After building a loyal following through her food truck, Jessica “Nettie” Simpson has officially given her Nashville hot chicken a permanent home. Located at 811 Dickerson Pike, Unit B, Nettie’s Spicy Chik recently opened its first brick-and-mortar restaurant.
This marks the next chapter for a business that began with family recipes and a love of spices. Simpson grew up as the youngest of seven children in North Nashville.
“Both my mother and grandmother had a deep love for cooking, and while my siblings were outside playing, I stayed in the kitchen with them, soaking it all in. They taught me how to pair the right seasonings with the right foods, and since fried chicken has always been my favorite, I paid extra close attention to getting that perfect,” Simpson said.
For many years, she cooked for family and friends for many years, frying chicken for their gatherings. Then a chance conversation pushed her toward entrepreneurship.
“One day, at my bestie’s house during a celebration for her son and his college friends, someone asked, ‘Where can I buy this chicken? You need to be selling this!’,” she recalled. “That was the moment it clicked.”
She launched Nettie’s Spicy Chik as a food truck in 2021, serving hot chicken across the city. Simpson has built a dedicated customer base over the last five years, known for her intense, delectable flavors and well-seasoned plates. The company’s slogan sums up its approach: “It’s not just hot, it’s spicy.”
But her next step was to open a physical location, and this month, Simpson finally celebrated that accomplishment. The new restaurant debuted with a soft opening on May 8, and will host a grand opening tomorrow, May 23.
It’s open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The spot serves the same Nashville hot chicken that made the food truck popular, with winglets, tender fingers, breast and leg quarters, pork chops, seasoned fries, baked beans, cole slaw, and fried corn on the cob.
“I’m looking forward to bringing a good, loving, clean atmosphere where people can come and enjoy some really good chicken,” she said. “I tell everybody I cook with love, so they will get the love through the chicken.”
