Steven Monacelli
Audio By Carbonatix
Palmer’s Hot Chicken in Lakewood, off Abrams and Mockingbird, was one of our favorite hot chicken sandwiches in Dallas for the past five years.
On Sunday, Jan. 25, owners Palmer and Amanda Fortune closed the restaurant to transition to a ghost kitchen because of rising costs. Palmer’s Hot Chicken will now focus on delivery via apps like DoorDash and Uber, as well as catering and food trucks.
Palmer’s was started by two restaurateurs from Georgia during COVID, and at its peak, it was featured on the Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri in 2024.
This is the second triple-D restaurant in Dallas to announce its closure this month. Rye, with its sauerkraut chocolate cake, will also be closing, aiming to find a new address to grow independently of Apothecary next door.
On Facebook and Instagram, the Fortunes were adamant that everyone’s favorite hot chicken was not leaving Dallas; the only thing changing was where and how you get it.
The pimento cheese grits and hot chicken sandwiches are what Palmer’s is best known for. In 2024, the team’s hot chick-in pancake poppers were chosen as a 2024 Big Tex Finalist in the savory category.
The winning snack combines both things the chicken shop was famous for: Nashville hot chicken is shredded and rolled into a ball with pimento cheese, then dunked in pancake batter and deep-fried. They’re finished with Nashville hot powdered sugar and Sriracha-honey coating the outside.
Palmer’s will still be found at its booth at the State Fair later this year, and you can also find them at the Houston Livestock Show in March.
Following the closure, the Palmer’s Hot Chicken menu will be available for delivery via DoorDash and Uber Eats from the team’s ghost kitchen in Garland. It will be all the same recipes and flavors, but without a proper dining room.
The ghost kitchen will also help support corporate and event-based catering.
The most reliable way to get it now is from the Palmer’s Hot Chicken food truck. It’s serving hot chicken at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, but it’s also regularly parked at Southern Methodist University during sporting events.
