The truck moves. The heat doesn't.
Nashville hot chicken on Big Lu's 1978 cayenne paste, fried to order out of a red truck. Breweries and lots across Nashville six days a week — and your wedding, office lot or taproom when you book it.
Book the truck
This week's stops
4.9 stars, 1,200+ reviews
Six heat levels
Fried to order
60+ events a year
Big Lu's Sandwich
Tenders on white bread
Half bird
Hot cauliflower
Pickles by the quart
Comeback sauce
Mac & cheese
Sweet tea
Banana pudding
Where we're parked this week.
The week goes up every Monday morning. Rain moves us; it never cancels us. Mondays the truck gets scrubbed.
Day-of changes land first on
Tue
Dry Creek Beer Co.
Germantown
Brewery night
5–9pm
Wed
The Lot on Gallatin
East Nashville
Lunch
11am–2pm
Thu
Ironwood Taproom
The Nations
Brewery night
5–9pm
Fri
12 South Night Market
12 South
Late
5–10pm
Sat
Hollow Creek Brewing
Wedgewood-Houston
All day
12–9pm
Sun
Riverbend Family Market
Donelson
Family day
11am–4pm
Fried to order. Never under a lamp.
Cast iron, peanut oil, Big Lu's paste brushed on hot. Every chicken item and the cauliflower come at any of the six heats, Country through Lord Have Mercy.
Big Lu's Sandwich
$13
A quarter bird's worth of breast on a toasted bun, slaw, pickles and comeback sauce. The one the line is for.
Tenders
Three pieces on white bread with pickles.
$12
Half bird
Leg, thigh, wing and breast on white bread.
$17
Hot cauliflower
A whole battered head, quartered. Vegetarian, any heat.
$11
Kids' tenders
Two pieces, Country heat only.
$7
Sides and sweets
Pickles come with everything. These are for when that isn't enough.
Pick your heat
Fries
$4
Slaw
$3.50
Mac & cheese
$5
Pimento cheese grits
$5
Pickles
$1.50
Comeback sauce
$0.75
Sweet tea
$3
Banana pudding
$5
Pick your heat.
Six levels, one paste, any chicken item.
01
Country
No heat at all. Salt, pepper, a little garlic. The kids' level, and plenty of grown-ups' too.
02
Mild
A warm hum. You'll know it's there; you won't need the sweet tea.
03
Medium
Where most of Nashville lives. Real cayenne, a slow build, a tingle that stays through the pickles.
04
Hot
The paste gets thick. Lips go numb around bite three. Order the ranch and don't be proud.
05
Nashville Hot
Big Lu's own level, the one he served out of his kitchen in 1978. You'll sweat, then you'll grin.
06
Lord Have Mercy
Ghost pepper in the paste. We'll ask if you're sure. Comes with a cold towel.
Country
Mild
Medium
Hot
Nashville Hot
Lord Have Mercy
Put the truck in the picture.
Weddings, rehearsal dinners, office lots, taprooms and festivals. We feed groups of 40 to 400, fully self-contained, and we're gone before the party is.
Office lots
Lunch for the whole building. Pre-orders on a link, names on the boxes, in and out in an hour.
from $15 a head
40 people minimum
Check a date
Weddings & rehearsals
The late-night snack everybody remembers, or the whole dinner. Pickles by the quart, a Country level for grandma.
from $24 a head
75 people minimum
Check a date
Brewery nights
We park at your taproom Tuesday through Saturday nights. No fee to you: we bring the line, you pour.
No fee to the taproom
Ask about a standing night
Check a date
Festivals & markets
Full-day service for a crowd, 120 plates an hour from one window. Past 250 people we bring a second line.
from $1,800
for the day
Check a date
4.9
stars across 1,200+ reviews
60+
private events a year
7
years on the road
120
plates an hour from one window
Word on the lot.
“We did Lord Have Mercy on a dare. The cold towel is not a gimmick.”
Jess, East Nashville
“They fed 140 of our people in 50 minutes and not one box was wrong.”
Marcus, office manager, The Gulch
“Our rehearsal dinner was sandwiches off the truck in a brewery parking lot. Best decision we made all year.”
Caroline and Devin, Sylvan Park
From “are y'all free?” to the last box.
Four steps, one person on the phone the whole way through.
1
Tell us the date
The place, the date and about how many people. The form below, or a text.
2
A quote in 24 hours
In writing, with the menu, the heats and the minimums. No surprises on the day.
3
$250 holds it
The deposit comes off your total. Change the headcount up to a week out.
4
We roll up early
Forty-five minutes before service, fully self-contained. Everyone's fed in about an hour.
What the line asks us.
Anything else, call or text. Keisha answers the phone between fryer baskets.
Call or text (615) 555-0147
Is there anything that isn't spicy?
Yes. Country is zero heat — salt, pepper, a little garlic — on every chicken item, the cauliflower and the kids' tenders. About a third of what we sell goes out at Country or Mild.
How many people can you feed?
Groups of 40 to 400. One window does about 120 plates an hour, and for anything past 250 we bring a second line and a second fryer.
Is there a minimum for a private event?
A $1,200 food minimum, and a $250 deposit that comes off your total. Travel is included within 25 miles of downtown Nashville; beyond that it's $3 a mile.
Do you need power or water from us?
No. The truck carries its own generator, fresh water and grease, and we leave the lot the way we found it. We need a level spot about 30 feet long and 12 feet wide.
Can we change the menu?
Within reason, yes. Most events run the sandwich, the tenders and the cauliflower with two sides; weddings add the half bird. Tell us about allergies and we'll plan around them.
Where will you be this week?
On the board at the top of this page, updated every Monday morning. If rain moves us, Instagram knows first.
Put the truck on your calendar.
Tell us the date, the place and about how many people. You'll have a written quote within 24 hours, and a $250 deposit holds the date.
A written quote within 24 hours
$250 holds your date
Fully self-contained: power, water and grease
Rather talk to a person first?
Call or text (615) 555-0147
hey@biglushotchicken.com
Book the truck
Send my date