Apparently, there’s a fourth law of thermodynamics that is more important than the conservation of energy. It seems like there is a concept of “conservation of East Nashville Hot Chicken.” With the recent mid-December announcement that Pepperfire Hot Chicken had suddenly shut down their Gallatin Road location in preparation for moving to a new home near Marathon Village at 1400 Jo Johnston Ave., East Nashville hot chicken fans were concerned that their options had become severely limited.
Since opening in 2010, Pepperfire was one of the handful of Nashville hot chicken operations that made the medium-long lists in the local and national lists of where to try our city’s iconic delicacy. After Prince’s, Hattie B’s and Bolton’s, you could expect to see Pepperfire and maybe 400 Degrees mentioned most often. (OK, maybe just by me.) However, true Nashville hot chicken nuts have a host of personal favorites that they are willing to go to the mattresses for, and social media is filled with unwinnable arguments between unconvincible debaters about why X is better than Y.
Amongst the vitriol, a close reader can discover some chicken nuggets of valuable information, and that’s where I first learned about the loyal following of Marlon and Joy Reed’s Slow Burn Hot Chicken up in Madison at 495B Myatt Drive. Slow Burn’s fans absolutely swear by the Reeds' chicken, with heat levels ranging from “Singe” up to “Inferno” and “The End,” plus an off-the-menu hot sauce called “Elephant Repellent,” which are all well beyond my current constitution to attempt anymore.
So I was intrigued to see one of the local hot chicken Facebook groups share a photo of a little building I recognized from previous incarnations with a big Slow Burn sign hanging on the side of it. Have faith readers, East Nashville will burn again, because the Reeds have confirmed that Slow Burn will soon open in the tiny cinderblock building in the parking lot of the market at 726 McFerrin Ave., near Cleveland Park. That location has a history of great fried chicken, as the previous home of Korean fried chicken joint The Birdhouse and Ruby Ann’s, which served a pretty decent hot chicken biscuit.
It’s a really small space with very little seating, so it will most probably be a primarily walk-up and carryout operation. But as I always tell people who ask me about the line at Hattie B’s, it tastes exactly the same in your home or hotel room, and you’ll be closer to a familiar bathroom. Keep an eye on this space and Slow Burn’s Facebook page for news of an official opening date, hopefully sooner than later.
Added: (Slow Burn sign photo by Brian Bloebaum)
