Prince’s Hot Chicken Is Coming to Texas for the First Time Ever

Prince’s Hot Chicken, the famed spicy fried poultry from Nashville, is coming to Austin for the first time in the form of a pop-up. The two-night event will take place at Independence Brewing Co., on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 9 and 10. It’s safe to expect tickets to sell out quickly.

This will mark Prince’s and owner Andre Prince Jeffries first Texas appearance ever, courtesy of October, the new beer website from music publication Pitchfork. This is the debut event in the Family Craft series, which pairs families with local breweries and restaurants. Jeffries, as the third generation in her family to run Prince’s, teamed up with the couple behind Independence, Rob and Amy Cartwright.

Alas, this doesn’t mean Austin will get a branch of Prince’s Hot Chicken, though Jeffries doesn’t rule anything out. “Everything is on the table,” she told Eater, “so this is all new to me as far as this exposure is concerned. Of course, we’d have to look into the details and see what’s out there.”

Of the fiery chicken, Jeffries said, "It's certainly an attention-getter. It's not a boring food. It's something to talk about." Tickets are $65 per person, and come with a family-style chicken dinner served with sides (fries, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw), beer pairings from Independence, and a tour of the brewery with tastings. Reservations are available for 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. each evening.

Prince's Hot Chicken Shack opened in Nashville in 1945 by James Thornton Prince, and it's been in the family every since. It received a James Beard Foundation Classics Award in 2013. Prince’s is included in Eater Nashville's essential restaurants, and Eater critic Bill Addison's 38 essential Southern restaurants and the best restaurants of the country. Hotville Chicken, run by Jeffries niece Kim Prince, opened in Los Angeles in the form of a Saturday night pop-up series, earlier this year.

Future Family Craft events include Contra and Wildair’s Jeremiah Stone and Fabian Von Hauke at Fort Point Brewing in San Francisco in May, and events in Los Angeles and New York.

• Announcing a New Event Series: Family Craft [October]
• October Family Craft (Austin, TX) [EventBrite]
• All Coverage of Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack [ENASH]