Tacoma’s first hot chicken restaurant will open this summer

Hot chicken, the incredibly spicy fried bird styled after the 1930s-era Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, has reached seemingly every corner of America — and the globe — but it really hasn’t hit the South Sound.

That will change this summer when two Tacoma business owners open an outpost of a Los Angeles-based brand currently with two stores but national ambitions. Al’s Hot Chicken will land at 2102 Mildred St.

Replacing a former Wendy’s, the counter-service restaurant will offer indoor seating and a drive-thru, for those of us keen on ruining our steering wheels.

Company founder Abdal Al Masri opened his first outpost on Venice Boulevard in 2019.

“After adding my improved Nashville-style chicken to the restaurant’s menu, long lines started to form,” he said in a statement. A second shop soon opened in Sherman Oaks.

Served standard with toast, fries and pickles, L.A.’s self-described hottest chicken offers “all the traditional characteristics of the Tennessee staple,” according to The Infatuation, with “strong cayenne flavor, crispy skin made from a fiery dry rub, and chili oil that fills all the nooks and crannies on every piece of chicken.”

WHY DID AL’S CHOOSE TACOMA?

Burhan Saleh and Kasey Gano have partnered with the company to bring Al’s to Tacoma. Gano owns a towing company and Saleh runs a kayak and paddleboard rental company in Bonney Lake.

Spending the off-season in L.A., Saleh had done some marketing work for Al’s and dropped by the restaurant to try it.

“I loved the taste and I loved everything about the sandwich,” he recalled in May.

As Al’s embarked on its franchise expansion journey — it has eight additional stores in the works, according to social media manager Angel Jimenez — Saleh contemplated moving to Southern California.

“I decided, you know what? Tacoma really needs something like this,” he said. “A lot of people pushed us to go to Seattle … but at the end of the day I wanted to stay home. Tacoma will appreciate it.”

It will be Al’s first location with a drive-thru and the fourth overall, following a third in the L.A. area.

The menu will feature strips and sandwiches doused in your choice of Al’s six spice levels: country, essentially standard fried chicken; gently hot, which is “mild” in hot chicken’s eyes; moving up to spicy, burning spicy, extremely spicy, and L.A.’s hottest — so named because customers are asked to sign a waiver upon ordering.

There is also a challenge, said Jimenez, “which people absolutely love.”

Accept and you’ll be tasked with eating five strips in three minutes, starting with the hottest followed by four of the extra hot. “You can drink water but you can’t use sauce and you can’t pour water on the tenders,” said Jimenez. Winners receive a gift card, garb and name on a wall of fame.

“You’d be surprised at how many people say, ‘I got this, I can handle this heat,’ and then they can’t,” he laughed.

The sauces he referenced either ease the pain or, perhaps, enhance it. Favorites include Al’s Honey, akin to a spicy honey mustard, a white sauce not far from tartar, and a creamy hot sauce that pairs especially well with the country and medium rubs.

Combos of a sandwich with fries or two sandwiches and two fries ( about $9.95-$17.95) tend to be the most popular orders at the first two stores in L.A., said Jimenez, but options extend to quarter and half-birds with legs, thighs and breasts (about $8.95-$13.95). Sides include cole slaw, mac and cheese, collards and curly fries.

What sets Al’s apart is “unique flavors with high-quality ingredients,” said Jimenez, noting the onslaught of fast-food chains jumping into the hot chicken game in recent years.

The chicken is never frozen, hormone-free and halal, a bonus trait that was important to Saleh, who is from a Yemeni family. There aren’t many choices for halal in the area, but he recognized Narrows Gyro and Gyro Zone, both of which serve Mediterranean fare.

Recalling his first experience at Al’s in L.A., he said, “It was fresh and it was really juicy, and you still get that crunch. These guys are doing it right.”

AL’S HOT CHICKEN - TACOMA

▪ 2012 Mildred St., University Place, hotchickenllc.com

▪ Details: fast-casual hot chicken restaurant, target opening June 2022

▪ Follow instagram.com/alshotchicken.tacoma for updates

This story was originally published May 6, 2022 at 5:00 AM.