Gold Dig #50

In the past, Jonathan Gold has included the multitude of eateries that make up Far East Plaza as a single unit on his 101 list. At the moment however, the big draw to Far East Plaza is Howlin’ Ray’s, so in his most recent release it got its own spot on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. We were there on a Saturday and as the pictures below show, the line wraps all the way around the lower level of the plaza. When you reach a point that feels about 3/4 of the way through the line, you see the sign that tells you the wait from there is approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. This is no joke – we timed it from there and it was almost exactly 45 minutes. All together our wait ended up being just under 3 hours. Luckily for us, we’d been warned about this insanity ahead of time, and we had a plan. While one of us stood in line, the other person picked up food from the other Far East Plaza eateries we wanted to hit. We happily munched this grub while people nearby us in the line looked on in envy (check out my Far East Plaza post too).

The Dish

Three hours and many line-waiting munchies later… we finally arrived at Howlin’ Ray’s, home of the Nashville hot chicken that is causing all the hubbub right now. The offerings are pretty simple – you choose your quantity and cut of chicken and select from 6 degrees of hotness that range from Country to Howlin! They also have chicken and waffles, a chicken sandwich, a few sides, and some cookies. That about covers it.

Howlin’ Rays is pretty much a grab and go kind of place (you see lots of people eating their chicken at the picnic tables in the middle of Far East Plaza), but they do have a couple small tables and a handful of seats at the counter. I have to give props to these awesome guys who were working at a frenzied pace to make chicken for the hordes of people lined up for hours, but still somehow managed to be super cool, high energy, and friendly to us when we sat down at the counter in front of them.

Medium Chicken Breast and Wing

At first we ordered a Hot Half Chicken, but they warned us that Hot is really hot, so we took their advice and went with a Medium Breast and Wing, and a Hot Leg and Thigh. The chicken comes with a slice of bread, a few pickles, and a container of Comeback Sauce. The outside is perfectly crisp and even the Medium had a pretty serious level of spice, but what impressed me most was the chicken meat itself, which was juicy and flavorful even in the breast where it can tend to get dry. A lot of fried chicken derives all its flavor from the fried coating, but Howlin’ Ray’s must brine their meat or something because it was full of flavor all on its own.

Hot Chicken Leg and Thigh

The Hot definitely burned, but in a way that somehow made me want to keep going back for more.

Hot Chicken Sando

While we excitedly awaited our food, the guys asked if we had been to Howlin’ Ray’s before. We told them it was our first time, and they proceeded to present us with a Hot Chicken Sando, for free! Not only was this super awesome of them, but the sandwich was incredibly good and turned out to be my favorite thing.

Creamy Macaroni Salad

Then when our chicken order was ready, they gave us a container of Creamy Macaroni Salad to go with it, saying that it would be helpful to cool our mouths down. They were right and we were thankful!

Hot Shake Fries

While we sat there and ate, they also hooked us up with Extra Pickles and 4 bonus containers of Comeback Sauce. About halfway through the meal, our mouths were burning and my friend got up to go to the cashier and order a couple of Cokes, but our guy leaned over and asked what we needed and the next thing we knew he was handing us two cans of Coke too. We loved the food and the experience so much that a couple months later we went back and persevered through the line again. The coolest part was when we sat down at the counter, our guy said “You’re back!” and proceeded to hook us up in similar fashion to our first trip, plus some Hot Shake Fries too, which have great seasoning. So here’s my hot tip for you – once you’ve made it through the 3-hour line, don’t take your chicken to go – eat at the counter. It’s frenzied and fun, the guys are incredible, and they play awesome music!