Plano’s Hot Chicks Chicken debuts, struts with free trips to Nashville in Mar. 27 giveaway

Nashville-style hot fried chicken continues to strut across Dallas-Fort Worth (and the rest of the U.S.). The newest area entry worth checking out is Hot Chicks, which recently started clucking in Plano (885 Dallas Pkwy #300) and is throwing its grand opening party Saturday, Mar. 27 with free champagne, a “Hot AF Challenge” chicken eating contest at 3 p.m., and a giveaway for a free trip to Nashville.

Hot Chicks offers drive-through and inside dining at the Plano location; a second Hot Chicks is slated to open later this year near SMU, followed by additional outlets across DFW, including Las Colinas, Arlington and Willow Park. Owner Sam Sameni says Hot Chicks sets itself apart from competitors bydipping Halal chicken in a unique spicy hot oil bath infused with cayenne, brown sugar and bold spices.

“After the hot oil bath, we cover each piece of chicken with a spice mix that has different peppers including cayenne, ghost pepper, habanero, scorpion and Carolina Reaper,” said Sameni, whose F&B background includes told me. Customers choose one of five spice levels from mild to Hot AF. “We use three different kinds of sugar in our spice mix to offset some of the initial burn you usually get from Nashville Chicken. Also, we use all natural peppers instead of extracts, which is different than most places.”

The menu includes chicken tenders, chicken sandwiches, chicken tacos, a crispy chicken salad, mac and cheese, boozy adult slashes and fries heaped with fried chicken, cole slaw and pickles. Customers can also order gluten-free grilled chicken topped with the same spicy seasonings.

So far, I’ve been unimpressed with most of the Nashville Hot chicken restaurants proliferating across DFW. Most offer more heat than flavor and tend to overcook their birds. This one could be different. Do you have a favorite? Shoot us an email and let us know where we should check out next.

photos: Hot Chicks