Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack (West Asheville, NC)

1455 Patton Ave, West Asheville, NC

Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack is a hot chicken place with three locations: Greenville, SC, Asheville, NC, and West Asheville, NC. It’s more a hipster place than a shack though. It’s menu consists predominantly of fried and grilled chicken and some sides.

 

I start with the Fried Coconut Shrimp ($8.25), which are five juicy shrimp breaded in sweet and spicy coating, spiced "Honey Mild". They are very juicy and with a kick, which is somewhat smoothed by the creamy mango-habanero aioli. 

 

I also order 3 Chicken Tenders ($8) and get them Rocky’s Hot. It is the second hottest and the woman who takes my order tries to talk me out of it, but I’m stubborn. The tenders are huge and coated rather than breaded. That also means that much of the spices are on top of the chicken, which is a bit gross. I cheat a bit, by taking some of the coating off (more for the consistency) but this is a truly spicy chicken. Next time I’ll probably go one down, to also taste other things — my dip of the starter and side of coleslaw ($2,75) help me handle the heat though.

 

VERDICT: 93/100

This is great hot chicken, although the thick dust is not my thing. The shrimp were absolutely delicious! I'll be back!