Wrigleyville's hot chicken showdown: Hattie B's vs. Hot Chi
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The Sandwich from Hattie B's and Popeye's Ain't Sh*t from Hot Chi. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios
Two Southern hot chicken joints — Nashville's Hattie B's and Chatham's Hot Chi Chicken — have landed in Wrigleyville with strikingly similar menus.
Backstory: Hattie B's first opened in 2012, joining the Nashville hot craze started by Prince's. The chain now boasts more than a dozen outposts, but its Wrigleyville spot on Gallagher Way marks the first outside the South.
- Hot Chi Chicken launched in 2021 on 87th Street, when brothers Amer and Mutaz Abdullah took over a former Harold's. Their new Wrigleyville spot represents the first on the North Side.
- Both offer inviting interiors, loaded crinkle fries, salads, mac and cheese, banana pudding, sweet tea, sandwiches and bone-in fried chicken — but only Hattie B's serves alcohol.
What's happening: I tried both of their signature sandwiches side by side to help you find the best hot chicken in the neighborhood ahead of Cubs opening day.
The caveat: I ordered my Hattie B's sandwich "Hot" (level 3) but at Hot Chi I ordered the "Hott" (level 4), because I couldn't bring myself to order something called "Medium."
- This was a mistake. "Hott" means tongue-searingly spicy; the kind that still roils in my stomach as I type this.
The pecking order: I loved the way Hattie B's cool creamy coleslaw and comeback sauce balanced the tangy, crisp chicken, but I also adored Hot Chi's craggy, crunchy tenders that seemed to deliver more meat than their competitor.
The bottom line: Hattie B's beats Hot Chi by a feather.