Hot Chicken Alley, a new Nashville-inspired hot chicken joint, received its permits today, Dec 5, for an outpost located at 13636 N Tatum Blvd, according to owner Joe Ford, who says he should be ready to open around late February, early March of next year.
Ford is something of a Nashville hot chicken connoisseur, steeped in the history and lore of the iconic, 100-year-old recipe, as well as the modern-day boom in restaurants and chains that specialize in the stuff.
With such a deep well of knowledge, however, Ford is setting out to do something a little different at Hot Chicken Alley.
“The fun thing is, you come in and you can get whatever scale of heat you want,” Ford tells What Now Phoenix. “I mean, you can get Nashville hot chicken no matter where you go anymore, it seems like. But they don’t offer the variety. So what you have is you have a sandwich or just the straight tender – which can be put on a slider – and it comes with creamy, sweet coleslaw, sour pickles, and then crispy spicy chicken. So it really has almost every taste sensation.”
What’s more, Ford understands that some folks like their “foreheads to sweat [and] their nose dripping,” whereas others just want the straight chicken, a spectrum he plans to accommodate with five options – no spice, medium, hot, extra hot, and ridiculous.
For now, Ford plans on serving his immediate community, saying, “We don’t have the location that’s right on the corner. But it’s a busy area, it’s a great area, it’s my neighborhood.”
