Where to find the best
The hot chicken craze is on fire in New Jersey.
Three new restaurants — Dave’s Hot Chicken, Hot Chikn Kitchn, and Birdies Hot Chicken — recently opened in Wayne, Paramus, and Parsippany-Troy Hills, respectively. The Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken chain, already open in Florham Park, will soon add three more locations.
And more hot chicken places are on the way—not just here, but across the country.
“Chicken—and especially chicken sandwiches—remain popular trends and popular development menu items,” says Vanessa Sink, director of media relations for the National Restaurant Association. “The latest edition of Hot Cooking Forecasts we published late last year lists chicken sandwiches as the second top trend.”
In December, Nations Restaurant News, a trade publication covering the food industry, declared “Nashville Hot”—”a spicy coating that contains both hot sauce and cayenne pepper”—as Flavor of the Week, citing two major trends: fast food, quick-service chicken sandwiches, and indulgence. New Americans with spicy foods.
Even the sides are popular, said Lee Diamond, a spokesperson for Birdies Hot Chicken, which started with a restaurant in Garden City Long Island but recently opened a location in Parsippany.
He told me, “We just posted our French fries on our Instagram page and it got over 1.7 million views.”.
What is Nashville hot chicken?
In its simplest terms, hot chicken is fried chicken coated with hot spices and served as a sandwich, chicken fingers, and also with pancakes. Some restaurants coat it in oil, add a scattering of spices such as chili peppers, and others add heat to the mixture. Others dipped in hot sauce.
Most people would agree that hot chicken originated from the African American neighborhoods of Nashville. Published by Prince’s Chicken Shack in Nashville’s Hell’s Half Acre. Founded by James Thornton Prince in 1945, the legend is that Prince was a ladies’ man whose jealous girlfriend would beat his spicy fried chicken.
Prince loved it so much that it became a staple in his restaurant. Chicken is deep fried and wrapped in spicy spices.
For half a century, hot chicken slowly gained popularity and hot chicken took over Prince, who died in 1980. Prince was taken over by his great-niece, Andre Prince Jeffries. In 2013, the James Beard Foundation awarded an American Classics Award to Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack.
Southern writer Rachel Martin attributes its recent rise in popularity to then-Mayor Bill Purcell’s Hot Chicken Festival, which first took place in Nashville in 2007, and which has since grown in popularity each year.
In the February 4, 2019 edition of “The New Yorker,” an article by Paige Williams, Purcell said hot chicken might be “the only authentic Nashville food.”
She is not a “boring chicken,” Purcell added in The New Yorker. Warm chicken appeals across racial and socioeconomic lines. Its wide appeal led to the festival and due to Nashville’s popularity, it provided critical mass.
Whatever the reason, it has gained national and even international fame. There are even accounts of Nashville Hot Chicken’s popularity down the line.
Here’s where to find hot chicken in North Jersey.
Spicy Birdy Chicken, Parsiapani
Two and a half years ago, Moon Mustafa, owner of Birdies, and his wife, Sarah, have been on a quest to find the best, fresh, flavorful, and delicious chicken sandwich in the tri-state.
They couldn’t find any.
“So we decided to make one,” he said. They turned their home kitchen into a proven recipe lab.
“Six months later, we opened the shutters to become the first and best Halal Spicy Chicken in New York City in August of 2021,” Mustafa said, referencing a 2021 review on muslimfoodiesnyc.com, which gave their hot chicken a 9.5 out of 10. Yelp also rates Birdies at the top. their levels.
Parsippany is located on New Road not far from Eastbound Route 46. The menu is simple. Birdies in a Bun, consisting of brioche bun with crispy pickles, fresh coleslaw, birdies special sauce, birdies special fries, 2 pcs of spicy nashville chicken with pickles, coleslaw and birdies special sauce.
There are also a few selections of sides, which offer one piece of chicken, hash browns, which are seasoning-topped French fries, regular stove and coleslaw. For drinks Birdies offers five different types of shakes.
This limited list appears to be a hit as the Birdie brand grows in popularity.
“It’s a dream come true where we stand today,” he said. “We never expected the surreal, warm, unstoppable welcome or love from our customers.”
He added that he takes great pleasure in watching people take their first bite of a bird in a brownie sandwich.
“The reactions we see in the daily are invaluable,” Mustafa said.
Go: 131 New Road, Parsippany; 973-287-7575, bitebirdies.com.
Hot Chicken Paramus Kitchen
Hot Chikn shares space on the south side of Route 17 with Urban Bricks Pizza—and it’s hard to find in part because it gets a second bill on the sign, but that’s soon to change.
Inside is what you would expect from a fast service restaurant, glass windows, booth tables and faux wood floors.
The signature sandwich consisted of potato bun, spicy aioli, pickles, battered toppings, tender chicken fillet, coleslaw and potato bun bottom.
Chef Frederic Gilmour, who is trained in French cooking techniques, said the challenge was creating a product that was both inexpensive and delicious. He had a lot of time on his hands during the early months of COVID and set out to work it out.
What sets his hot chicken apart is that You fry the chicken and then coat it in one of the many spicy sauces, from the basic, mild sauce to the self-explanatory Doctor Who..
Other menu items include chicken with waffles, country chicken salad, chicken tenders, hash browns, boneless chicken wings, and a stuffed mac and cheese bowl.
Gilmour originally said there was He has no intention of starting a franchise, but says his restaurant’s popularity has made it inevitable. They expect to open locations in Florida, Maryland, upstate New York and Texas next year.
Go: 315 17th Street, Paramus; 201-903-0963 hotchiknkitchn.com
Dave’s Spicy Chicken, various locations
Dave’s Hot Chicken, the East Hollywood-based chain best known for its chicken tenders and sliders, announced last year that it was set to open 14 new locations in New Jersey.
Restaurant workers said they were still busy after they opened about a month ago. Dave’s, which is halal, is known for its ultra-crispy chicken nuggets and sliders, which range in spiciness from “No Spice” to “Reaper.”
Located off Route 23 across Willowbrook Boulevard from the movie complex, the restaurant has a clean and uncluttered modern look.
Founded by Dave Kopushian, who trained at celebrity chef Thomas Keller’s organization, along with his friends Arman Oganesyan and Tommy and Gary Rubinian, it first opened in 2017. It quickly grew from seven franchises to over 100 and has more than 784,000 followers on Instagram.
Another Dave’s is slated for a Secaucus show next year and it looks like more are to come, according to Bill Phelps, CEO.
“It’s a simple concept,” Phelps said. “The founders were looking to be like In and Out Burgers,” the popular regional burger chain with a very focused (read: small) menu.
Go: 57 Route 23, Wayne; 862-398-0008 daveshotchicken.com
Falafel Hot Chicken and Frankie Rolls, Hackensack
Mariam 📍 NJ Food & Travel on Instagram: “I love spicy food so you know I was over at @fluffieshotchicken This is one of my favorite hot chicken places so far – the spice blend is actually spicy and packed with flavor and I loved the quality of the meat. The frankie rolls and homemade bread were the thing My favorite on the list 🤤 *Do you like spicy food?? ⬇️ * #wanderingforeats #njeats #northjerseyeats #jerseycitynj #hobokennj #montclairnj #morristownnj #northjersey #jerseycity #hobokeneats #njfoodie #bergencountyeats #njfoodblogger #njbites #thingstodoinnj #njevents #njspots #hackensack #hackensacknj #njhalalfood #njhalal #halalfood #njhalalrestaurantants #njhalalbites
Tucked in a strip mall just outside where 80’s and 17’s converge, Fluffies, unlike a number of other chicken hot spots, has a broader menu, offers a mix of chicken dishes and also specializes in Frankie rolls, a type of Indian roll. Relatively new owner Saad Basra said it opened in November and the interior has a modern feel and a few tables.
“I call it a quick accident,” Basra said, adding that the store’s location is near Cruz’s nest.
Reviews on sites like Yelp give high marks for their hot chicken, where the fried chicken adds spicy oil and a variety of seasonings depending on how hot the chicken is. Yelp users warn that delicious chicken is not for the faint of taste.
Go: 252 Summit Ave., Hackensack; 201-402-3936, fluffieshotchicken.com.
All it took was a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, for Chef Hillary Stirling to fall in love with the city’s signature hot chicken, Cayenne’s website says, and her love was well deserved. Cayenne operates franchises throughout the region.
In Denville, the franchise is a ghost kitchen, say Jared Felixbrod and Dave Stroud, co-owners, who also operate out of the same location Blue Moon Mex Express, a Broadway-style convenience store. Seats are limited.
Felixbrod says you can order online or walk in.
Not surprisingly, the menu centers around chicken and offers a traditional Southern crispy chicken as well as a Nashville chicken sandwich. Both are served on a toasted butter roll with tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise. Nashville comes in a mild or hot selection with French fries and coleslaw.
Go: 45 Broadway, Denville; 973-625-3663, eatcayenne.com.
Florham Hungry Joe Park
Part of a national chain, Hangry Joes is located in the Florham Village shopping centre, and its top three items are the chicken sandwich, chicken fingers and chicken and waffles. It also offers Korean nuggets, french fries and coleslaw.
It opened in April of 2022 and the workers there say they do a quick lunch and dinner. The seasoning of the chicken ranges from no seasoning to infuriatingly hot, which if patrons take it out could require a waiver to be signed.
Go: 187 Columbia Turnpike, Florham Park; 973-937-7007, hangryjoes.com
Zalim Hot Chicken & Burgers, Englewood. Zalem hot chicken and Englewood burger
The menu includes the Nashville sandwich, made with Southern fried chicken on brioche with cream cheese and spicy mayonnaise, as well as burgers, fries, and shakes. It is scheduled to open on January 23.
Go: 3 E. Palisades Ave. Englewood; 201-408-4449, zalimfoods.com