We Tried The Spicy Chicken Sandwich That's Better Than Popeye's or Chick-Fil-A
Bro's knows spicy, are you up to the challenge?
The great chicken sandwich wars were the most popular wars in American history, because if ever there were a reason to go to war, it’s pepper breading. Also, there were no casualties. Unless you count the thousands of heart attacks caused by eating fried chicken five times a week. But nobody can prove that anyway. Ultimately, the chicken sandwich wars got America debating over something way less heated than politics, and for a brief few months in 2019 made us all forget about the grave injustice of the college football playoff.
Like Vietnam and the Cola Wars, the chicken sandwich wars didn’t have an official winner. But unlike those wars, we don’t sorta-kinda know who won anyway. Popeye’s likes to claim they’re the champions. Chick-fil-A’s visible-from-space drive-thru lines beg to differ. But out on SW 67th Ave. and Calle Ocho – conveniently across a parking lot from Popeye’s – there’s a place that could end the wars with one sandwich. It is, quite literally, a nuclear bomb of chicken, and if you’re into spicy stuff Bro’s Hot Chicken is going to be your new favorite hangout.
How hot is this stuff, really?
You ever go to a Thai restaurant and ask for curry “hot like you eat it,” and a little old lady comes out of the kitchen and says, “Are you sure?” That little old lady doesn’t fuck with the Fuego sandwich at Bro’s. I tried it, and the results were somewhere between “emasculating” and “I may need a lawyer.”(Bro’s makes you sign a waiver before trying the Fuego, lest somebody decide to rub their face mid-sandwich and end up looking like a Batman villain). There’s a video of the experience on our Instagram, if you want a laugh. Bro’s Hot Chicken is without question the hottest thing I’ve had in Miami. And on the lifetime list, it’s a close second to the regrettable curry I got from a food truck behind a Portland strip club.
What else to eat and drink: Make no mistake, Bro’s Hot Chicken doesn’t just trade in food that dissolves your esophagus. The regular hot and extra hot actually have flavor, a pepper and paprika blend that puts fast food spicy chickens to shame. The sandwiches are solid, though if you’re a chicken strip fan the tenders are also spectacular. If you’re into spicy, but don’t want to cry your way through lunch, try a level or two down from fuego. Also, they have fresh made milkshakes with breakfast cereal in them, which are absolutely necessary if you’re going for the hottest options.
The space: Is covered in colorful cartoonish murals of chickens-as-celebrities, depicting the chickens’ trip from Nashville to Miami. It’s one of the more fun restaurant murals you’ll find, and makes a perfect backdrop for a transcendent eating experience.
Perfect for: Proving your manhood. Or losing it. It really depends.
Expect to pay: Around $20, if you get a milkshake. And believe me, brother in capsaicin, you need to get the milkshake.
Pro tip: Pregame with Pepto Bismol, and be ready.
How’s the parking: Calle Ocho shopping center perfect.
@broshotchicken // 936 SW 67th Ave., West Miami
