LORD of the WINGS (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the suicide): Frankie's Nashville Hot Chicken

Sunday 2 May 2021

Frankie's Nashville Hot Chicken - Ottawa ON (Baseline)

One of the biggest food trends round these parts the last few years has been Nashville Hot Chicken. Crispy fried chicken dunked in a peppery-hot oil served with a pickle. I love it. So when we saw a new joint in town called Frankie's Nashville Hot Chicken that was doing Nashville Hot Chicken Strips (and sandwiches), we decided to go for it.

We went with their Double Chicken Sandwich Combo, because we were both feeling the sandwich option and it was cheaper to get the double combo. We also got a side of Ben & Jerry's ice cream that tipped our delivery fee down to zero. Score.

After ordering, I was curious about where Frankie's was. That's when a small mystery started to unravel. First, it turned out Frankie's is a chain across Ontario. There are a bunch of locations, even in Ottawa. What?! The next thing that was weird was that they didn't have an address exactly. Well no in house dining. What?! See, Frankie's is a ghost kitchen. Not a sit down restaurant, but a kitchen operating for delivery only. But when I did see an address, I was able to confirm that Frankie's isn't an independent chain, they are part of Lone Star Texas Grill chain! There's nothing on either's social media ... sneaky!

It didn't take long and we had our order. It came in a big heavy paper bag stapled on the top.

Inside were the two sandwich boxes on the bottom, then dips and the ice cream on top. Not a great way to treat the ice cream (you know, heat rises) but it stayed pretty cold, and we tossed it into freezer anyway. Now I didn't end up taking photos of the ice cream, but the Ben & Jerry's Neflix & Chill'd was really good. It's "Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Sweet & Salty Pretzel Swirls & Fudge Brownie" and there is nothing not awesome in that sentence. It was very very good and pairs well with spicy chicken!

Each of our Sandwiches came in a non-descript cardboard box. At this point I could smell the cayenne pepper sauce/oil and I was hungry.

This was the box inside: one foil wrapped sandwich, and a good order of curly fries.

I unwrapped my sandwich and it was not pretty, but it did look good. The top bun was smooshed, and much smaller than the top bun? But the bun was struggling to hold everything together, in a good way.

The breakdown of the sandwich is a Garlic Toasted Ace Bun. Then there were 3 Nashville chicken tenders that had been brushed with Nashville Hot Sauce. Then there was a layer of pickles, then Frankie's Signature Sauce.

The bun is a brioche bun that was fresh and soft, but didn't taste like it was garlic. I don't know if its the way it's cut or what, but the top is smaller than the bottom. The chicken tenders themselves were crispy but also soft, and the white meat was tender. They were coated in sauce; my wife had the standard Hot and she found that spicy. I had Hot AF "As Frankie" which they describe as 'kicked up with scotch bonnet and habanero pepper' (non-traditional Nashville Hot peppers). I found it spicy, but not melt your face spicy. It's peppery with cayenne heat as the dominant flavour.

There's a few sweet pickles on there that help cut the salty/peppery heat of the chicken. They aren't special on thier own (I mean I wouldn't enjoy these much as a pickle) but they are needed on the sandwich. Also helping to balance things out on the sandwich is the Frankie's Signature Sauce. I think it's mayo based, giving some creaminess, but there's also some garlic, something sweet, and something spicy to it too.

The curly fries were good; crispy and seasoned well. They held up being crunchy even after a long delivery ride. They are very similar to the king of curly fries, Arby's, but not quite the same.

I also got a dip on the side for $0.50 - Honey Dill. It tastes just as it sounds, dilly, with some sweet honey. It was a lot thinner/watery than I expected, but the flavour was good. It paired very well with the curly fries.

WOULD I GET IT AGAIN?

The meal was good. Nice, crispy seasoned curly fries. The sandwich was also good as a whole - no one thing stood out as amazing, but it was good. The chicken was crispy, moist, and dressed well, the bun was fresh, the pickles and sauce tangy. I only wish Hot AF was more spicy, and more bold.