Monroe's Hot Chicken — Restaurant in Phoenix

So today I woke up, and I had a hankering for hot chicken. After googling and looking around, I found this place was downtown. I was a little hesitant because I hate to pay for parking but I ended up, finding out a cheat code for that which I will share later in the post. But yes, this place is worth checking out! Let me share my experience lol.

So to start, I would like to say they have multiple levels of heat you can try on your sandwich or chicken. I went with hot which was in the middle. My sandwich came with fries and I asked for extra pickles because they said they made the pickles in house and I always like to have extra pickles anyways. By the way, you gotta get some of the cheese sauce and the hot sauce. They make their cheese sauce in house too! I was dipping my fries in the cheese sauce and then the hot sauce before eating them. So amazing lol.

Now I’ve never had a chicken sandwich with coleslaw on it before, but I’m always a fan of venturing outside the box. First of all, I’m not gonna compare it to any other flavor and I’m just gonna tell you if you haven’t had a chicken sandwich w coleslaw on it… well you’re just missing out lol. Do yourself a favor and just try the sandwich. It was amazingly delicious, especially with their in-house pickles.

Another thing that needs mentioned. I ended up getting a side of the cornbread mac & cheese. This stuff is downright legendary. Let’s pretend your grandma‘s mac & cheese was your favorite thing and you always coveted having it for Thanksgiving but then one year you smoked the ganja for the first time with your homies and now you went to grandma‘s Thanksgiving dinner right afterwards and you had grandma‘s mac & cheese for the first time (while being on the ganja) and also she added cornbread…. Bruhhhhh I was like “noooo”. And then I remembered this quote that said “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh”. My grandma passed away last year. Bless her heart may she rest in peace. But this mac & cheese cornbread is so next level.

Also, the manager ended up giving me a drink cup so I could try their organic sodas. I felt like all of them were pretty tasty as I sampled them quickly, but the pineapple cream soda really grabbed my attention. I used to live on Oahu in Hawaii and the Dole pineapple farms have this dessert with this soft serve vanilla ice cream and their Dole pineapple. This was like that in a cup.

All in all this place was absolutely amazing and the crinkle cut fries which I didn’t really mention much but were also awesome. By the way… the cheat code for parking… So this place didn’t serve alcohol and I parked across the street at the underground parking garage and it goes right up to the bowling alley which I had a few drinks and they validated my parking for FREE!!! I was able to catch a soft buzz before I went over and and had my meal. The bowling alley was also epic, which I’ll mention in a...

I have eaten at multiple hot chicken (Nasville included) establishments and I can comfortably say that Monroe's gets it when it comes to hot chicken.

I ordered a chicken sandwich with fries at "What the Cluck?" heat.

The fries made an excellent precursor as they themselves contain a nice amount of heat to get the palette ready for some action and prep the internals.

The sandwich itself was delightful, the slaw and the pickles did their job to balance out some of the more aggressive heat and ultimately created a very tasty, well balanced hot chicken sandwich.

Once I had completed the fries and the sandwich, I sat back in my chair taking in the delightful euphoria associated with hot foods. A gentleman walked wearing a Monroe's T-Shirt, and asked us how our meal was, I told him it was great and questioned if What the Cluck was ghost pepper primarily. He stated it was Ghost, Trinadad Scorpian and Carolina reaper. He sensed my skepticism, and asked if I had the sandwich or the tenders. I told him I had the sandwich. He let me know that the tenders were significantly hotter, I myself became very excited at the prospect and began planning my next trip, but before I could get too deep into my thoughts this saint of a gentlemen told me he would get a tender for me to try but continued to warn me that the heat level is aggressive.

He brought out the tender which had all the markings of "this is going to be hot", I took a bite and it was excellent, it was hot much hotter than the sandwich. I took a second bite a good heat build, 3rd and 4th bites, I spoke with the man again and let him know it was delicious. It had dawned on me that as our conversation concluded and he departed he seemed slightly concerned for my well-being but overall I was feeling just fine.

Confident in my conquering of the exceedingly spicy tender (still delicious by the way) I took a swig from my soda, and as quickly as my confidence had swelled it had waned. The spices erupted once again on every point in my mouth, a supernova of spicy intensity coated every surface. I now knew why he departed, he knew what was coming! All that being said it was a nice 10 minutes of an even greater state of fiery euphoria, I may have even scraped the surface of spicy Nirvana.

Needless to say I enjoyed Monroe's Hot Chicken, and I would highly recommend the chicken sandwich and fries.

If you like it hot, so hot that you're tired of signing waivers (you sign one here too, but we understand) then I really recommend the tenders, even a single tender should get you where...

After living 4 years in Nashville, one of the things I missed greatly moving away was Nashville Hot Chicken. The hot burn of cayenne pepper spice deep fried into a big bone-in chicken breast was something that gets in your taste buds and soul. Recently, Phoenix eateries are starting offer their own versions of Nashville hot chicken on current restaurant menus, and some new establishments have opened targeting just this food.

Monroe's is the first place in the Phoenix metro area that hits the target of Nashville Hot Chicken. This isn't to disparage other attempts, but offerings that simply amount to buffalo wing sauce lathered on chicken meat are NOT Nashville Hot Chicken.

Monroe's serves chicken sandwiches and breast tenders as the meat portions of meals that feature the hot and spicy Nashville style of chicken. They also have very good fries, mac and cheese and other sides. Add to that their local flavored specialty sodas and moon pies and you get the southern vibe pumping through your veins. Either of the two main entrees (3 tend+fries box, or chicken sandwich) are enough of a meal for even hearty eaters. The fries have drizzled on spices appropriate to the heat level that you specify on your chicken portion. Great stuff.

The meal cost is reasonable, at about $12 for their main 3 tender + fries meal box or the same $12 for the large chicken breast on a bun offering. With a soda and a box meal you will likely be paying around $15/16 after tax. This doesn't seem out of range for the food, but it isn't budget either.

The location is modern, popping with music, TVs and wall collages of arrest mug shots of celebrities (complete with mugs of Tupac, Snoop Dog and Jane Fonda). You order on a computer screen kiosk menu system, and pick up your food at the "order up" counter. There are several high-top tables and a high-top bench along the restaurant window. There are also four regular tables. The metal chairs are obviously meant for function, not comfort, but this isn't really a place to linger.

I believe Monroe's is the best Nashville hot chicken in Phoenix. The only reason I hold back 5 stars is in wait for them to add the classic form factor of the Nashville Hot Chicken to the offerings: a large bone-in breast with a slice of white bread underneath to catch the seasoning drippings. They have the flavor and seasoning down, which is 80% of the real factor. The bone-in breast would make the home run...