Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, a popular Nashville-based chain serving up Music City’s most famous dish, is looking to open a restaurant in Chattanooga.
The chain has 13 locations operating in five states, with another five locations set to open in either late 2025 or 2026.
“Chattanooga is a thriving city with a vibrant food scene, and Hattie B’s is actively exploring opportunities to open a restaurant there, as part of our ongoing growth strategy,” company spokesperson Amy Corley said in an email.
The first Hattie B’s location opened in 2012 in Midtown Nashville just off Broadway and was followed by four other Nashville stores. The family-owned company was co-founded by Nick Bishop Sr. and Nick Bishop Jr.
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The chain has restaurants soon to open in East Nashville, Huntsville and the Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago. It will double its presence in Texas next year, with stores in Austin and Plano.
A Chattanooga location would be the first in East Tennessee. Hattie B’s did not have details confirmed on possible locations it is exploring.
THE MENU
Hattie B’s has a straightforward, one-page menu offering Southern classics and five spice levels, from mild to “shut the cluck up.”
There are chicken sandwiches, jumbo chicken tenders and on-the-bone chicken by quarter or half a bird. Sides include pimento mac and cheese, bacon cheddar grits, southern greens and black eyed pea salad.
Customers can wash the heat down with frozen alcoholic Icee’s, a tall cocktail, a range of beers on draft or good old-fashioned tea or lemonade.
Hattie B’s keeps dessert simple with three options: banana pudding, peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream.
The chain supports local charity partners through sales, like Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. It donated 100% of sales at its two Texas locations on July 10 to support flood relief after the Guadalupe River flooded on July 4.
POSSIBLE LOCATION?
A social media post raised the idea that Hattie B’s may move into the space once occupied by Food Works in the Signal Knitting Mill building on Manufacturers Road. Food Works closed in 2024 after 18 years.
There is no lease signed for the space and the owners are still looking for a tenant, Dana Newby, director of leasing at Atlanta-based Coro Realty Advisors, said in a phone call.
“We are still trying to determine that,” Newby said when asked what kind of tenant makes sense for the space.
Coro Realty Advisors purchased the 41,117-square-foot building in 2020, according to Hamilton County property records. The building dates back to 1916 and hosts Edley’s Bar-B-Que, another popular Nashville chain. The restaurant opened on the opposite end of the Food Works space in 2017.
Contact business reporter Daniel Dassow at ddassow@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.
