Nashville Hot Chicken Expands its Houston Reach With New Austin Import — Tumble 22 is Here

Nashville hot chicken entered the Texas food scene with a bang — and it’s not slowing down. This is a food trend that’s definitely not cooling. The latest? Tumble 22 opened its first Houston area restaurant in Vintage Park today (Wednesday, December 2).

Tumble 22 brought Nashville hot chicken to Austin to great success and now its bringing its version of the fried spicy chicken to the Bayou City.

The idea for Tumble 22 first came from a trip to the birthplace of the hot chicken recipe. Larry Foles — one half of Guy + Larry Restaurants, which created Tumble 22 — almost stumbled upon it.

“We were in Nashville four or five years ago. We were there looking for sites for this burger place we have and we saw this line down the block and we were going ‘What is that?’ ” Foles tells PaperCity.

Turns out to was a Nashville hot chicken joint and it inspired them to launch Tumble 22 in Austin. 

What started out as a food truck, has quickly grown to three restaurants in Austin, and now a fourth in Houston. It’s really no surprise that a menu centered around crispy hot chicken is a hit in Texas, where the more fried and the spicer the better.

Achieving the amount of crispiness needed for true hot chicken is no simple task.

“It actually makes the chicken crispier when you dip it in the oil for some reason,” Foles says. “And when we saw that we went ‘Wow, that’s a very unique way of doing chicken.’ It really does add an addicting flavor.

“I can’t hardly eat fried chicken anymore unless it’s dipped in hot oil with some hot seasonings on it.”

Nashville hot chicken comes in many different forms. It’s not all super hot.

“It’s kinda fun too because you can go real, real, real hot or you can go mild or wimpy without it being dipped so it’s a little bit for everybody,” Foles says.

As Tumble 22’s name suggests, this particular  fried chicken is tossed in a secret spice blend coating 22 times. “You use a wet mix,” Foles says. “Sometimes its eggs, some buttermilk and milk — and I’m not gonna say exactly what it is, but it’s a wet mix. You go from the flour to the wet mix then you go back to the flour. Then you toss it 22 times in the flour.”

The tedious process is worth the work. “If you really want a fluffy crispy product, you have to work it so we toss it 22 times in flour,” Foles says.

Tumble 22 serves up hot chicken in sandwiches, tenders and if you’re looking for something a little healthier, on top of a salad.

Tumble 22’s Houston restaurant has a drive-thru, making largely contactless hot chicken runs possible.

Nashville’s tastiest export sure seems like it’s here to stay. Tumble 22 is not the first hot chicken contender in Houston — and it certainly won’t be the last.