William W.
Yelp
As a self-proclaimed hot chicken connoisseur, perhaps the only human who has tried all 30 Nashville hot chicken offerings in Middle Tennessee including this newbie, allow me to offer my humble opinion.
The inexplicably-inflated ratings on Yelp and Google leave me absolutely perplexed! Of course, it's early in the game with a mere handful of reviews for a month-old restaurant. But anything higher than three stars leaves me stupefied! As soon as I stepped inside, I was immediately confronted by one of my pet peeves, employees who glare at you as if you just landed in a UFO. I'm not asking for "WELCOME TO MOE'S!," but I do want to feel like I'm welcome.
The Good:
The Breastwing quarter had a very crispy batter and was reasonably tender inside. The french fries were very crispy and FINALLY someone put enough spices on the exterior!!! Well done! They also serve a hot catfish, a rarity. But it could never compare to the spectacular hot fish at Big Shake's in Franklin.
The Bad:
There is one major requirement at a hot chicken place that separates it from boring old fried chicken; a delicious coating that embodies the piquancy of cayenne and brown sugar, chili powder and garlic, preferably all four. The coating here was completely and utterly flavorless, landing on my list as the absolute worst of the 30 hot chicken places in town, even lower than KFC's knock off.
Most hot chicken joints offer a mild coating that still maintains a good kick, a medium coating that's actually pretty hot, and the mandatory unbearable level. But here, there are only two hot chicken levels; mild (with absolutely no spiciness whatsoever), after which the scale jumps to an intimidating-looking capsaicin (which I probably should have tried).
Worst of all, the mac 'n' cheese is absolutely inedible, on the opposite end of the spectrum from the masterful mac at Nashville's Silo. I really want BJs to improve and to survive as a restaurant, but for now, you'd be wasting your time and money here until they make some serious improvements to their recipes. Clearly the 5-star ratings are from diners who have never tried Big Shake's or 400 Degrees, the gold standard in Nashville!