Nick Bishop, Sr. and his son Nick, Jr. are the powerhouse team behind Hattie B’s, the wildly popular hot chicken chain which is on track to operate more than 20 locations across six states by the end of next year. But not everyone knows that the fiery fowl empire was actually born as sort of a spin-off from their original restaurant business venture together, Bishop’s, a down-home meat and three cafe that Nick, Sr. opened in Franklin, Tennessee, back in 2007.
Without Bishop’s, there may never have been a Hattie B’s, and the Bishop family will always be grateful to their first fans in Franklin. Actually, Bishop’s was a second career for Sr., who had spent decades following in his own father’s footsteps working for Morrison’s Cafeteria. His father retired as CEO and Chairman of the company, and Nick, Sr. worked on the hospital food service side of the business.
“Morrison’s was where I learned so much about the restaurant business,” he recalls. “My dad started with the company when he was 16, and he set a great example about hard work and engaging with people. When he became the one in charge, he was the kind of leader who always went to the kitchen first to talk to the pot washers and the cooks.”
After his long, successful tenure at Morrison’s, Nick, Sr. couldn’t sit still for long. “I retired for about three months,” he shares with a laugh. He was driving down Mallory Lane when he saw an endcap building for lease in a strip mall, and more importantly, he saw a line of cars around the building at the Chick-Fil-A next door. He contacted Jason Crockarell, a culinary pro he knew from his Morrison’s days, and came up with the concept of a meat and three for Bishop’s.
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“We opened in 2007, and Jason really improved our food program.” As the small restaurant grew, they augmented their revenue by providing meal service to nearby business buildings and schools. Crockarell eventually went on to start Flavor Catering, now a popular Middle Tennessee caterer, so Nick, Sr. found his next business partner close to home. “My son came to me and said, ‘Dad, I’d like to come to work with you.’”
Nick, Jr. remembers it differently. “I feel like I had been recruited,” he recalls with a chuckle. Jr. had been working with legendary singer-songwriter John Prine at Oh Boy Records, but he was excited for the opportunity to build something with his father. “I always saw a meat and three as a condensed version of a great cafeteria.”
“We just don’t have a 40-foot cafeteria line like at Morrison’s,” explains Sr. “But I see a meat and three as being as synonymous with Nashville as hot chicken.”
Jr. agreed wholeheartedly. “I was very familiar with the idea, so it was very easy to embrace and get excited about. So much of a great meat and three is the people who run them. They’re part of the neighborhood!”
Along with a lean staff, the Bishops poured themselves into the business, working seven days a week at their new restaurant. “I slept there,” admits Jr. “Even as we grew Hattie B’s, I never thought of it as a huge business. It keeps you rooted next to the people who got you there. I used the lessons I learned from my grandfather and father, but the most important lesson was from my grandma, the queen of hospitality. ’People will always remember the way you make them feel.’ And her name was Hattie.”
The father and son contemplated opening a second location at Bishop’s, and their fried chicken was by far their most popular dish, even with the Atlanta-based fast food behemoth right next door. The idea of finding another way to showcase their chicken led them down the peppery path.
“We knew hot chicken and had eaten a lot of it,” explains Jr. “It started as a hobby, and we just experimented with it.”
Sr. was met by a skeptical advisor. “Dad didn’t tell me not to do it,” he recalls, “but he said that only one company had ever been successful building a concept on just one protein, and that was Chick-Fil-A.”
Nick, Jr. had a compelling retort. “I said that Hattie B’s is still a meat and three like Bishop’s. We just only have one meat!”
From the start, Sr. felt it was important to offer heat levels that ranged the gamut from tame to infernal. “We wanted to appeal to 80% of diners, not 20%. We want everyone to have a taste and appreciation for hot chicken.”
“We’ll still mess you up if you want,” promised Nick, Jr. “We put up a sign that said, ‘ask us about our hot chicken.’ We offered samples to everyone, and soon that was just about all anyone ordered. We didn’t start out to create a chain or anything. We just opened up a restaurant in Midtown on Broadway.”
Intentional or not, expansion came rapidly for the Bishops and Hattie B’s, including a nostalgic full-circle return to Franklin with a location in The Factory at Franklin. “It’s been really fun to come back to Franklin,” says Nick, Jr. “We started out in a strip mall end cap, and we’ve taken over an old Krystal’s on Charlotte; we’ll go almost anywhere. There are easier places to put a restaurant, but none cooler than an old factory next to Rusty the Robot!”
Nick, Sr.’s father probably never expected Hattie B’s to earn a recommendation from the prestigious MICHELIN Guide, but that is indeed what happened in 2025. As the company has grown, the family’s responsibilities have changed. Sr. shares, “We’ve been incredibly blessed. Jr. is quite far from serving food from behind the counter now. Business has gotten more data-driven.”
While Jr. keeps a close eye on the business analytics, he never takes his mind off the needs of his customers. “Value and affordability is toward the top of the list of things that we think about every day. An affordable meal should be the starting point!”
Nick Bishop, Sr. still loves to spend time at the original Bishop’s, and he knows that it’s where this whole ride started. “It’s been a fun time for me,” he waxes rhapsodically. “And people still seem to enjoy seeing me. I watch the door, and when I see people coming in who head to the left side of the serving line, I know they’re first-time visitors. Those are the ones I treat special to turn them into regulars!”
