There's a new player in the Nashville-style hot chicken world coming to Dallas, with tenders, sandwiches, and the best name of all: Called Hangry Joe's Hot Chicken, it's a concept from Richmond, Virginia and it's making its Texas debut in southern Dallas, at 4140 W Camp Wisdom Rd., a block or so west of the Southwest Center Mall (aka the old Red Bird Mall).

Jay Kang, who's part of a team of restaurant entrepreneurs bringing Hangry Joe's to Dallas, says they're planning to be open in January 2022.

Calling it a chain is premature since Hangry Joe's was only just founded in May 2021. It's from Derek Cha — famous for having founded the Sweet Frog Frozen Yogurt chain 2009 — in collaboration with his partner, Mike Kim, who partnered up to create the very best Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich.

They brag that their sandwich is not only spicy-hot but also juicy and crisp.

There are currently two locations in Virginia, but with at least four more in the works.

Like most of these Nashville-style hot chicken places, Hangry Joe's has a fairly simple menu revolving around fried chicken tenders with a crunchy coating which you can get in varying levels of heat. Hangry's has five levels, the hottest being "Angry Hot."

There are:

• chicken tenders, which they call chicken fingers
• chicken sandwiches, served with cider slaw, pickle, and hangry sauce on a brioche bun
• chicken & waffle, with 4 tenders and a funnel waffle

Their fries are waffle fries, which you can get plain as a side, or else loaded, topped with chicken, jalapeño, and cheese sauce. They also have fried okra, a nice treat.

Hangry has a couple of other noteworthy extras including a salad with chicken breast; and Korean chicken nuggets, served with rice and choice of soy garlic or spicy soy garlic.

The food is getting great reviews, says Kang, the Dallas franchisee; you need only skim their Facebook page to see the raves.

"It's unique and tasty," Kang says. "We know there's already a few Nashville-style chicken places in Dallas now, and we've tried them, but this tastes so different."

The other notable thing about this debut is that it's located south of I-30, in a city where much of the new opening buzz tends to be focused north. But this is only the beginning, Kang says.

"We're planning on opening a lot more locations in Dallas and in Texas," he says.