The Nashville Chicken Chain That Food Network's Maneet Chauhan Can't Get Enough Of

Maneet Chauhan doesn't pull her punches as a judge on cooking shows like Food Network's "Chopped," letting contestants know exactly what she thinks — for good or bad. When it comes to her favorite restaurants, the celeb chef is just as forthcoming about what she likes and what she doesn't. And, per Restaurant Business, there's one chicken chain in Nashville, Tennessee, that gets her golden stamp of approval: Hattie B's Hot Chicken.

Hot chicken is a culinary staple of Nashville, where Chauhan lives (in the nearby suburb of Franklin) and is a restaurateur. The fiery dish has a history as spicy as its flavor: Nashville hot chicken traces its origins to a bad breakup in the 1930s. Cayenne pepper is the key ingredient that gives Nashville hot chicken its signature heat.

At Hattie B's, the star of the show, of course, is the hot chicken, with five spice levels for patrons to choose from (depending on whether they're hungry for a meeker level of heat or a more daredevil blast of flavor fire). The menu's supporting cast of side dishes includes pimento mac and cheese, black eyed pea salad, bacon cheddar grits, and Southern greens. Belgian waffles with syrup and butter are also on offer for a hot chicken and waffle pairing. And snacks like fried pickles, beer cheese dip, and loaded french fries (called Dirty Bird Fries) round out the rich, savory fare. On the dessert side, the restaurant keeps it simple with just three options: banana pudding, peach cobbler, and vanilla ice cream.

Two things Maneet Chauhan loves about Hattie B's chicken are the perfect heat level and optimum juiciness achieved by the restaurant. Her regular order is chicken with medium spice. The restaurant's highest spice level, called "Shut the Cluck Up," features ghost pepper and is too hot for the culinary star's palate.

If you want to try out her fave chicken, you'll likely need to do a bit of traveling — as of September 2025, Hattie B's has only 13 locations scattered across five states (with another five locations, including in one more state, planned to open in late 2025 and 2026). The limited numbers aren't for lack of excellence and quality, though — just the opposite. The company's approach is to grow slowly and deliberately to ensure its hometown of Nashville is properly represented wherever the chain goes and that consistently high standards are always met in each Hattie B's restaurant. The company also doesn't franchise, meaning all locations are company owned and operated (check out the difference between chains and franchises if you're not sure about the significance).

The brand is slowly making its way to more hungry chicken fans outside of Nashville. Hattie B's is now operating its first West Coast location, at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. The company is also soon expanding in Texas and foraying into the Chicago market.