FOOD REVIEW
PHOTO COURTESY OF EUGENE’S HOT CHICKEN
Bringing the heat
Eugene’s brings Nashville-style fried chicken to Hoover BY JULIA SAYERS GOKHALE Eugene’s Hot Chicken is bringing the heat to Hoover with the opening of its second location. Owned by Zebbie Carney, Eugene’s Hot Chicken is famous for its spicy, Nashville-style fried chicken. Carney grew up in Nashville eating at the famous Prince’s Hot Chicken and wanted to introduce Nashville-style hot chicken to Birmingham when he moved here. He initially launched Eugene’s as a food truck in 2015 before opening his first brick-and-mortar in Uptown. The second location, on Galleria Circle, opened in October. Carney says the decision to add a second location had been in the works for the past two years. He initially planned to open earlier in 2020, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, things were slowed down a bit. Luckily, he decided to push forward and was able to open just a few months after the original plan. The decision to choose Hoover for the location was an easy one. “Our food truck has always done so well in the Hoover area,” Carney says. “We would take it out to several Hoover neighborhoods, and the residents were always so excited and supportive. It just made sense to look for a space in Hoover. When we found our current location, it all started coming together.” 12 Bham Family December 2020
The thing to get at Eugene’s is, of course, hot chicken. Choose from tenders, wings, popcorn chicken, quarter white/dark, half chicken, or a whole chicken for the family. You’ll then select your heat level: southern (no heat), mild, hot, hot damn, or stupid hot. Nashville-style hot chicken varies from buffalostyle chicken in that it’s actually a spice rub that the chicken gets coated in instead of a sauce. The menu also includes items such as hot fried catfish (same choice of heat levels), po’boys, grilled cheese, and chicken and waffles. Eugene’s offers family meal deals and wing or tender buckets. Cool down your taste buds with sides including southern slaw, baked potato salad, creamy mac & cheese, and fried pickled okra. At the new location, Carney is testing out some new recipes, which he plans to reveal soon. For the holidays, he’ll be selling Cajun fried turkeys and mashed potatoes and gravy as a seasonal side on the menu. The new location already has drawn a huge following just in the short time it’s been open. But with Birmingham’s love for Eugene’s Hot Chicken, that was no surprise. “It has been so rewarding to see customers who have been with us since the beginning, as well as meeting all of the new customers who have never had Eugene’s until now,” Carney says. “We are just so overwhelmed with gratitude.”