Hot chicken place opens in Bailey’s Xroads

Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken had a grand opening Oct. 22 at 3525 S. Jefferson St. in Bailey’s Crossroads.

The fast-food restaurant focuses on Nashville Hot Chicken. It’s available in various spiciness levels, ranging from bland to mild seasoning, to “angry hot,” the spiciest level.

Customers who order the hottest angry chicken have to sign a waiver. One person who tried it this weekend couldn’t finish it, says Joe Oh, national assistant director of operations for the Hangry Joe’s chain.

The Bailey’s Crossroads location serves chicken sandwiches, chicken and waffle, chicken bites, chicken fingers, Korean chicken nuggets, waffle fries, a chicken salad, cider slaw, fried okra, smoothies, and milkshakes.

All the chicken is fresh, never frozen, and certified halal, said Nang Kim, who co-owns the Bailey’s Crossroads franchise with Hee Cho.

In an area saturated with chicken places – Peruvian, Salvadoran, Korean, and American – Nashville-style chicken is different, Oh says. It’s saltier and spicier than other varieties.

Hangry Joe’s was started in Ashland, Va., in May 2021 by Derek Cha, the founder of Sweet Frog.

So far, 21 restaurants already opened mostly in Northern Virginia, Oh says, and 10 to 20 more are in the works.

He would like to open one in Annandale but hasn’t yet found an appropriate location.