by Bottom Line: The Next Level and Full Send Tenders from This Bird’s Cooked deliver some tasty Nashville Hot Chicken that definitely brings the heat.
Chicken again, chicken again, chicken again!
Chicken is the protein of choice for the restaurant industry to spice up these days, and Nashville Hot has become a particularly popular poultry, from the chains to the local establishments to the food trucks. But hey, I like chicken. I like spicy chicken. And I particularly like good spicy chicken. So, I am not complaining too much about the abundance of the bird.
A couple of weeks ago, I tried out Pete’s Hot Chicken in San Antonio, which is a food truck converting into a brick-and-mortar location (you can read about that here). This past week, I was visiting Houston and stopped by Misfit Outpost Brewery, and as luck would have it, the food truck This Bird’s Cooked was on site. So, I had to give their Nashville Hot a try.
They have six heat levels available: Plain, Nash No Heat, OG Nashville, Next Level, Full Send, and O’Cluck. My brother had previously eaten at this food truck and highly recommended it, and he also warned that one of his friends had tried the Full Send, which left him in tears. I like spicy, but not heat just for pain’s sake. Still, I decided to get the two-tender basket with the Full Send and the Next Level heat options. (They also do sandwiches if you want to go that route.)
When I picked up my order, I could smell the spice coming off those tenders, and I knew that this was the real deal. The strips of breast meat are not super-large, but still sizeable and quite meaty. They have a good crust-to-meat ratio, and the breading delivers a nice crunch. The chicken is also nice and tender, and flavorful throughout. They mention on their website that they try to use the freshest ingredients, and that level of commitment really comes through.
The spices applied to the chicken are somewhere between a seasoning and a sauce, but not too oily like some Nashville Hot Chicken can be. The tenders have a good, deep peppery taste with a nice bit of sweetness to finish them off. The Ranch dressing on the side offers a counterbalance to the heat, but it was the goat cheese slaw that really worked well with the tenders. That is a nice, fresh batch of slaw that still offers some crispness to the vegetables, and there’s that pungent kick from the cheese. This delivered a unique twist on slaw that really stood out.
As far as the heat, these tenders definitely kicked things into high gear. I would put the Next Level above Hot on my scale, headed toward Fiery. The Full Send is beyond Fiery, but not too close to Insane. That one definitely set my mouth on fire, but I made it through the full tender and rather enjoyed it. I believe that qualifies me to move on to the O’Cluck level next time around, but I am guessing that one will lean more heavily toward the painful side. Stay tuned for a review on that.
You would not expect a food truck to have calorie information, and this one did not. But with two tenders, a mound of tasty curly fries, two slices of toast, the slaw, and the dressing, I’m sure I went just a bit over the average daily recommendation for a meal. It was worth it, though, and I put in some extra exercise the next day to compensate (though I’m not quite certain that it netted out the way I wanted). Also, I didn’t have too much in the way of fiery aftereffects from this chicken, but maybe I am just building up a resistance to Nashville Hot.
As mentioned above, the truck was parked at Misfit Outpost, and I have to make a mention of that wonderful little brewery. It is located in a little warehouse park on Grant Rd. near Telge, and they have plenty of great brews on tap. I ordered their Kölsch (I don’t remember the name of it), and it was a nice, refreshing beer with a little bit of richness and a touch of hops which went quite well with the spicy chicken. I followed that up with one of my favorites, the Zymotic Hazy Pale Ale. That one has some good hoppiness to it with a citrus kick and just the right amount of bitterness. It also paired quite well with the chicken, and I have enjoyed pretty much every beer I have tried from this place.
This Bird’s Cooked has a calendar on their website showing their upcoming stops, and you can also follow them on Instagram and Facebook. If they happen to be in your area, I highly recommend giving them a try because they are cooking up some darned good Nashville Hot Chicken, and they will definitely challenge your heat tolerance. And if they are parked at Misfit Outpost, you know that you will have some good beers to wash down that spicy food!
This Bird’s Cooked Food Truck
Website: https://www.thisbirdscooked.net/
Phone: (346) – 367 – 7534
Misfit Outpost
16103 Grant Rd. Suite J
Cypress,TX 77429
Website: https://www.misfitoutpost.com/
