Joella’s Hot Chicken

I love this place! Chicken (both strips and on-​the bone) is great. Garlic fries, green beans, and Mac n cheese are all very good.

Eager to try Joella’s but hoping to avoid a long wait we visited around 5:00 on a Saturday during a UK basketball game. Our wait to order was just under 10 minutes with an additional 20 minutes for the food to be cooked, which we found reasonable for food that is cooked to order.
For those not familiar, Hot Chicken or Nashville Hot Chicken is fried chicken that is marinated, floured, fried, and sauced, then served on a slice of white bread with dill pickle chips.
Joella’s has 6 spice levels: Southern (no heat), Ella’s Fave (burst of flavor and li’l heat), Spiked Honey (sweet mild and served on the side), Tweener (medium heat), Hot (spicy fire), and Inferno (fire-​in-​da-​hole). For traditional on-​the-​bone chicken you can choose Quarter White (breast and wing) or Quarter Dark (thigh and leg).
Wanting to sample multiple menu items we chose a Quarter White Ella’s Fave, a Quarter Dark Tweener, Parm Garlic Fries, Broccoli Slaw, and Creamy Mac and Cheese.
The chicken was fried to perfection with ample crisp breading. I preferred the Tweener spice, similar in heat to the spicy served at Richie’s, Indi’s, or Popeye’s. My wife preferred Ella’s Fave which is very seasoned/​savory (salty) with a hint of sweetness. Both were delicious but two very different tastes. If you like spicy I’d recommend ordering either Tweener or Hot.
For fun we ordered a couple of sauces on the side. The Spiked Honey tasted exactly like bottled Tiger Sauce, too overpowering for chicken that tastes this good on it’s own. Conversely, the Cheerwine BBQ sauce was delicious, especially if you’re a fan of the beverage.
The Parmesan Fries were fabulous. They are crispy, thin, and nicely seasoned. The Broccoli Salad, a dish not served by many restaurants, is to die for! The Creamy Mac and Cheese on the other hand was a simply average shells and cheese dish.
We sampled different Boylan soft drinks at the self serve fountain and enjoyed them all, especially the Birch Beer. Bottled Cheerwine is also available.
Run don’t walk to this new local eatery! The wait isn’t nearly as ridiculous as the new Popeye’s and the food is stellar!

I visited for a late lunch last week. I only gave them 4 stars due to not being able to order anything but wings or tenders, but will definitely give them another shot — I ordered the hot tender meal, mac and cheese and vinegar slaw. Most places that you order «hot» from usually isn’t, but I was pleasantly surprised with the heat. The Mac and cheese was way above average and the slaw was decent. I’m looking forward to another visit soon to try the chicken on the bone. The chicken itself was crispy and tender at the same time and they were large strips. I went at 230 in the afternoon and was out with my to go order in less than 15 minutes. This place has great potential to become a fixture in Lexington.

I went to Joella’s last night and enjoyed it very much! Disappointingly enough, as of yesterday, 2÷4÷2016 they were still unable to serve chicken on the bone, chicken quarters, chicken halves, etc. However, we ordered the jumbo wings and the jumbo tenders, a side of kale, broccoli slaw, macaroni and cheese, garlic parmesan fries, and Nutella poppers. First off: the chicken tenders were amazing. We got «Ella’s Fave» spice level and thought it was just perfect, a little sweet, little spicy, little salty. Loved it with the «JoJo Sauce». Broccoli salad was kind of like a cole slaw and was really tasty! Contained carrots and raisins and stuff too. Garlic parmesan fries were highly addictive shoestrings fry and i am craving them now even as I type this. I would go back just for the fries! The nutella poppers were really delicious and reminded me of something you’d eat at a state fair. The only negative thing was the wings unfortunately, they were slightly undercooked, hard to get the chicken off the bone and the skin on the bones was very chewy. We’ll try them again when their fryers are all working properly. Looking forward to going back!

Went to Joella’s for the first time tonight. They still aren’t able to serve chicken quarters due to equipment issues, but all else on the menu us available. Ordering went pretty quickly but takes a bit for the food to arrive. It is all cooked to order, so it takes longer. We had 2 orders of tenders, one Ella’s fav sauce and the other hot sauce. Got a side of the fire in da hole sauce to see how hot it was. Pretty warm but not stupid hot, getting on the side may be the way to go. For sides we ordered Mac & cheese, potato salad, kale salad, and cole slaw. All sides were really good, except not sure on the cole slaw. It was left out of my carry-​out order. When they brought my order out they didn’t realize it was carry out so they had to take back and box. Cole slaw didn’t make the transfer. Chicken was really good. Nice and spicy but not soaking in sauce. Also breaking is pretty light. Will definitely go back. Want to try the chicken quarters and whole wings. Also interested in the self-​serve craft beers. Think they charge by the ounce.

I LOVE THIS PLACE.
Best fries I’ve ever eaten.
The chicken is amazing!
They also have a cool self-​serve beer tap.
The food came out super fast. I absolutely have 0 complaints.
This is definitely my new favorite place to eat in Lex.

Loved the chicken and waffles! Chicken was moist and flavorful. Nice décor and friendly staff.

One Word — AMAZING. The portions were huge, prices were reasonable and the food was to die for. The Kale Salad is just as good as the Mac & Cheese. I went with Ella’s Fave and at first I thought it was a little too spicy for me but it grows on you. The men I was with settled on Tweener (one step up) and were satisfied. Try the Banana Pudding! The craft beer self serve station will be up and going soon, very cool idea.

Nashville Hot Chicken has truly found its way to Kentucky! If you are a Nashville Hot fan, Fire in da hole level is the only way to go. We had that, and the hot. Fire in da hole brings you straight to Nashville, while the Hot is excellent for pleasant eating, with a lot less burn. The sides were all good. We got the parmesan fries (they are thin cut) crispy, hot and the flavor was nice without overwhelming. The mac n cheese and potatoe salad were spot on. The broccoli slaw was very refreshing with the heat of the chicken. All the sauces we tried were flavorful and seemed to have a perfect ratio of seasoning.
For the weak or uninitiated, they have mild flavors as well.

I probably could but I’m not going to ding them for not being able to make their signature chicken flights due to defective pressure cookers. It was disappointing but I’ll get over it. I kind of wished they would’ve offered a discount since they were not able to produce their chicken dishes but they didn’t offer it. They also were not able to serve beer at this time.
We arrived at 5:30 PM so the line was not too bad. Once we ordered it only took about 10 minutes for the food to arrive which was great. The staff was friendly and seemed knowledgeable of the menu although it’s a new restaurant.
We ordered the wings, hot and spicy honey. The hot wings are definitely hot but tasty. The spicy honey were also good especially for someone that doesn’t like hot food. A dry rub option would be great to have on the menu. The side dishes — -black-​eyed pea salad, fries, mac & cheese, and green beans — -were good (not great) and complimented the chicken well.
I am probably being generous giving a 4 rating but overall the experience met and slightly exceeded expectations so we will be back. Hopefully on the next experience they will be able to prepare their hot chicken plates and serve beer.

Super friendly staff, good service, and super delicious chicken! Love the atmosphere as well!

I signed up to write this review because this is important to me. I’m a spice fanatic. I am a cook by trade. I love fried chicken. I’ve been obsessing over the idea of hot chicken for a long time, ever since I learned about it watching Sean Brock’s episode of Mind of a Chef where they eat mind bendingly spicy hot chicken at Prince’s in Nashville. I’ve tried making it. I went to Hot Chicken Takeover in Columbus, only to find they had run out. I’ve resolved to make an exodus to Prince’s someday soon. I’ve been building this up in my head for a long time. I’ve been super excited since I learned Billy’s sunk into oblivion. That spot needed something to revive it for about ten years.
Behold. Joella’s. The first place I’ll have ever tried the glory that is hot chicken. I ordered and waited about an hour for my food, opening day, so that’s how it’s going to be. No complaints, though I wish I could have had a beer while I waited, however they weren’t allowed to serve yet. I wasn’t upset. The staff was very friendly, and seemed calm despite how busy they were, which is to me a very good and important indication of how my experience might possibly be.
Let’s get to the star of the show. I got all wings: one Tweener, one hot, and one Ella’s fave. All of the chicken has good salinity throughout thanks to the wonderful process of brining. I also enjoy the breading, but I like my fried chicken to have more crunch, crags and substance to the breading. As for the spice levels, fave is good. Lots of flavor, but it’s not offensive. Tweener started to get my mouth watering, but still I want more. The hot was just that, a beautiful nose running, sinus clearing, sweaty, spicy lipped sensation, not hot enough to stop me yet, but still full of flavor.
I wish there were more pickles and that the bread was toasted, but I’m glad to see Joella’s sticking somewhat to authenticity.
The sides were typical of a fried chicken shack. Good, but not necessarily great. Potato salad could use more salt, and I would like chive or green onions in it. The vinegar slaw didn’t have enough vinegar flavor for me. Black eyed peas were good, and the kale was delightful, but chopped very fine and mixed to the point of being incredibly wilted, so I missed out on some texture. This was neither here nor there as I wasn’t there to eat sides.
Still I thirst for more. I will go back and fight you again, Joella’s. I will eat your hottest chicken. Soon…

I had already been to Joella’s in Louisville last year (which I previously reviewed), so I was thrilled to hear they were bringing they’re hot chicken to Lexington. When I arrived this afternoon, the only chicken left were wings and tenders. Since I’d had the (giant) wings in Louisville, I ordered the tenders «tweener hot» (second to the highest level of heat) with two sides, slaw and red potato salad, both very good. I particularly liked the slaw which was quite different than most. The three large tenders were hot and crispy and oh so good. I had enjoyed the spiked honey dipping sauce, so opted for it again. They were nice enough to give me extra pickles and an order of the «Nutella Poppers». Poppers — I’[m thinking jalapenos stuffed with Nutella. More like mini beignets stuffed with Nutella and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Oh Yeah! I had to share a table with two other people, but enjoyed chatting with them. Nothing wrong with a community table. The staff couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful. On my way out, I met Cory the Manager, Bruce and Tony, and thanked them for bringing us their divine hot chicken. They exhibited their enthusiasm, and why not? — Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Hooooootttttt chicken, we welcome you to Lex! Wonderful friendly staff. Tonight (opening day) they just had wings and tenders– which absolutely did not disappoint. Sides were delicious– some of the best Mac and cheese! Green beans tasted like my moms and the fries were the little shoe string ones that are always crispy. Great dipping sauces and the beer feature (self serve– WHAT???) is coming soon. I’ll certainly be going back and soon.