Food

We bought, we tried, we sputtered: looking for LA's spiciest Nashville hot chicken

Published Aug 8, 2025 5:00 AM

A close up of four pieces of bright orange fried chicken, with another four tenders in split buns with sauce and pickles

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Dozens of Nashville-style hot chicken shops dot the streets of L.A., and opinions abound about whose spicy chicken is the best. But the inner spice fiend in me couldn’t help but wonder… whose spicy tender is the most scorching?

I set up a (highly unscientific) LAist experiment to find out.

The experiment

First, I needed to figure out a few variables.

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Style of chicken: I avoided sandwiches or sliders because I didn’t want the heat of the chicken to be masked with bread, pickles or sauces. I also opted for a non-bone option so all attention could be on a clean, spicy bite. That left me with the classic tender — all flavor, no fuss. Just pure heat.

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The contenders: There are many excellent Nashville hot chicken places in L.A., but I realized I needed to narrow down the contenders to save the judges' palettes — and LAist’s budget. So I scoured Reddit forums and other social media posts for recommendations from heat lovers, and saw that three names popped up the most: Dave’s Hot Chicken, Howlin’ Rays and Main Chick.

Oh, and another important consideration: proximity to the LAist office in Pasadena.

The participants: I opened the floor to anyone at LAist who’d want to spend a lunch break sweating over chicken with their colleagues. In the end, we got 11 brave souls to take part, including editors, producers and interns.

Now, asking my colleagues to try the spiciest chicken in L.A. without an out would be akin to torture. Plus, any tasting must include a palette cleanser! So one final, and crucial, question remained… what's the best way to cut the spice?

Turns out it’s a one-word answer: fat.

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Capsaicin is the chemical component that makes your mouth burn when you eat something spicy. But it’s fat-soluble, so foods that are high in fat may dissolve capsaicin and help mask some of the heat.

So, armed with two tubs of Thrifty’s ice cream, two gallons of milk and a dream, we began the experiment.

The trials

First up: Dave’s Hot Chicken's Reaper Tender

Five Nashville-hot chicken tenders from Dave's Hot Chicken at the reaper level. They are in a shiny silver takeaway box along with several pieces of white bread. There is also a spoon in the box.

Dave's is infamous for making people sign a liability waiver before ordering their reaper level — and we at LAist quickly found out why.

Our players started eating with the utmost confidence … until the ultra-spicy Carolina Reaper pepper-extract started to kick in. Faces quickly turned red, and people were desperately reaching for milk and ice cream to cool off.

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“I literally just taste death,” said Managing Editor Jason Wells.

Three light skinned men and a dark skinned woman sit at a large table. In front of them are paper plates full of pieces of fried chicken. There is also a large bottle of milk on the table. One of them men is wiping his eyes with his arm.

“Yeah, can we tap out?” said Senior Editor Dana Littlefield, slapping the table and pleading for relief.

Even after it seemed like the spice level had peaked, the reaper seemed to keep getting hotter. The actual flavor of the tender was mostly masked by its heat.

The judges were charged with rating each tender out of 10, with 1 being no big deal, and 10 being the fires of hell.

Most gasped out a 9 or a 10. But AirTalk Producer Nicolas Perez gave it an 8, the lowest ranking of the staff.

“It’s not, like, all-enveloping,” Perez said. “I don’t feel like my entire mouth is on fire. It’s really just concentrated on my tongue. I don’t like the air on my tongue right now.”

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The judges consumed a gallon of milk and an entire tub of ice cream recovering from a few bites of that tender alone.

The chicken shop also offers a cauliflower tender option, which is dubbed ‘Dave’s Not Chicken.’ Two vegetarians on our staff tried it out.

Two Nashville-hot cauliflower tenders on top of slices of white bread in a black takeaway box. There are several fries and pickles on top of the tenders, as well as a cup of sauce.

“I might finish this actually, this is really good,” All Things Considered Producer Kevin Tidmarsh said. “I’m going in for another bite.”

Reporting intern Vitus Larrieu said the cauliflower patty had a nice flavor and decent texture.

“Sometimes the best chicken is cauliflower,” he said.

Either the cauliflower damped down the spiciness, or our testers had iron constitutions.

Average meat score: 9.18 out of 10
Average vegetarian score: 8 out of 10

Next up: Howlin’ Rays howlin' tender

Several chicken tenders in a white box with a few pickles and slices of white bread. There is wrapping under the tenders that has several miniature chicken silhouettes with a spicy text bubble that says 'HOT!' printed next to them.

Dubbed the best-tasting chicken by most online users from my research, I was curious to see if Howlin’ Rays would live up to its reputation.

Our testers took their first bite of the hottest level, the “howlin’ tender,” a blend of the Carolina Reaper, Ghost Pepper and Trinidad Scorpion peppers. Sounds terrifying, but it didn't seem to take our testers down. They even commented on things other than the spice.

"Oh, the skin on that's good, like the outside is actually good," said Senior Editor Ross Brenneman.

A man with a great mustache in a light blue shirt is wearing black gloves and holding a paper plate with a chicken tender on it. We can see he's in a newsroom, with a printer, digital clock and cubicles behind him.

“It has so much more flavor than the last one,” said Senior Editor Matt Ballinger. “I could eat this whole thing.”

While the spiciness was very strong, they said it wasn’t overwhelming, allowing the juiciness of the chicken to come through.

It was clear this tender packed more of a flavorful punch.

“Spicy, but I’m not dying,” Littlefield said. “That one’s my favorite [so far].”

Average score: 6.58 out of 10

Finally: Main Chick's spicy tender

Three Nashville-hot chicken tenders from Main Chick and a pickle in a white box.

Now, a disclaimer. We'd selected what we thought was the spiciest level when we ordered the tenders online. But when they arrived at the office, we saw that our chosen "spicy tender" was outranked by another, an even hotter level — the "supreme tender.” Aaagh! So much for scientific rigor. Still, we had mouths to feed, so we continued with the test.

Our testers’ initial response: "It tastes exactly like the XXTRA Flamin' Hot Cheetos," engagement intern Mikaela Perez said. "That's the amount of spice I'm feeling."

The spice level continue to build. "It's hot," said Ballinger.

"Oh, it's growing!" said Littlefield.

“It has a good tongue burn,” Senior Producer Matt Dangelantonio said. “Not too deep in the back of your throat to the point that you start hacking or hiccupping, but good flavor.”

Wells described it as "having a little kick." But no one was reaching for their milk.

“I expected it to peak a little more,” social intern Danika DeLaczay said. “It hit around my tongue, nowhere else.”

OK, so not really a contender in our trials. But I think it can take its place in the spice universe as a great on-ramp to heat heaven.

Average score: 3.72 out of 10

The winner(s)

Since our test became (ahem) scientifically challenged, we decided to expand the judging categories. Trophies all around!

Hottest: Dave’s Hot Chicken

With a sizzling tender that left our tongues burning long after the challenge was complete, the reaper certainly swept the spice competition.

Most flavor and staff favorite: Howlin’ Rays

Howlin’ Rays expertly blends some scary-sounding peppers into a tender that certainly leaves you howling… for more.

Best gateway tender into the spice world: Main Chick

A spice level the non-contestants in the office could still enjoy, Main Chick brings a subtle sizzle to the table that’s a good on-ramp to more heat.

If you’re interested in seeing our faces burn in real time, you can check out our video on the experiment at @laistofficial.

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