Big Shake’s Hot Chicken & Fish

Had the Fish & chicken combo. Fish fillets may be the best I have ever had. Crybaby seasoning was not quite hot enough. Will be back

I enjoy a hot chicken indulgence from time to time and having a source in Franklin is nice.
Big Shake’s has a humorous scale for spice levels. I usually get Stop Drop and Roll, roughly equivalent to hot at other restaurants. The Executioner spice level will make most people cry — even those who grew up on hot foods — so order it at your own risk. Sometimes I get a quarter chicken and on other visits I get the whiting (fish). The fried chicken and fish are consistently good. Sometimes I add a shrimp burger (southwest style). Note: shrimp burgers are often sold out by 7PM in my experience, so show up earlier if that’s your craving.
I usually get greens and beans for sides. Note that neither of those side dishes have meat in them, which is good for the pescatarians who often join me on visits to Big Shake’s. Sometimes the sides are a little on the salty side for my taste, but usually they balance out the fried food quite well.
The staff is always laid back and friendly, even on busy days. Though it’s more of a quick service layout, they often check on diners.

Tasty chicken but DO NOT get executioner. I like spicy foods and this stuff ruined me. The heat level before executioner isn’t even that hot, so there’s a huge jump between the two. Fries are awesome.

Food was hot and good! I like that’s it’s made by order, but I would order in saves some time! Will definitely eat there again.

Loooove me some hot chicken. And this is a perfect representation of what it should be like.

I’ve been going to Big Shakes since it opened. The place use to be great and is close to my work. Wait times have always been long for food, but I had started ordering on grub hub while still at work. My last 3 experiences there have been horrible.
1) 2 of the 3 times it took over 45 minutes from the time of order til I got my food. Both of these times the excuse was given that the computer system was messed up. Also just from my numerous minutes of sitting in the store the front end crews constantly lose or mess up orders and I would label them incompetent at best.
2) piggy backing with the last sentence, my order was botched 2 out of the 3 trips as well. Granted I should’ve checked especially after the first time, but I didnt. Doesn’t matter, will not be spending any money there again.
3) over the course of the year the spice levels have changed dramatically trending towards not really spicy at all until you get to the executioner level.
4) 1 of the last 3 trips the chicken was so salty I couldn’t eat it. I got home, gave it to my dog, and she wouldn’t eat it either.
Use to great, trending downwards over the course of the year. Save yourself time and a headache and avoid this place. It’s really not worth the food that you get.

Food quality and promptness is hit or miss. Some parties in our group got their food fairly quickly, while others didn’t get theirs until the rest were done eating. The chicken wings were a little dry and didn’t have enough enough seasoning. The crust on the chicken thighs wasn’t very crispy. The fries were well seasoned and flavorful. The white beans needed more salt and tasted a little chalky.

Cry baby for me!
My co-​workers and I stop in for lunch at least two or three times a month as it is right down the street from our office. I’m addicted to the jumbo hot chicken tenders but I can’t do a lot of heat so the crybaby level is perfect for me. I’ve also had the chicken breast and it is great also. Sometimes I get the seasoned fries or if I want a few less calories I get the turnip greens. Both are fantastic. If you don’t like any heat you can get the original heat level. Crybaby level is next. If you want more heat you can get the stop, drop, and roll. The hottest level is the executioner and I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone. I can’t imagine. There are pictures of people eating that one of which was carried out on a stretcher to an ambulance. Not for me but love my crybaby heat level.

This might be the best chicken I’ve ever had — and I’m from KY.
Great dive atmosphere. Quick service. Food was awesome. The chicken, at the medium spice, was plenty for me.

On a trip to Johnson City, My husband and I, on the advice from his cousin Sharanda, decided to stop by and give Big Shake’s a try. I absolutely loved the Shrimp Burger.
My husband ordered the fish and of course I sampled his and it was good and spicy.
The prices weren’t bad, we both ate for 20 bucks. You can’t beat that. The staff was very nice and accommodating. The only low point was the air conditioning not working properly. On the drive back home, we will get our food to go.

Chicken is great, but this restaurant has no
A/​C, totally unacceptable but chicken is great. It must be over hundred degrees inside this place, don’t bring your kids it’s a health hazard

Wow — finally a place in Franklin that does both hot chicken and fish, and do both right!
In terms of the meats (chicken and fish), it’s a tie with Bolton’s, but Big Shake’s trump card over the existing hot chicken establishments is their delicious shrimp burger. My oh my! Their sides are tasty and not made with pork grease etc, so it is pescetarian friendly. In terms of spice levels, their Executioner is appropriately named — don’t attempt unless you know you have an iron stomach.
It is a family run business — its nice to see the owners working hard to make great food a reality in this area. They are a super friendly bunch that cares about whether their customers are enjoying their meal or not.
Food is made fresh to order so be prepared for a (worthwhile) wait.
They have live music performances on some nights of the week.
It’s always a treat to eat here — the quality of food is pretty consistent. I heart this place!

Family owned business and it is easy to tell because from the kitchen to the front house you can tell they care. They are short handed but the food is worth the small extra weight!
If you want a fine dinning sit down experience go to Red Pony, if you want some killer southern food with fantastic spice then you are in for a treat!
All our dishes were «Stop Drop and Roll» spice level and it was exhilarating!
Catfish: Big Flavor, Great Crunchy Corn meal breading.
Chicken Strips: Pow Crunch Juice White Meat!
Shrimp Burger: Never had one and it was fantastic!
Sides: Potato Salad-​Good, White Bean– Great, Coleslaw– Refreshing next to the heat!
We Tasted The Love!

Good God Almighty! I was really hoping the «Executioner» heat level was the perfect step up that I needed from the «Stop Drop and Roll». SDR heat was awesome but not quite got enough for me. I’m a chili head so rarely is anything hot enough for me so the average spicy lover would probably be content.
Well I just tried the Executioner level whole wings and it’s not a step up in heat; it’s TEN friggin steps up. I’ve never found anything that I couldn’t eventually eat despite sweating, tearing up, and burning pain but after one bite I was all done! I’m hoping that somebody just made an accident today and tripled the pepper power cause there ain’t nobody that could eat that. For a point of comparison I would give the usual SDR level about a 7 and in today’s case Executioner would be a 12. I could smell the pepper when I put my order in the car. Even if it wasn’t inedible because of the heat level, the flavor sucked. Way overpowered by the pepper power to the point the chicken wasn’t good. It was also over fried which is a common problem here. (I try to specify «light fry») But when they are on their game there is NO other hot chicken placethat can touch Big Shakes.
I guess I got two wings that will be thrown away. Thank goodness I at least got 2 SDR that I could eat. I would have bet $ 1000 there ain’t nobody that could have eaten the wings I got today! I dont care how bad ass you think you are.
BIG SEAN, you got to put a heat level b/​t SDR and the E if this is truly how it’s gonna be every time.

In my pursuit for something with heat, I found Big Shakes. Now my definition of heat varies from most. On my first visit, I tried the «Stop, Drop, and Roll» style.
Every bite was delicious and flavorful as the last. The breading was consistent and beautiful in color. Now one thing about the chicken at Big Shakes: it’s not necessarily «wet» with hot sauce. It’s dusted with spices and seasoning and then finished off with a certain crispness to it that leaves you wanting more. That being said, the chicken is moist! I’m not from the south and I typically don’t care for southern food, but the side of beans was so flavorful, I wish I could eat it everyday. The fries were your run of the mill commercial French fries.
The only «complaint» that I have is they give you a big piece of Texas toast for your chicken to lie on. That piece of toast is mush by the time you finish all the chicken (chicken juices being soaked up).
On my next visit, I tried the hottest of the hot, the «Executioner.» The staff looked at me like I was crazy and asked me if I liked really hot stuff, of course! In terms of heat, the «Executioner» was only marginally hotter than «Stop, Drop, and Roll.» Definitely not a big jump like I had imagined, but still quite flavorful. I will definitely be back whenever I need my fix of spicy foods!

Came here an hour before they close but they said no problem. So first impression was really good. Had the sampler with hot chicken (level 4 of 5… stop drop n roll) and catfish with greens and coleslaw. The chicken had a nice bite to it., but not overly hot for me. The catfish was fried to perfection and tasted great. My young son loved it too. It was perfectly seasoned even with the mildest spice level.
The greens was a bit mushy and coleslaw tasted pretty good. The service was AWESOME and they were so friendly. We got done eating just in time for them to close but they kept telling us to take our time and not rush. This would’ve been a 4 star review but I added 1 more star for the friendliness of the service.

Wow… what a find!!! I found a Groupon and decided to give it a shot. The prices are reasonable and comparable to Hattie B’s. There menu is a little bit for diverse that included shrimp burgers. It sounded really intriguing so I got that with turnip greens while Mike got the half chicken (cry baby spicy level) with white beans, mac n cheese (not available everyday). Everything was delicious. The chicken had the perfect crispy skin while the meat inside was moist and flavorful. The shrimp burger was fresh and really good. The turnip greens were buttery and creamy. The beans were really good too… I think Mike said that the mac n cheese were good. They do charge $ 0.10 for the cup but the water is free ;).
The dining area is small and cramped. There’s also tables and seating outside but it was too cold to sit outside.
It is near downtown Franklin so it would be a drive from Nashville for some HOT CHICKEN.

Decent Hot Chicken and nice being in the Franklin area. White beans were good and good to see on the menu.
But no threat to Hattie B’s and Princes.

Definitely a «Big Shake» to your taste buds when you bite into a crispy, tender & juicy «Crybaby» Chicken Sandwich. Two battered and perfectly fried chicken breasts on an oversized roll, dipped in their signature hot sauce (or plain for the faint of tongue) and garnished with a little bit of raw onion and dill pickle slices. This sandwich packs the heat (and doubled up in heat when I added some «Stop, Drop & Roll» sauce). Beautiful greens sautéed in butter were some of the most unusual (best) I’ve ever had. Usually greens are done in fat back or bacon, but these were quite different; so tender they almost came across as creamy. Really, really good. Seasoned fries were crispy and savory, very nicely seasoned.
Two minor drawbacks: One – the chicken seasoning relied heavily on the heat… which covered the chili, pepper, garlic and paprika seasonings. But the overall taste was great. Two – parking is at a premium (check out back if front of building is full.)
Also sample fried catfish… another winner with its golden brown cornmeal crust and moist, flaky body. Get it!
Staff: Friendly and courteous. Service/​wait time: average for made on demand.

It’s always exciting to see how subjective an experience like eating hot chicken can be! Obviously I look forward to going back to Big Shakes and experience what ALOT of my fellow Unilocalers have. However based on this first visit I have to say, I just didn’t get it.
First of all, you can be a hole in the wall and still hire one person to handle the register. Having both the boys ringing people up AND taking orders AND fetching the food is just lack of management and easily fixed. I had to wait for my Styrofoam cup and plastic fork and knife even after my food arrived, which was annoying.
The pricing is a little steep, in my opinion. It was clearly priced by the business owner who might be more concerned with making an immediate profit on material versus building a large clientele through superior quality food. I am not used to paying more than $ 7 for a single piece of lunch chicken, unless I’m drunk and it’s a food truck.
The parking sucks, as if you were in downtown on Broadway. I doubt the barber shop needs 5 spaces at lunch time.
The flavor was just not there. The chicken meat was underseasoned and oily, the skin was soggy with oil and spicy (I ordered CryBaby, the minimal hot setting) and something else was off. I am not sure what oil is being used, whatever it is I could taste it, which is not how grams taught you how to fry it. Switch to peanut oil and up the temp.
The fries were well seasoned and well fried, but unfortunately I don’t come out and pay $ 10 for fries. The Sweet Tea was good, and the ice is large so it doesn’t melt fast.
With all the 5 stars on this place I may need a second trip to compare, maybe it was a one time issue.