South - Nashville's "hot chicken"

There are a lot of unique regional foods in this country, but few as hyper-specialized as Nashville's "hot chicken." After all, just a few hours separate Tennessee's capital from one of the world capitals of all things barbecue, Memphis. Yet in Nashville, smoked pork plays second fiddle to this poultry dish you can find virtually nowhere else...

Like the other places, chicken comes in four flavors, mild, medium, hot and extra-hot, but this scale is relative, since they all refer to hot chicken. So even the mild is hot, and I had been warned by locals that anything beyond medium was a risk to my digestion. One of the Prince's family confirmed this: "I try to talk people down from hot and extra-hot all the time. It's not just the sweating while you eat it - it is 24-hour chicken. It doesn't leave you right away, and even if you get it down, sometime around midnight it will catch up with you." I was also repeatedly warned during my visit not to touch my eyes or face while eating, which apparently happens with frightening regularity and is akin to getting sprayed with mace.

Yikes!

http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/great-american-bites/story/2011-11-03/Great-American-Bites-Scorching-hot-fried-chicken-in-Nashville/51048170/1

Anyone have opinions on these places?

I grew up in the Nashville area, but have been away for a bit now. But this is news to me. I've never heard of Nashville Hot Chicken. Maybe it is a new thing.

All I can say is that growing up in Nashville, BBQ meant pork. Of course you could put barbeque sauce on chicken or beef, but that wasn't real BBQ.