Ever since I started my list of all the Nashville hot chicken places around town, Scoreboard Bar and Grill’s name just keeps popping up.
So, I finally decided to give it a go and see how it stacks up with some of the heavy hitters in town. Friends of the brand Righteous Jesse and Lane were kind enough to join me for dinner, a few drinks, two hours of catching up, and a few paragraphs of their own that you can read below.
We start with beers and then order food. To keep a certain standard, I always go “hot” with the Nashville hot chicken, but tonight, I probably could’ve gone a notch hotter. I gotta say – once Jesse and Lane’s food arrived, I was pretty glad I went with the hot chicken. Our waitress was nice. The service was good inside. So far, so good.
Then, we decide to go outside and homeboy behind the bar just stared at us for several minutes. Don’t know if he was just trying to wish us away…like maybe if he just kept staring at us, we’d get the hint and leave…or what. I definitely should’ve gone with an ice cold Mich Ultra like Jesse and Lane did. But, fuck me – I was caught up in the beautiful day we were having in Nashville. A nice breeze blowing, calm and gently, cool air – it felt like I was on Panama City Beach for a bit.
Anyway, we wait all this time and then I get the absolute shittiest margarita I’ve ever had in my life. Probably my fault for ordering anything other than beer at a beer joint. But, it tasted like someone squeezed a lime over a pint of sewer water. And, it was so weak that I’m pretty sure it sobered me up.
Then, the band started playing. It was so damn loud, I couldn’t hear Lane talking a foot away from my ear. If that’s your thing, then by all means, go for it. There were plenty of old people out on the dance floor. I like to actually enjoy my conversations with people, so we went back inside for our last round.
All in all, look – what you see is what you get. I love this trend we have of going into regular bars and reviewing regular bar food. It’s comical. But, I also don’t want to lead anyone astray. Hence, “what you see is what you get.” The hot chicken was phenomenal, and I had a great time catching up with Jesse and Lane (we were there for around or over two hours), but it wasn’t enough to really stand out as a hangout spot around town to me.
Food Pics
Ratings
Food: 7/10 – I had the hot chicken and as far as traditional Nashville hot chicken goes, this is some of the best around. Excellent flavor, excellent texture. The chicken wasn’t dry, but the tenders had a nice oily coat to ’em. They were crispy, but not crunchy (just how I like ’em). The only thing keeping them out of the “elite” category is that their hot wasn’t nearly as hot as what’s become the standard. I could’ve used a little more heat. Overall, this is probably the best hot chicken you’re going to get around Donelson.
Beer list: 3/10 – I mean, it’s a beer joint. You know what you’re going to get. Don’t expect the local craft IPA. Order your Budweiser and be happy with it.
Value: 6.5/10 – As far as the hot chicken goes, it’s an absolute steal. As far as beers go, it’s great! But, everything else – you get what you pay for.
Atmosphere: 4/10 – Seems like a hell of a place to watch some football this fall. Will probably give it a shot again during the upcoming season. But, the live music is a bit overbearing outside. Just not my cup of tea – I like to socialize and actually hear the people I’m talking to.
Overall: 5.125/10 – Still barely above average and that is solely because of the quality of the hot chicken. It’s convenient for the tourists in the area to get a small taste of Nashville, and for area workers to stop in for a beer or two. But, unless you’re just looking to shoot the shit, there are much better options for food nearby.
Jesse’s Review
Scoreboard was a place that I had only been to a few times previously for hot chicken and beers. Scoreboard will remain a place I go to for hot chicken.
This time around, I decided to give the traditional, bone-in hot wings a go. They were your basic bar food hot wings – not bad, not great. The fries were actually the real star of my meal.
After our respective meals, we decide to hit the patio bar. Big fan of the patio bar. Feels like it should’ve been on the beach. Maybe it was the unusually cool and breezy evening we had. Either way, I could’ve sworn I was on the beach. It would’ve been incredible if the bartender didn’t directly look at us multiple times and not even acknowledge us. We finally got our 2 mich ultras and a marg. Poor Stoney. He drank that whole marg. It just looked like dirty water.
For the record, I do recommend Scoreboard for hot chicken.
Lane’s Review
We started the night off ordering water. It goes downhill from there.
I order a cider to drink. The waitress, God bless her because she was very nice and apologetic, had to ask me three times what I wanted because she kept forgetting. No problem. It happens. I ended up with a beer that definitely was not cider. I drank it and didn’t say anything because ultimately beer is beer and I will drink it.
To eat, I order an open-faced sandwich, which was two pieces of toast, pulled pork, fries, and cheese. The bread was not toasted, the cheese was melted Kraft singles, the fries were fine but needed salt, and the pulled pork was okay but lacked in flavor. These people have never heard of seasoning in their life and it showed.
We proceed to go to the outside bar area which was honestly very nice and looked like it belonged on a beach front. The bartender made eye contact multiple times with us, but did not acknowledge us for the longest time. I had a simple draft beer, which thank God is impossible to fuck up because I feel like this guy would have found a way given the margarita he made Stoney.
Ultimately it was a fun night, as I got to hangout and shoot the shit with friends and that’s what mattered most to me. I have no desire at all to ever return to Scoreboard unless I am already completely drunk in which case you could make me a sand sandwich and I would probably find it amazing.
Current Nashville Restaurant Rankings
- Butcher & Bee (8.5/10)
- Von Elrod’s (8.17/10)
- Catch 22 (Mount Juliet) (7.125/10)
- Corsair Brewstillery (6.67/10)
- Homegrown (6.5/10)
*Keep in mind, we’re just starting out. This list is only 10 deep at this point. Stay tuned as we continue to build our anthology of Nashville reviews.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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