Belles Hot Chicken Launches in Richmond
Belles Hot Chicken the fried chicken sensation has "crossed the road" to add another destination this time in Richmond. Swan Street is alive with new premium openings and Bells Hot Chicken has launches with more soft landing than fanfare. With an amazing response in Sydney, Belles Hot Chicken is taking all before it. Check out our Best Cheap Eats in Melbourne.
The World Loves Melbourne visited Belles Hot Chicken one fine weekend and its become a family hit for us. Surprisingly the kids prefer the spicy chicken to the plain Southern Fried Chicken. We can't go past the Baller for value with 16 fried chicken wings and 4 sides. Drinks menu is attractive; whether beers on tap or in the can, and interesting soft drinks including a sweet tea. Menu additions for Richmond include some funky sandwich options.
Whether in Melbourne or Sydney, people queue for their succulent hot chicken, and recently Belles Hot Chicken will open the doors to their second Melbourne outpost, a 100-seat venue on Swan Street in Richmond. The fit out is modern but not opulent, still in the diner style. Service is engaging.
Morgan McClone (right) outside the Gertrude St Belles Hot Chicken along with Matt Beyer.
Inspired by his time in Nashville, Charleston, Australian chef, Morgan McGlone, and his partners Reno Pontonio and Miranda Campbell have introduced the local specialty of Nashville hot chicken to ‘Melburnians’ and ‘Sydneysiders’, an undoubtable crowd-favourite since originally launching in Melbourne in 2014.
Crunchy, juicy chicken is the star of the Belles menu. Choose from dark meat, wings or tenders and then season it with any one of the spice levels which are broken into five heats from southern, medium, hot, really hot or…. really f**kin hot…. We dare you!
Vegetarians can opt for fried Portobello mushrooms, and sides include classics like red cabbage slaw, mac-n-cheese, crinkle cut chips and three bean salad. To calm those tastebuds down, a selection of natural wines or house made soft drinks are available.
Morgan and his partners have also decided to expand the original Fitzroy venue and by mid-March will close Fitzroy’s sidecar, Bar Clarine into an additional space for Belles fans. Over the next month Bar Clarine will run a series of dinners as a celebration of a great year.
With a choice of 4 sides we converted 2 into Old Bay Chips and also enjoyed the Coleslaw and the smoky Beans.
“It’s been amazing to see the Belles brand grow and we’re excited to be expanding, bringing hot chicken to more areas of Melbourne and Sydney, and hopefully other states over the next couple of years”, says Miranda.
This isn’t the end of Bar Clarine, we’re just putting it on ice so we can focus on spreading the Belles love and catering to larger crowds in Fitzroy. Bar Clarine will be back, stay tuned”.
Belle’s Hot Chicken in Richmond opens seven days a week, for lunch and dinner from 12pm to late.