Hattie B's Las Vegas

Hattie B's Hot Chicken is a Nashville based fried chicken small chain, with locations in 5 states, including Las Vegas, where I discovered them.  I wasn't familiar with the brand before this visit.  Hattie B's Vegas location is located in a higher end food court (er, "Block 16 Urban Food Hall") of the Cosmopolitan Hotel, along with a number of other great looking places, and many with acclaimed chefs (Bang Bar by David Cheng, Momofuku, Milk Bar, China Poblano by chef José Andrés, etc).

"Plump, juicy birds flavored down to the bone no matter your heat level.  Southern sides scratch-made daily. Ice-cold beer from your favorite local breweries. Top it all off with creamy banana pudding or peach cobbler for dessert."

The menu is not particularly extensive.  Fried chicken (wings, tenders, thighs, as sandwiches or not, in a variety of heat levels, with dipping sauces) is the focus, along with both cold and warm sides, and a few appetizers (fried pickles, loaded fries) and desserts.

I focused on the sides, as I am not a chicken person, and I had other desserts already lined up (otherwise, I definitely had my eyes on that banana pudding!). Hot sides include fries (crinkle cut), pimento mac & cheese, southern greens, and grits, but I had my eyes on the cold options.  All sides (at this location) cost $5 (a la carte), or come with any of the meals.

I really enjoyed my sides, and would gladly return to try more of the menu, in particular, I really want to try the mac and cheese and the aforementioned pudding.

Creamy Cole Slaw. $5.

"Shredded carrots, red and white cabbage, tossed in homemade sweet and tangy dressing. Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Dairy Free."

This was very good slaw.  Crispy, fresh, not over dressed, well seasoned.  Definitely above average.  Simple, but well executed. ***+.

Red Skinned Potato Salad. $5.

"Creamy red-skinned potato salad with hickory-smoked bacon, fresh chives and parsley. Gluten Free."

After the success of the slaw, I returned the next day to get potato salad to go along with my lunch, even though I'm not usually one for red skinned.  

This was a very distinct potato salad.  It was served skin on as expected, with a variety of sizes of potato hunks.  The potatoes were a bit softer than I prefer, but not too mushy.  It was very creamy, but not in a way that felt over dressed, and well seasoned.  But none of that is what made it distinct.  What made it distinct was just how intense the BACON flavor was.  I had no idea it even had bacon in it (I suspect the menu had a "contains pork" designation that I missed*), but, wow, this had so much bacon flavor.  But it wasn't actually loaded with pieces of bacon, just, somehow, all the taste of bacon without the hunks.  I literally couldn't find a single bit of bacon, but every bite was infused with it.  Fascinating.  As I said, very distinct.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but, I do prefer more al dente potatoes, and not red skins.  ***+.

*It turns out that the baked beans, the cheddar grits, and southern greens also all contain pork, so, beware vegetarians!