Hattie B's Hot Chicken - Austin - South Lamar — Restaurant in Austin

Second time at Hatti B’s (first time was in Dallas.. it was amazing), and the name doesn’t disappoint!

The line was wrapped around the building, but that was to expected it being opening week/weekend (went around 6pm on a Saturday). Took anywhere from 30-45 minutes in line.

Got a half bird, half medium (leg/thigh), half hot (breast/wing), which they actually reversed.. but we can forgive cause the service was amazing! From the patience of listening to my order and answering my questions and giving recommendations (asked), to the playful call out from the workers behind the bar, left with a smile on my face for sure.

I decided to get it to go cause I wanted to take pictures, but didn’t want to be that guy when people are waiting to be seated. Let it be known that there are a good amount of in door seats for any sized party, and an outdoor/patio area as well.

My order: Half Bird (half medium - leg/thigh, half hot - breast/wing) Pimento Mac n Cheese Bacon Cheddar Grits

added ‘Damn Hot’ tender ($3.50)

banana pudding :)

The chicken itself was great as expected, crispy, tender, juicy, well seasoned. Portions are decent, but even if they weren’t, the food you get for $15 is insane, especially in Austin. Value is a 10/10!

Mac n Cheese was creamy, nice subtle tang from the pimento.

Bacon Cheddar Grits were smooth and buttery, pops of savory saltiness from the bacon.

Banana Pudding was banana pudding. Nothing extraordinary, but good banana pudding nonetheless.

ABOUT THE SPICE LEVELS *

Understand that they mean Hot when they say Hot, and when it says ‘Only for Enthusiasts’ for the top two levels, they mean it. For any casual spice and heat lover, Medium is enjoyable. Hot is good too, but you’re definitely going to feel it.

Damn Hot is DAMN HOT. You will definitely feel that sting of heat, in the beginning after it builds, then it tapers off.. THEN IT HITS YOU AGAIN and you pretty waterfall sweat until it goes away. Definitely an adventure to take if you truly are an enthusiast (I’ll be back for the hottest level just because haha).

As I mentioned, I took this to go, and after a 20-25 minute drive back, it was still good out the box (but definitely reheated it in the air fryer).

All in all, great service to from front with the orders, to the back staff getting the food out in a timely manner/keeping the line going, great fried chicken makes the world go round, amazing value for all...

Nut allergy friendly! Their site says everything is safe with the standard possible contamination warnings.

Parking is awful here at the moment. There's spots in the back, but don't park at Walgreens or the apartments or you will risk being towed.

We arrived at Hattie B's at 7:30 and waited about half an hour in line starting from outside. About 20 people ahead of us. After ordering, it took another 10-15 minutes to get our orders. They do have some beer options and cocktails, though some of the menu was striked out when I went.

For two people, we ordered: Chicken Sandwich (Hot): 4/5. Hot was the perfect level for some kick and still with some flavor. The sandwich was juicy, but the piece of chicken I got was smaller than the sandwich so it wasn't a perfectly balanced sandwich. It could've been crispier. Dirty Bird Fries (Medium): 1/5. Don't waste your money on this. The pieces of chicken I got had barely any meat, basically just fried dough. You could get fries and Mac & cheese sides and combine them and end up with a better serving than this. The fries were good, crispy but still soft to bite into. Tenders (Medium): 3/5. Small, a little dry, but not bad. Nice that it's served with some bread. Collard Greens: 4/5. Best side we got. Nice spicy kick with some meaty flavor. Potato Salad: 2/5 The potatoes were actually a bit starchy with bad texture. It was not that flavorful. Mac and Cheese: Pretty standard, I didn't get much of the pimento flavor. 2/5

I got to try a friend's Dang Hot level chicken and it was indeed quite hot. Each level is about 2x as hot as the next (per the server) and it felt like doing a Hot Ones challenge, in a good way. Interestingly, some pieces were much hotter and some more flavorful than others.

I'm still confused if drinks are included with the meal. We got water and it seemed like everyone else was getting fountain drinks with the same cup.

Overall, it's not somewhere I'd go wait 45 minutes for food again. Maybe when the hype dies down I'll come back for...

Very disappointing overall; starts with subpar sweet tea and "house made lemonade." Very little flavor to the tea, almost no sweetness to it. Lemonade should be sweeter, more like lemon water tbh. Neither stand alone, nor should they be mixed into an Arnold Palmer. Got a half a chicken hot, collards, Cole slaw. Sides were only things that were solid. The butchery of the chicken is embarrassing, proper separation of wing and breast requires a real knife not the plasticware provided. Drum comes attached to the thigh and wing to the breast. First off the size of the wings is just SAD. Secondly not breaking down the bird and then frying the whole thing essentially guarantees the fry will not adhere to the chicken. You are forced to eat a separation of skin & meat, instead of the potentially beautiful combination of the two. The whole chicken eating experience could just be worlds better and it's supposed to be their specialty. Definitely no brine to the chicken, even if that's not true Nashville style it should be considered that you get bland flavlorless chicken underneath a fry that doesn't stick, and is likely too heavy. Top it off with a lack of crisp, if you want chicken i hate to say Gus's is probably 3-4x better. Obviously different. But execution matters. Dessert didn't fail to disappoint. Definitely canned peaches in the cobbler; not like Fredericksburg is down the road or anything. SMH. Regardless there's no cinnamon, a lack of crust/ breading, results in more of a peach jam than a cobbler imo. An overly sweet fake pie filling overall vibe. Almost peach jello, just offensive to the south. Almost as offensive as the "sweet tea" that's sour as a caper. Service was only redeeming quality, people were super nice and helpful, place was clean...