Hattie B's Hot Chicken will officially open its Chattanooga location on Wednesday, November 18, setting up shop inside the historic Signal Knitting Mills building at 205 Manufacturers Road in the Northshore. The Nashville-based chain is bringing its full menu to the space, including the sides, desserts and heat levels that built its reputation across the South.
According to Local 3 News, the restaurant will span nearly 4,000 square feet of indoor space, broken down into a 3,297-square-foot main dining floor and a 651-square-foot mezzanine. That figure differs from what the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported back in July, when the paper described a 3,500-square-foot interior with two exterior patios adding another 1,200 square feet. Neither outlet has clarified whether the plans changed between reports or whether the two counted the space differently.
Seating numbers tell a similar story of diverging estimates. Local 3 News reports the two indoor levels can accommodate 102 seated guests, with a covered front patio seating 48 and a smaller patio seating 15. The Times Free Press's earlier report, however, described plans for 150 total seats split evenly between 75 indoors and 75 outdoors. Both figures come from credible reporting, but the dossier does not resolve which reflects the restaurant as it stands today.
Full Menu, Tennessee Roots
Chattanooga diners can expect the full Hattie B's menu, rooted in the Tennessee meat-and-three tradition, per the station's report. That includes jumbo tenders, a classic chicken sandwich, dirty bird fries, a half bird plate and a Southern salad, with customizable heat levels plus two non-spice options for those who'd rather skip the fire altogether. Sides will include pimento mac and cheese, collard greens and bacon-cheddar grits, while banana pudding and peach cobbler round out the dessert menu.
The Times Free Press's July coverage offered an earlier snapshot of that same menu, describing bone-in chicken, tenders and sandwiches with heat levels ranging from mild all the way up to “shut the cluck up.” That same report traced the brand's origins to 2012, when it was founded in Nashville by father-and-son duo Nick Bishop Sr. and Nick Bishop Jr. By the time of that July story, the chain had grown to 18 locations spread across the South, Nevada and Illinois.
Company-Owned, Not Franchised
Unlike many fast-growing restaurant brands, Hattie B's keeps every location in-house. Chief development officer Dave Oster told the Times Free Press that the company owns and operates all of its restaurants rather than selling locations to franchisees, a model that has shaped its steady, city-by-city expansion. A Hamilton County business-license filing reviewed by the same outlet in June listed Hattie B's – Chattanooga at 205 Manufacturers Road, Suite 100, with Todd Williams named on the license.
Nick Bishop Jr., the company's co-founder, said he's looking forward to welcoming guests to the new Northshore spot. “This city has such a dynamic energy and a thriving food community,” he said, according to Local 3 News. The Chattanooga opening, the brand says, will give Hattie B's a presence in every major metropolitan hub across Tennessee — a milestone that caps more than a decade of growth from its original Nashville storefront.
The Chattanooga location occupies ground with its own history, taking over space in the former Food Works building at Signal Knitting Mills, a longtime Northshore landmark reported on in the Times Free Press's earlier coverage. Whichever seating or square-footage figures ultimately prove accurate once the doors open, hot chicken fans in Chattanooga won't have to travel to Nashville to get their fix starting November 18.
