This Hot Chicken In Missouri Is So Hot It Took Out A Food Critic

I can't tell you that this is the hottest chicken in Missouri. Yet, it was hot enough to take- out the restaurant critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Sort of.

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I'm talking about Chuck's Hot Chicken near St. Louis. They have three St. Louis area locations. One in Maryland Heights, one in O'Fallon, and one in Rock Hill. Their menu offers a variety of fried chicken. Whole chicken wings, chicken tenders, drumsticks, as well as chicken and waffles and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich.

You can get their various chicken choices with your choice of heat level and sauce. They also have a variety of sides and desserts. Everything from fries and loaded potato salad to a variety of cakes and something called funnel cake fries.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch restaurant critic Ian Foeb decided to try Chuck's Hot Chicken and went to great lengths to point out, that even with no heat added, Chuck's Hot Chicken, is very good and has a little bit of a kick.

"Crucially, even at the level zero of heat, Chuck’s chicken is properly seasoned, if mildly so. An order of zero-level tenders with a side of crinkly fries and tangy, remoulade-esque Chuck’s Sauce for dipping kicks Raising Cane’s chicken right in the tailfeathers."

Chuck's Hot Chicken has six levels of heat you can choose and it ranges from zero, what they call "good ole' fried chicken" to level four, which they say "Red alert. This could create an out-of-body experience." Levels five and six are "try at your own risk."

Foeb says while he likes spicy food he's not a masochist, yet for whatever reason on his latest visit to Chuck's he just kept dialing up the heat. Now, according to his review in the Post-Dispatch, he checked his Instagram and noted that he described level 3 as "strong but not regrettable" during a previous visit.

Was heat level four or five regrettable for the critic? Well, heat level four had him stopping at the gas station right after leaving Chuck's for a Snickers Ice Cream bar to quell the burn.  Did he move on to level five? Of course, even though level four pushed him to the limit. (What's this about not being a masochist?)

You can read his article to find out how he did with the heat from level five, however, I will tell you he didn't finish the sandwich. He blames the two orders of Chuck's garlic cheese curds dipped in ranch that he put away for filling him up. Yet, he admits he was putting away the cheese curds to counteract the heat. So that should tell you something.

Truth is, I've never gotten the appeal of setting your mouth on fire with some kind of hot sauce. Does it really prove anything? In my mind no. The heat, spice, and kick, can all add to an eating experience. Yet, it should enhance the taste of the food. It should enhance the experience. Once it moves from mostly pleasant, to painful, well that's just not fun. Unless you're doing it for some sort of bit or article.

That said, Chuck's Hot Chicken is on my list of places to visit in St. Louis. Will I be trying level five or six hot chicken? Not on your life. If Mike Pettis is with me, I'll let his taste buds get burned off by chicken that hot. He's the king of hot sauce, so he'll probably love it. I'll get the chicken and waffles at level one or two. I think I'd really enjoy the sweet and spicy playing off of each other.

Regardless, if you're looking for hot chicken in Missouri, one of the places that is almost must try, is Chuck's Hot Chicken. It's apparently so good, it kept the Post-Dispatch restaurant critic coming back for more. In fact, the only reason he didn't try heat level six, he was on deadline to get the article written. At least that's his story and he's sticking with it.