Houston TX Hot Chicken — Restaurant in Meridian

KM and I visited Houston TX Hot Chicken in Meridian on 10/4/23. We both got ab Original Hot Chicken sandwich meal combo, plus a chicken tender and beverage.

The restaurant has high ceilings with exposed duct work, which gives it an industrial vibe. There are cool counter tops lit from beneath, which change color. There is a good amount of what appears to be light wood paneling along the walls, with some large, bold red images on part of a wall and the bathroom doors. The décor has a modern, youthful vibe. The combination of the most comfortable seating I’ve encountered in a fast/casual restaurant of it’s kind, indoor AND outdoor/patio dining, and great music played at a reasonable volume, gives the sense Houston TX Hot Chicken is trying to appear to a broader customer base than some of the other hot chicken joints I’ve visited locally, which is much appreciated.

KM ordered the Strawberry Hibiscus House Lemonade, which you can upgrade to a Slushy for $1. I tried a taste. We both thought it was pretty good. I got Diet Pepsi. It had good carbonation.

The Spice Levels from mildest to hottest are: No Spice, Honey Butter, Mild, Medium, Spicy, Liftoff, and Houston We Have a Problem. Ordering the latter requires you to sign a waiver. KM ordered a Mild Original Hot Chicken sandwich, and a Honey Butter chicken tender. I ordered a Medium Original Hot Chicken sandwich, and a Spicy chicken tender. There are 8 sauces to choose from, 4 of which are made in house daily. We got one of each of the ones made in house daily: House, Cheese, Cilantro, and Caesar.

KM and I both LOVED our Original Hot Chicken sandwiches! KM doesn’t like spicy food as much as I do. She enjoyed both Mild and Honey Butter, though she didn’t feel she could really taste the Honey Butter flavoring in her tender. I loved both the Medium and Spicy, but next time I would get a Spicy sandwich and maybe try a Liftoff tender. The Halal chicken was perfectly cooked and seasoned. I don’t normally care for sweet sauces such as the House, but it paired perfectly with the Spicy flavor of my sandwich. The cole slaw was good. I really liked the Brioche bun; KM would have preferred an old-school Sesame Seed Hamburger Bun. The pickles were good. Each order included a container of House sauce.

Houston TX Hot Chicken serves high quality Lamb Weston Concertina cut French fries. Concertina cut is “a modern take on classic crinkle cuts with deeper, crispier grooves and ridges. Crispy grooves have more edges that provide satisfying extra crunch. Thick cuts are sturdier and are less prone to breaking than thinner fries.” The only thing I didn’t like about the fries is I think they are lightly seasoned with Honey Butter flavored spice. I like sweet flavors as part of a dessert, but I don’t care for them in an entrée. KM didn’t feel the fries were sweet. The average person may not. I’m just extra sensitive to sweet flavors in entrees. Next time, I would ask for the seasoning to be left off of my fries, and for a salt packet instead.

Of the sauces, which we used primarily to dip our French fries in, KM’s favorite was the Cheese sauce. I liked all of the sauces. My favorites were in this order: Caesar (Ken’s Caesar salad dressing mixed with some of HTHC’s spice mix), Cilantro, House (paired with spicy chicken only – it was too sweet for me to dip my fries in), and Cheese.

Of the Hot Chicken fast/casual restaurants I’ve experienced to date, Houston TX Hot Chicken is my favorite! We loved the food, customer service, and ambience. We also really appreciate that Houston TX Hot Chicken has a much bigger menu than their competitors. We have heard great things about their Chicken Tortilla Soup and Salads, which we are eager to try. We were also impressed with pricing. We will...

Vibe felt off to me. I ordered a original chicken, thinking it was $8-9 but after getting prompted to pay it was $14.xx. I just paid it as it's not really worth my energy figuring out the discrepancy. Wanted to add cheese, they don't have cheese slices (which that's fine I'm not a Houston chicken expert or anything. It just seems bizarre not to have any cheese in my opinion). The ambient temperature must have been around 80-85 degrees. It felt cramped and musty. The design on the table tricked me into thinking it was dirty (little specles) which there were crumbs from someone else just not where I thought they were. An odd choice of a table design. Staff was nice, but I'll tell you that from a first impression standpoint, I wasn't impressed. The ambient temp, kid at the counter overcharging me, flipping screen for tip, requiring signature, weird table design, cramped seating, it just felt off. One of the staff was apologizing to every customer in there about how long the food was taking, which mine maybe took 8 minutes which wasn't bad...? But hearing her tell everyone sorry was a vibe killer. I was offered a free drink for some reason which I declined. The sandwich itself was just okay. The fries (I didn't want fries) and chicken were cooked well, bun was tasty. Chicken was kind of thin, and medium spicy was not really spicy at all.

I'm not an expert in chicken Sandwiches. My advice: Turn on/fix AC Staff shouldn't automatically charge for fries if customer orders an original chicken sandwich. Get tables that don't look like they are designed to camouflage crumbs. Take care of in person orders before online orders. Staff shouldn't excessively apologize for wait times, especially when there's only 8 customers but wait times shouldn't be an issue with only 8 customers. There were quite a few staff in there so something didn't add up. Anyways, I won't go out of my way to eat here, might try a shake though if I'm in the area...

The first time I eat any 'hot' items I usually don't go straight for the hottest. All things considered I want to enjoy my meal! I went with the house favorite, with cheese, and had them both at level 'Spicy'. After waiting a few minutes, the food arrived warm and ready to eat. The french-fries where perfectly crispy and seasoned the same way. If I had just stopped off for fries my mission would be a success. But I was here for chicken. The first bite of the sandwich resulted in 'whoo', that's a little bit spicy. Don't worry, I settled down and just enjoyed it from there. I think the level of heat, was perfect for just eating and enjoying a sandwich. The chicken on the sandwich as well as the tender was cooked perfectly and seasoned very well. Some places try to be hot and spicy, and leave out an important element, flavor. HHC did not, there is plenty of flavor in this chicken, to go along with the hot and spicy. I wish they had a spice level between 'Spicy' and 'Liftoff', there is a large jump from 150k Scoville units and 600k Scoville units. Sadly, they did not sell beer yet, but I was assured it was coming, when they do, I'll up my game and get the 'Liftoff', and then possibly the 'Houston, we have a problem!' I also recommend getting the cheese sauce on the chicken sandwich, it is delicious. I should have also gotten some for my fries, but I will next time. After we left, I was driving home, with what I thought where clean hands. As I drove down east bound I-84, my eye started itching. I went to rub it with my finger, and all of a sudden, my eye started burning. I ended up using an eye wash station in my garage to cleanse it. Moral to the story 'Spicy' is no joke! (That and wash your hands better) Eat...