Because There’s Not Enough Hot Chicken, More Is Coming to East Dallas

Palmer’s Hot Chicken will open later this summer in Hillside, the neighborhood just north of Lakewood in East Dallas.

We're still awaiting Lucky's Hot Chicken in East Dallas and Chirps Chicken Shack opened on Lower Greenville not long ago, but now there's another place diving into the hot chicken craze. This time, it's closer to White Rock Lake.

Palmer's comes to an intersection that’s seen some change in the last seven years or so — across Mockingbird Lane, the space for a former Albertsons sat empty for what felt like ages (it’s now been split into different businesses); an IHOP is becoming a snazzier Hudson House; and the wonderful Hillside Tavern replaced a weird, expensive liquor store.

Palmer’s is replacing the First & 10 watering hole and will bring Nashville hot chicken to the space, along with a 1,400-square-foot covered patio. The outdoor space will have games like jumbo-sized Jenga and Connect 4.

It comes from the efforts of Palmer Fortune, who’s a Texas native, “Nashville-bred” and looking to pay homage to the original Nashville hot chicken created by Thornton Prince.

“I didn’t want to create my tweak of Nashville hot chicken. This is actually the real deal. All the credit goes to Nashville,” Fortune says in a news release.

Palmer and his wife just moved to Dallas after he and chef/partner Mills Harwood developed Porch in St. Simon’s, Georgia.

“I had a dream last April that changed everything for me,” he says. “I was sitting outside having coffee with my wife. We had the normal ‘How’d you sleep?’ conversation. I told her I had a dream that I was busing tables at a restaurant in Dallas. We spent about 30 years in Nashville before moving to Georgia, and we were planning a trip to Nashville. My wife then said, ‘Well, why don’t you fly to Dallas after our trip and see what that dream was all about?’”

And now, East Dallas is getting some chicken.

Menu-wise, expect four levels of heat: naked, novice, Nashville and napalm. Aside from chicken, you’ll also find catfish and shrimp (fried and grilled) along with wraps and salads.

By the way the release touts its interior design of “a comfortable setting with a rustic, beach-house inspired design of warm tones with reclaimed wood and exposed bricks,” it sounds like interior seating will be available at some point. But now Palmer’s planning to offer curbside pickup and delivery through most services.

Palmer’s Hot Chicken, 6465 E Mockingbird Lane, Suite 316 (Hillside). Planned to open late summer 2020.