Even though, there has been many places doing their version of the Nashville Hot Chicken around town for years, no one has opened a truly dedicated hot cheekan shack until now... And of course, in all places, at the KSM... Which is the proper setting for a concept like this but make no mistake that you're gonna be paying for it out your brown eye. Speaking of brown things... Let's go sample some of the fwied yardbirds that the media and the sheeple have been hyping about...
I like the sign... I kinda want one that says, "POUCH'S CHICKEN LIPS". The lights remind me more of a Broadway box office than a cheekan shack... Walked up and looked at the menu, then the prices... 3 smallish whole wings without a side for $11! WTF... Hop's Chicken are a buck a piece for the same damn chicken. My knee jerk reaction was grasping my chest like Sanford having the big one... I'm coming, Elizabeth! The prices here aren't cheap for fried chicken and I don't give a shit if it's Springer Mountain... Once that shit gets dunked into a boiling vat of hot greasy fat, all that organic free range shit is out da door. Don't try to convince me that the chicken is still good for you... But y'all can believe that bullshit if you want to impress people with your humane and sustainable garbage. Psst, no one gives a shit, you sound like a #douchebag... On to the hawt cheekan!
Classic. Needed to see how just the plain fried chicken was... Well, it looked kinda depressing and dull. I watched their entire routine through the pass and I can't fucking believe that all the chicken was fried well in advance and they're just sitting there on sheet pans on an open rack and it's not even in a hot box. They are just pulled off the sheet pan and tossed into a box. The crust is dark, they obviously like to fry it a bit longer than usual, perhaps to keep the crust crunchy while it sits over time to be served, crunchy is good but when it hurts your tooth not so much. The chicken was room temp and a bit dry sitting on the sheet pans. Hot juicy fried chicken should be expected for the premium price paid. It's seasoned decently but a bit more pepper wouldn't hurt. It's a very average fried chicken in this state, maybe it would be a lot better if it was served somewhat freshly fried, crackling and juicy. The cornbread is cute and acceptable, nothing much worth mentioning except that it's a box filler for that visual effect. The tiny pickles are good. The little sauce bucket in there, I assume is the bourbon hot sauce which was not hot at all... Don't even waste your time on this, just 86 it and use the extra time to concentrate on the damn cheekan, instead.
Richard's Hot. Same deal as the plain... They are not re-flash fried, just taken off the pan, tossed in cayenne grease and served. The hot cayenne grease ratio was off, not enough cayenne and too much grease... Almost to the point of watery and it looked like it wasn't even properly coated all the way around. The scoville units here were about the strength of a jalapeno, it is not hot at all, maybe just a hint of heat on the end. They also gave me a little bucket of their ghost pepper sauce, said it's very spicy, it's made with ghost chili peppers... Turned out to be a snoozefest like a Sriracha mayo. The chicken itself, which are not large pieces, was the same as the plain... Room temp and a tad bit dry inside. I'm not even gonna pussyfoot around, the hot chicken needs work, it was simply not worth the $11 price for a leg, thigh and a side at this point. Am I disappointed with the product? Yes, of course, but I give them credit to have the balls to do a dedicated hot chicken shack. Until they figured out how to get relatively freshly fried hot chicken out to order, I won't be back any time soon... It's too bad that KFC stopped their Nashville Hot Chicken promo because for what it was, it was a really good version... Yes, I can't believe I'm saying that, too.
Cucumber & Tomato Salad and Jalapeno Creamed Corn. The creamed corn was pretty good except that there was zero jalapeno in there. The C&T salad was pretty pedestrian, the flavor itself needed a lot more of everything.
Hot Chicken Sandwich, pimento cheese, chow chow, lettuce. For $9, this fucking hot cheekan sando better rock my cock out... It looked pretty damn decent when I opened this beast. A giant crusty shimmery sizeable breast between a sturdy bun. The bun would have done it's job if the breast was coated properly with the proper hot grease but this looked way better than the hot chicken. Took a bite... Damn, this was good chicken sando. While it wasn't spicy at all like the hot chicken, the construction of this sando was very good. Even the fucking frilly lettuce looks like it should be on a commercial... Would it be sick if I wanted to pump pump squirt in it? There was just a hint of pimento cheese and crispy bits of chow chow on the bottom to give it just that lil needed texture and contrast. It's a good chicken sando, it would be even better if they can get that hot grease ratio right and bathe this boob the way it should be lubed.
I tell y'all what, the hot cheekan sando destroys the hot cheekan... It may be worth revisiting just for the fucking sando itself, don't even fucking look at the hot cheekan until it has been revamped... You'll be just as disappointed as the pouch was, unless you're a fan of Gu's slop, then you'll prolly love it. In the meantime, I'm just gonna wait patiently for Hattie B's...
99 Krog Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30307
http://richardssouthernfried.com/
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