400 Degrees Hot Chicken

I was very excited to order chicken from this establishment. My coworkers rave about it and it always smells great. I’m sure the food is fantastic, BUT… I will never know. I drove to 400 Degrees at around 6:25p Thursday night. I checked Google for directions and the time to make sure they were still open. Per Google, 400 Degrees closes at 7pm. I got there at 6:35 and the cashier said «We’re not taking any more orders.» Wow. I just bowed out while privately vowing to myself never to return. Who turns away a customer?
Do better!

Required my cousin from Kansas attempt 400 degree hot chicken today since it was featured on the travel channel. I will need to say the chicken was moist, full of flavor and hot! Haha everything was made fresh from the time you purchase!!! Go check out 400 degrees hot chicken. You will not be disappointed! Thanks so much for the hospitality Aqui ! I am going to definitely return when I am in the area!

400 degrees has the best fried chicken in Nashville. I’ve tried just about every other location in Nashville & this is my favorite. The flavor & taste of the chicken is excellent. All you have to do is call ahead and pick it up when they say it’ll be ready. I love the staff and the consistency every time I eat there. This place is the best!

Came twice gave us attitude, needless to say the chicken is packed with flavor and heat, depending on the level of heat you choose. However, I do prefer Hattie’s B based on the customer service alone as both chicken establishments produce great fried chicken.

We had the 200 & 400 degree chicken strips! Very tasty and piping hot right out of the grease! The potato salad and Cole Slaw were over the top! Someone from our hotel recommended the place and glad she did!

They fried the chicken fresh for us and the sweet tea was really good. I guess it’s more of a takeout place though. They still did a great job. The medium hot was perfect.

The chicken here is seriously hot but in my opinion it lacked flavor. I mean I don’t usually expect to beer wowed by chicken but after an hour wait I kinda wanted a flavor explosion. Several people in my party were just a little more unhappy but I try to be fair. I would say if you in town try it. It’s the first and only I’ve tried to this date. And locals told me this was the best

Maybe it’s because I’m not from Nashville, but I didn’t see the big deal about 400 degrees. I ordered the chicken strips at 200 degree heat along with the baked beans as a side. The baked beans were pretty sugary, but they were fine. Not amazing, not so sweet that I was overwhelmed. They were also pretty nice to help out with the spice from the chicken, which did have some serious heat. I didn’t enjoy the flavor at all though, so it made the whole experience pretty blah. In fact, I was dunking the chicken in ranch so I could get better taste.
Despite the subpar taste of the chicken, the worst part was the wait. It took upwards of 30 minutes just to get an order for two people. And mind you, this isn’t a fancy sit down place. It’s a food court. Luckily, we weren’t in a huge rush, but it got to be a bit much for the wait. Service was polite, so I can’t give this a 1 star, but between the wait and the taste, I wouldn’t return here.

When i want Hot Chicken and don’t want to do it myself, I go to 400 Degrees. Her chicken is Hot, juicy and well worth the wait. You must understand that every order is cooked when placed so that 15 – 20 min that you wait is normal. If you’d never had get 100 but If you can handle heat go for the 400 or higher. Enjoy

Amazing hot chicken! Did have to wait around a half hour until it was ready, but well worth the wait! The staff was so friendly and seemed genuinely interested to make conversation. Next time I’m in Nashville, this is sure to be a stop!

UPDATE:
During the week, and during lunch, it is essential to call the order in and then dine in or take out. I showed up on a Monday thinking I could just order and eat in. I was sorely disappointed. It seems the popularity has grown and they informed me it would be at least an hour. :(Sadly, I walked away, tail between my legs. :(
So if you want this hot chicken, it is advised to call the order in first! I guess during my initial visit it was a fluke because it was mid afternoon and no one was around. Still 5 stars!

I enjoyed my «home cooked» feel to the food I ate. It was great fried chicken and definatley worth the wait! Call ahead if you don’t have the time to invest waiting.

My friends rave about this place so, I had to check it out. Its located in a small food court setup and I was confused for 15 seconds. LOL! However, I went to place my order. I ordered a breast with one side. They make your food fresh so you are going to be waiting. They give me two breasts because they didn’t have their normal size that day. The 200 degrees level was perfect for me. Hot but not going to kill your spirit. LOL! The chicken was fried perfectly. Crispy. Crunchy. Perfect level of hot. Overall, great chicken and great service. The owner is a alumnus of Tennessee State just like myself. I salute her and her great business. I will always come back.

Apparently «Nashville Hot Chicken» is going to be a popular thing now, so I gotta get in on this and try some straight from the source. We happened to be passing through Nashville, and this place looked the most friendly for both me and my less spice-​friendly wife.
We were not disappointed.
The young lady, who I assume owns the place based on how she was talking, explained to me that everything is made fresh to order. As a result, our chicken took 40 minutes, but we had time, so we waited. (CALL AHEAD to avoid this)
You can split the tender plates into different spice levels, so I decided to try both the 200 and 400 degree heat (tenders come with 3). The 200 was very similar to «hot chicken» I’ve had here in Asheville, but the 400 was a step above, in both flavor and heat. This town is serious when they say hot.
There is a notable difference in flavor between the two levels I tried, and you can tell that the sauces are made with different peppers. The 200 was tolerable. I could eat lots of that and not die. The 400… maybe less so. It was pretty brutal. I was then informed that she actually has a 500 and 800, too, but I’m not that kind of cocky.

400 hundred degrees has that crunch you crave.
I personally was not captivated by their flavor profile. I liked the 200 degree flavor more than the 400 flavor. The 400 heat didn’t bother me, but the taste became a little toxic, IMO.
I also felt like the chicken was missing more extensive brining.
Still, this is clearly one of the best places out there, and I’m just nitpicking small details. It’s definitely the best crunch I’ve had at a hot chicken place, and I thought the flavor was still very good at the 200 level.
Fries were good. Potato salad was fine. Service was great.
If anything, i wish a lot of money could be dumped into this gem so that they could have the capacity to cook more at one time, and so they could improve their signage, facilities and promotion.

I’ve read a lot of Nashville hot chicken reviews and I’ve come to find that the majority of hot chicken eaters seem to rely solely on the level of heat for their opinions. This may be blasphemous and I’m sure I will receive backlash, but the data doesn’t lie. You will usually read a review that describes how the chicken is «good» followed by a comparison of mild, medium, hot with other hot chicken restaurants in Nashville. I love hot chicken and all the varieties that Nashville has to offer, but many times the flavor of the spice or rub gets ignored. A great hot chicken should achieve a perfect balance between flavor, spice, and heat.
With that, I finally made it to 400 Degrees after hearing good things about it. Is it good? Yes. Will I come back tomorrow? Only if someone wanted to go. For a cook to order operation, the flavor profile was not there. The spice dip was a two part taste of salt and light cayenne. I couldn’t find any other flavors. I’m beginning to think that rubs bring about greater favors than dips (as I gravitate more to rubs). I got the 200 (medium) and found the heat level on par with a medium — I didn’t sweat, my nose didn’t run, and the heat didn’t linger too long afterwards in my mouth. It was a solid medium that I personally felt was on the lighter side of the medium hot chicken spectrum. But as I mentioned earlier, heat is just one part of the hot chicken experience.
Maybe I’m being snobby, or maybe I’m holding up too high a standard — but I can’t deny my experience. The chicken meat itself (breast quarter) was tasty. The staff was friendly. The experience was fine. I’ve had a lot worse, and I’ve had a lot better. Take this review as you will — if you love 400 Degrees, then amen brother. Eat it and tell all your friends about it. For me, I just feel more and more that flavor is losing its importance with hot chicken. 400 Degrees didn’t prove me wrong.

First time going, showed up an hour before close (5pm — bump that), got turned away, and was told to call in my order next time.
One star for no food and bad service. I wouldn’t consider my establishment «open» during a known, repeating timeframe in which I’m not accepting customers. That’s the definition of closed.

After spending the last 4 days at a nutrition conference surrounded by dietitians, I HAD TO stop being a role model for an hour and try some hot chicken while I was in town. Saw the 4 star reviews on Unilocal and it was walking distance from the conference center, so we were sold. Nashville hot chicken was our mission!
Can’t speak highly enough of the staff. It was a fast casual set up in a food court type building but the staff was attentive and wanted to ensure we enjoyed our meal. I got the chicken tender meal with the white bread, pickles, and ranch and I opted for 200 degrees. That was supposed to be medium heat but my friend and i were both in agreement it was WAY too spicy. We were sweating it was so hot. The chicken was crisp on the outside and moist on the inside but the heat was so overwhelming and it was hard to handle and I can do hot. This was extreme. The crazy thing is that they have hotter levels. It was just so difficult to enjoy my fries or the chicken itself because my mouth was the most on fire it’s ever been.
Our friend got the 100 degree and that was a very reasonable amount of heat and it was quite tasty.
A few tips– they make everything from scratch, to order so expect to wait. Also, off the menu tip for someone looking for a challenge… You can order 800 degree chicken!

Let me first say that Hot Chicken is a way of life and when it comes to expectations, mine are very high.
When you finally find this place (it is in a building that houses Quiznos and Nuvo Burrito) be ready or true Southern hospitality. The owner and everyone helping are so personable and make you feel like you are about to sit down to eat at their own kitchen table.
I ordered the breast quarter at 400 degrees (HAD TO) with crinkle fries and potato salad. Be aware that the chicken is made to order and that you will have around a 30 minute wait from ordering to eating. Do not fret, it is worth it. You can walk a couple blocks to a Shell station and pick yourself up some milk if you want to be a veteran about it…
The chicken had an amazing flavor and just the right amount of kick. My nose was running and my eyes had the slightest of tears, but I was never miserable. Just a great heat level to accompany an expert breading and moist chicken. The crinkle fries had a great seasoning to them and the potato salad was excellent.
Overall, the only reason this is not 5 stars is because I was left wanting more. Not a bad thing in the least. I would recommend going with the tenders for ease of eating and for overall amount of chicken to devour.

I’ve had hot chicken once, so I don’t have much to compare to. And unfortunately, I still really don’t, because staff at my hotel recommended the mild version, saying that it was still quite hot. I did not find the mild version to have any amount of spice, whatsoever. So, if you have any type of tolerance for heat, start with the hot (200 degrees).
However, the chicken itself was super crisp outside and still tender inside. And the leg quarter with crinkle fries was huge. I could not stop eating it, and even though I wanted more, I was super full when I was done. The chicken takes about twenty minutes to make, so do not go here completely famished, like I did.
I cannot say enough about the friendliness of the staff. I think I even got to chat with the owner briefly! I’m just sad I didn’t get back to try the spicier version.