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Food & Drink

What’s on the menu at Chica’s Chicken, the Junction’s new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken

By Caroline Aksich| Photography by Caroline Aksich
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What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
This stack sandwiches juicy thigh topped with lettuce, pickles and buttermilk ranch, between a couple slices of white bread. $11.50. Photograph by Caroline Aksich

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Name: Chica’s Chicken Contact: 2853 Dundas St. W., 416-564-6326, @chicas.chicken
Neighbourhood: The Junction Previously: Concourse Restaurant Owners: Carolyn and Matthew Pelechaty Chef: Matthew Pelechaty (Adamson Barbecue, Medium Rare)

The food

Chicken (mild, medium or “hot AF”) and three sides (waffle fries, a bean salad and slaw). That’s it, that’s all. One of the OG cooks that helped launch Leaside’s uber-popular Adamson Barbecue, Matthew was a barbecue fan long before our city had any of the good stuff. So when he was deciding where to have his bachelor party, the answer was easy: Nashville, where the best thing he ate was the hot chicken at Prince’s. “It changed my life,” he says. He loved everything about it, from the super-hot bird to the atmosphere. “It’s a literal hole in the wall—you actually order from a hole cut in the dry wall,” he says. So, when the Junction greasy spoon was up for lease, he pounced on the opportunity. Matthew spent months trying to develop his own hot chicken method. “I wasted so much money and chicken getting it to this point,” he says.

What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
Bean salad and coleslaw. $5.75 each.

 

What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
A dark quarter-chicken meal comes with waffle fries, house-made ranch dressing, white bread and pickles. $14.25.

 

What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
The wing plate is four wings high and is more than a pound of bird. $15.95.

 

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What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
The “For 3” platter, with three orders of chicken and a choice of three sides, is good for, you guessed it, three hungry people. $37.50.

 

What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
This sandwich stacks juicy thigh with lettuce, pickles and buttermilk ranch on white bread. $11.50. Photograph by Caroline Aksich

 

What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
The mild paste is made from ancho chilies, smoky paprika and black pepper. The medium gets some added heat from cayenne. And the hot starts with a medium base that gets electrified with added ghost and Carolina Reaper peppers.

 

What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
Newlyweds Carolyn and Matthew Pelechaty are high-school sweethearts who grew up in Etobicoke.

 

The drinks

No beer here, folks. The restaurant is unlicensed and sells only iced tea and various Boylan’s sodas.

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What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
Boylan’s sodas are $2.75 each.

 

The space

It took a month’s worth of elbow grease to get the joint presentable, but other than a mural by Sleekstak and some vintage wood cladding, the Pelechatys decided to leave much of what once was Concourse Restaurant intact.

What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken
Old Sports Illustrated pics decorate the men’s washroom and these novelty playing cards can be found in the ladies’.

 

What's on the menu at Chica's Chicken, the Junction's new kitchen for Nashville hot chicken

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Caroline Aksich, a National Magazine Award recipient, is an ex-Montrealer who writes about Toronto’s ever-evolving food scene, real estate and culture for Toronto Life, Fodor’s, Designlines, Canadian Business, Glory Media and Post City. Her work ranges from features on octopus-hunting in the Adriatic to celebrity profiles.

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