppy slaw, bread and butter pickles, Pullman breadJoella's Hot Chicken

3400 Frankfort Ave.

Louisville, KY 40207

Nashville-style hot chicken (heat levels: Southern, tweener, Ella's fave, hot, fire-in da-hole!)

State Park

1 Kendall Square, Building 300, Lower Level

Cambridge, MA 02139

Nashville-style hot chicken with kale and garlic confitSouthern

3108 Olive St.

St. Louis, MO 63103

Nashville-style hot chicken (heat levels: original, mild, cluckin' hot)Rocky's Hot Chicken Shack

1455 Patton Ave.

Asheville, NC 28806

Nashville-style hot chicken (heat levels: plain, mild, medium, hot, Rocky's hot, foothills, XX-hot)Meathook Sandwich

495 Lorimer St.

Brooklyn, NY 11211

Nashville-style hot chicken sandwichPeaches HotHouse

415 Tompkins Ave.

Brooklyn, NY 11216

Nashville-style hot chicken (heat levels: regular, hot or extra hot) or Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich

Hot Chicken Takeover

59 Spruce St., North Market, 2nd Floor

Columbus, OH 43215

Nashville-style hot chicken (heat levels: cold, warm, hot or holy)The Fat Ham

3131 Walnut St.

Philadelphia, PA 19104

Hot Chicken — Brioche, ranch dressing, dill picklesYard House

5100 Belt Lane Road

Addison, TX 75001

Nashville-style hot chicken — fried sage, sweet potato pancakes, pickles, ranch dressing, honey hot sauceSuper Chix

612 W. Park Row Dr., #620

Arlington, TX 76010

Nashville-style hot chicken sandwichRapscallion

2023 Greenville Ave.

Dallas, TX 75206

The Long Walk to Nashville — hot fried chicken with Szechuan mala sauceCullum's Attagirl

726 E. Mistletoe Ave.

San Antonio, TX 78212

Nashville-style hot chicken

Opening Soon

Hattie B's Hot Chicken*

2808 Seventh Avenue S.

Birmingham, AL 35233

Howlin' Ray's

727 N. Broadway

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Georgia Mae's

2545 N. Kedzie Ave.

Chicago, IL 60647

Joella's Hot Chicken

Indianapolis, IN

Nashville Hot

Buttermilk Shoppes

Crescent Springs, KY 41017

Big Shake's Hot Chicken*

Lexington, KY

Joella's Hot Chicken

Lexington, KY

Royals Hot Chicken

736 E. Market St.

Louisville, KY 40202

Carla Hall's Southern Kitchen

115 Columbia St.

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Joella's Hot Chicken

Cincinnati, OH

* Denotes that another location is currently open in Nashville, TN

Portions of this list were reprinted with permission from The Hot Chicken Cookbook