I do not recommend Firebawks Hot Chicken
I think in the era of everything gets a score, numbers and stars have become arbitrary. If we’re being honest, most people scroll straight past any restaurant that scores less than 4, when oftentimes it’s a handful of Karens or clowns dragging the total down by giving 1/5 for some insane reason. I object to this new standard, so will simply recommend or not recommend a visit. At the end I’ll give different categories a win (W), loss (L), or neutral (N).
I do not recommend Firebawks Hot Chicken.
Firebawks is located in Harvest Hall on Main St. in Grapevine, TX.
Quick note - Firebawks claims “Hot Chicken,” not “Nashville” hot chicken.
Firebawks has several chicken options, including a sandwich, tenders (two), nuggets, and wings. They also have some non-chicken options: a couple of burgers, some kids' items like grilled cheese, a bunch of fried sides, and a single dessert - Churro bites.
Firebawks has four heat levels: Safe, Mild, Medium, Hot.
I only had the chicken sandwich. I ordered the non-existent “extra hot”, just trying to push and see if I could get a little something on top of the usual. If this did happen, I couldn’t tell.
I arrived at 11:05. I scanned the menu and settled on the “Chicken Sammy.” Priced at $13.50 (!!!), which is a sandwich on a brioche-style bun topped with green/purple cabbage slaw, sauce, pickles, and a fried chicken breast cutlet. Bizarrely, the chicken breast had clearly been trimmed before plateup, because there was a ~2-inch strip of bare chicken breast showing on the tail. I have never seen this in my life. I absolutely understand trimming raw product to achieve a standard size, weight, shape, etc. But after it’s been battered and fried? Insane. I also emphasize the price of $13.50. This doesn’t include anything but the sandwich and toppings, and the paper that it’s wrapped in. Also of note, if I wanted a side of fries that would have been another $8.50, bringing the potential cost to $22 before tax and the ever-present tablet POS tip. I think that’s bordering on insanity. The sandwich appearance was attractive, especially with the portion of my chicken that was removed on the back and covered in paper. The chicken was “seasoned” with a spice mix, not “dipped” as is the Nashville tradition. The heat level was fully negligible. I detected a faint heat, maybe a dash of cayenne. Because the chicken is a thin breast cutlet it wasn’t juicy, and it was single dredged and single fried, so not especially crispy. It was an ok sandwich.
Overall, an ok sandwich being advertised as “hot chicken” then just completely falling flat, combined with the $13.50 price tag without the decency of a handful of Lay’s Original means I just can’t send someone here when other tastier, HOTTER, and better value options are out there.
Value: L
Appearance: W (but where’s the other part of my chicken?!?!)
Taste: N
Heat: L
Tongue-in-cheek name and spelling: WW
