The chicken at Dave’s Hot Chicken is hot. I mean, it’s not named Dave’s Hot Chicken for nothing. Find out all about the pop up turned fast casual chicken joint in our Dave’s Hot Chicken review.
Let’s start this out with a fact. Dave’s Hot Chicken is hot. It’s right there in the name. The restaurant is giving you all the facts right off the bat. It’s hot chicken. Not temperature hot, but style-wise.
Hot chicken is a style that originated in Nashville. There’s a specific preparation for the Southern chicken, which includes cayenne pepper, that gives it a bright red hue, making it look … well, as hot as it tastes.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is made with Carolina reaper, which earned the Guinness Book Of World Records title of world’s hottest pepper in 2013.
So it’s only fitting that after over 500 franchise locations in the United States, Dave’s Hot Chicken finally made it to the (sort of) namesake of it’s signature ingredient. (Side note: yes, we know the Carolina reaper actually originated in South Carolina. ).
Dave’s Hot Chicken opens its first Carolina location today, and, luckily for us, it’s opening in Wilmington, NC.
We were invited to Dave’s for its soft opening and got to try out all the hot chicken earlier this week. That includes The Reaper, which is Dave’s hottest piece. “Because it’s so dangerous, you’ll have to sign a waiver,” they said. ” And not just in that Barenaked Ladies lyric way. But in an actual waiver that prints from the register when you order the Reaper.
For more hot chicken reviews, check out our Al’s Hot Chicken review. That’s also a chain. We had the chance to check it out in Tacoma, WA.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is a popular fast food chain known for its spicy Nashville hot chicken. With 7 levels of heat to choose from, Dave’s caters to spice lovers and scaredy cats alike. But just how hot is their hottest offering? I tried all the levels to find out.
An Overview of Dave’s Heat Levels
Here are Dave’s 7 levels of heat, from mildest to hottest:
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No Spice – Plain fried chicken with no heat
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Lite Mild – Barely detectable spice,
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Mild – Light zing, palatable for most.
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Medium – Noticeable kick, starts to burn.
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Hot – Serious heat lovers only.
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Extra Hot – Very spicy and fiery.
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Reaper – Insanely spicy, made with Carolina Reapers.
The key is that each level uses a different amount of Carolina Reaper peppers in the seasoning blend. The Reaper is one of the world’s hottest chile peppers, with an average Scoville rating of 1.6 million SHU. For reference, a jalapeño ranges from 3,500-10,000 SHU.
My Experience Sampling the Levels
I worked my way up the spice ladder, starting with plain No Spice chicken. Even without seasoning, the brined chicken was juicy and flavorful.
The Lite Mild had a little tang but not much burn. Mild warmed up my mouth slightly but was very enjoyable.
At Medium, I noticed some numbing heat. It started a slow burn in the back of my throat. Hot spread the spiciness across my whole mouth. My lips were tingling, but it remained tasty.
Extra Hot packed some real fire. Each bite built in intensity, bringing tears to my eyes. To keep my mouth from getting too hot, I had to stop and drink milkshakes between pieces.
Finally, I braved the Reaper chicken. At first bite, it didn’t seem too bad. But within minutes, my mouth was engulfed in raging heat. My lips, tongue, and throat were scorched. Sinuses drained as I cried and gasped for relief. I’d been lured into the Reaper’s trap!.
Just How Hot is the Reaper Chicken?
Now that I’d experienced it, I wanted to quantify the heat. According to Dave’s, the Reaper chicken is seasoned with actual dried Carolina Reaper peppers in the spice blend.
The Reaper clocks in at an average of 1.6 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU), ranging from 1.2 to 2.2 million. It held the Guinness World Record for world’s hottest chile pepper until the Dragon’s Breath knocked it down to #2 at 2.48 million SHU.
For comparison, a jalapeño ranges from 3,500 to 10,000 SHU. The infamous ghost pepper hits 1 million. These charts show how the Reaper stacks up:
Scoville Scale
- Bell pepper – 0 SHU
- Jalapeño – 3,500-10,000 SHU
- Habanero – 100,000-350,000 SHU
- Ghost pepper – 855,000-1,041,427 SHU
- Carolina Reaper – 1,200,000-2,200,000 SHU
That’s why the Reaper chicken made my mouth burn! It won’t be as hot as eating a raw pepper, but the seasoning blend adds a lot of heat.
Tips for Surviving the Reaper
Here are my suggestions if you dare to try Dave’s Reaper chicken:
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Start with lower heat levels to prepare your palate.
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Take small bites and don’t rub your eyes!
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Drink milkshakes, smoothies or yogurt to cool your mouth.
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Avoid alcohol, caffeine or citrus, which can worsen the burn.
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Have bread, rice, or beans on hand to soak up the heat.
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Apply honey or sugar directly to the tongue for relief.
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Suck on ice chips, popsicles or hard candy.
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Rinse your mouth with an antacid like Maalox or Mylanta.
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Wait out the fire – it will eventually subside.
The Reaper chicken lives up to its ominous name. At over 1 million SHU, it’s not for the faint of heart. Proceed with caution and have emergency supplies ready! A glass of milk and wet wipes got me through my trial by fire. I can now say I’ve experienced one of the world’s hottest peppers – through strategic bites of delicious chicken rather than eating it raw and whole!
Should You Try Dave’s Hot Chicken?
If you love spice, Dave’s is a must-try. The Nashville heat levels cater to every tolerance, from no spice newbies to extreme spiceaholics.
The chicken itself has incredible juicy flavor, even without seasoning. The spices mix complex heat with tangy, savory flavor. Mild through Hot are enjoyable for chileheads.
Only try Extra Hot and Reaper if you have a battle-tested steel mouth and tongue. Be prepared with plenty of cooling foods to counteract the extreme heat.
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed by the authentic Nashville-style heat at Dave’s. They’ve perfected the palate-pleasing balance of flavorful burn. I’ll definitely be back for more…just steering clear of the Reaper’s wrath next time!
Dave’s Hot Chicken Review
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Dave’s Hot Chicken Spice Level Reviews
No Spice is equivalent to the type of chicken you’d expect from a typical fast food joint. There’s no spice at all, which is a great way to actually taste the quality of Dave’s Hot Chicken chicken tenders.
The tender is huge, meaty, and really juicy. The breading is really light, so most of what you’re eating is chicken.
It’s delicious and, arguably, one of the best tasting chicken tenders you’ll get at a fast food restaurant. Pricewise, like we mentioned above, it’s $4. 25 for a single tender at the Wilmington location. So you’re getting a quality chicken tender, but you’re also paying for it.
That’s the last time we’ll mention price during this Dave’s Hot Chicken review, but we did want to mention it now before you go up the Scoville scale and can’t concentrate anymore.
We read online that Carolina reaper peppers are used to season all of Dave’s Hot Chicken’s chicken, but the Lite Mild tender tastes like cumin. It’s “very cumin-forward” we wrote in our notes.
If your spice of choice is cumin, this is a good chicken tender for you. But, if you’re not a fan of it, just skip this one and go straight to Mild.
Mild is where the chicken turns a deep red (burnt sienna, if you will) color that just looks hot. Mild and above make the chicken look like you might not want to lick your fingers after touching it. No Spice looks like plain chicken. Lite Mild looks like you covered a piece in Shake N Bake breading.
You’re not at the “do not lick” portion just yet. It just looks that way. The coloring from Mild on up is pretty similar, but the taste isn’t.
Mild is actually pretty mild. It has some heat, but it’s pretty on par with the Lite Mild. It’s made with spices, so technically it’s spicy. But the spices add flavor, not heat.
This one is definitely more tasty than it is spicy, and it’s a great choice.
The Medium tender is tricky. It starts out not hot. This spice gives you the confidence to go all the way to the top of the spice scale.
And then, as you swallow and you’re above to take another bite, the spice creeps up on you and lingers. And you start eying the French fries on the side of your basket, really happy that they came with your order.
Hot is where you start rethinking your choices and wondering if your taste buds can actually handle heat. Hot is when you start wondering if, even though you say you like spice, if you even ever had anything spicy. Because hot is hot. It’s not like a hot Buffalo wing or traditional hot sauce.
This chicken has a really forward punch of heat that jumps a lot from the Medium tender. The jump is fast and you won’t be prepared. Even though I’m telling you to be prepared. You’ll think I’m exaggerating.
And then you’ll try it and you’ll be happy you ordered the creamy macaroni and cheese on Dave’s Hot Chicken menu because that’s delicious and cheesy and the rumor that dairy cools your mouth will be true.
By the time you get to Extra Hot, your taste buds will be in stealth mode. They’ll know what to expect. They’ll understand heat.
Because for some reason, I actually think Extra Hot is less hot than Hot. Or, if it’s the same heat, it’s a more enjoyable heat.
We tried a bite of each chicken tender, cleansing our pallets between each, and then ate our favorites as sliders. I picked the Extra Hot. And between the potato bread, the kale slaw, and the pickles (oh the pickles!), it was delicious.
I would say, in sandwich form, the Extra Hot is equivalent in heat to the spicy sandwich at Chick-fil-A, which I think is the spiciest fast food chicken sandwich (although not top ranking).
So, this is a funny story. Funny to me, anyway. But, let me start it with: Children, don’t try this at home.
For the review, the first four chicken tenders (No Spice, Lite Mild, Mild, and Medium) were served to us in one basket. The next three (Hot, Extra Hot, and Reaper) were in a second basket.
For sake of completeness, we took a photo of each tender individually, then carefully put it back in the box. My assistant (my non-spice-liking mom who blogs at Life of 2 Snowbirds) was in charge of moving the tenders from the basket to the photo area. She did this holding a napkin between her fingers and the chicken because she didn’t even want to touch the spice.
We took a bunch of photos and, unbeknownst to us until it was too late, in the course of this, the basket with the three hottest got flipped around.
We got up to Medium and my mom was ready to tap out. But I twisted her arm. “You already made it to level 4, see if you can make it to 5,” I said to the woman who is hesitant about adding red pepper flakes to her recipes.
I cut a piece for each of us. We chew. And our mouths are on fire. It’s so hot. My mom is questioning giving birth to me because if she had not, she wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. We’re wondering why Dave’s Hot Chicken milkshakes are coming soon, not coming now.
“I’m dying, it’s so hot, I think I have to leave,” my mom says moments after I take the funniest photo of her face and send it on my family’s group text.
And that’s when we look back on the aforementioned photos, compare the shapes of the chicken, and realize that instead of Hot, we’re eating the Reaper, the hottest chicken on the menu, the spice you have to sign a waiver for.
It was so, so hot.
But, here’s the thing. My mom ate it, ate lots of fries after, and ran quickly back down the scale to the No Spice to ease her mouth. But, like the Chow from the Hangover movies meme, I’m all, “But did you die?” No, no she didn’t. So if she can eat it, albeit it only a bite, you can too.
But it’s hot. It’s really hot.
Trying All Spice Levels at Dave’s Hot Chicken, Including The Reaper
FAQ
What levels of heat does Dave’s Hot Chicken have?
- No Spice.
- Lite Mild.
- Mild.
- Medium.
- Hot.
- Extra Hot.
- Reaper.
What NBA player is Dave’s Hot Chicken?
Former NBA player Kris Humphries, along with his cousin, Alex, opened up Dave’s Hot Chicken in the southeast part of the Med City. This is the first location to open outside of the Twin Cities, where four locations exist. The restaurant offers different kinds of Nashville-Hot style chicken tenders and sliders.
How hot is hot chicken?
Nashville Hot Chicken, which is becoming more and more popular, is in the 10,000 to 100,000 SHU range because it is usually made with cayenne pepper.
Can you order Dave’s hot chicken not spicy?
The chicken has seven spiciness levels: No Spice, Lite Mild, Mild, Medium, Hot, Extra Hot and Reaper. That last option requires you to sign an actual waiver when you order it. (Spoiler: It’s really, really hot. ) In addition to the chicken, there’s a limited list of sides, including fries and mac & cheese.