Crispy, Spicy Nashville Hot Chicken Will Soon Arrive in Lakewood

Lakewood’s Hillside Village shopping center will soon score a brand new destination for spicy, juicy, Nashville-style hot chicken.

Palmer’s Hot Chicken is set to make its debut by the end of summer at 6465 East Mockingbird Lane, Suite 316, inside the space that formerly housed 1st and 10 Bar. According to Dallas native and owner Palmer Fortune, the former sports bar will be revamped, complete with an expansive patio, into a family friendly destination for spicy hot chicken inspired by the most iconic Nashville purveyors.

After growing up in Texas, Palmer spent 30 years living in Nashville, where he ate plenty of hot chicken before it was a national dining phenomenon. He opened a restaurant called Porch in St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, where he perfected his take on Nashville-style chicken by interviewing and researching the work of Thornton Prince, who is credited with inventing Nashville hot chicken in the 1930s. “We work on our chicken for 24 hours before we even cook it,” Palmer says.

As such, Palmer’s got strong opinions about what Nashville-style chicken is and is not, and the super-saucy versions that some restaurants have given the moniker just don’t fit the bill. “Our chicken is dry when it comes out. Nashville Hot Chicken is supposed to have a really strong bark on it. It’s an oil-based heat,” he says. “It sticks and cures to the outside so when you rip it with your hands, you won’t need 20 napkins.”

The menu at Palmer’s Hot Chicken is, of course, mostly focused on chicken, which is available grilled, fried, or roasted at four different spice levels — “nekkid,” novice, Nashville, and the “practically inedible” Napalm. Sides include collard greens, mac and cheese, and grits, along with waffles, fried seafood options, po’ boys, and tacos.

Palmer’s Hot Chicken is expected to arrive by the end of the summer. Stay tuned for an official opening date.