HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you ask anyone to name quintessential Nashvillian food, chances are they'll tell you Nashville hot chicken. But supply chain shortages are starting to impact Music City's must-try dish.
"Every couple weeks we come in here. It’s a good place," said Chris Lindsey, a customer at Slow Burn Hot Chicken in Hendersonville. "I don’t want to just taste pain."
The only thing hotter than the outside temperature might be what's on Chris and Steve's plate.
"It’s got a really nice heat, but you can still taste afterwards, so that’s good," said Steve Cunningham, another customer.
Natives and tourists alike can't seem to get enough of Joyce Reed's Nashville hot offerings. And while that should be a joy for Joyce, it's quickly becoming a burden.
"It has been… really difficult," said Reed.
Hot chicken places all over our area are telling us the same thing — they're struggling to keep enough chicken in stock, even when they buy from multiple vendors.
"Kind of empty, but we had enough for today," said Reed, standing inside a pretty bare freezer. "Some vendors go up from one day to the next, so we have to absorb that cost because we’re not going to raise our prices from one day to the next."
It seems this poultry panic mirrors other supply chain issues you've heard about.
"It’s not even necessarily that the chickens are not available; the people may not be available to do and process the chicken," explained Reed.
Many vendors are struggling with staffing and transportation, and are passing along those costs to restaurants.
"It hurts, and it put us behind by dealing with these vendors," she said.
So to save money, Reed now picks up the chicken herself, instead of delivery.
"Yes these arms get tender boxes and everything else — yes we do," said Reed.
But sometimes even that isn't enough to keep her prices down, so they're getting creative.
"We try to adjust our menu so that we feel the impact and not really the customer. We’ll change our menu or make certain things the special," she said.
Ultimately, Joyce hopes she and other small businesses can find a way to flock together.
"We do have to learn how to come together with small businesses and be able to provide for each other, in the grand scheme of things, to grow, to survive, to thrive," said Reed.
She hopes that Nashville's hottest thing on the menu keeps flying off of people's plates.
"I hope they keep getting chicken because man, we’ll support them," she said.
Party Fowl tells NewsChannel 5 they're also struggling with keeping supply costs down, but they aren't struggling with supply. At least, not yet.
