@Dommy Your recs were on the money!
@nlk Your thread about your first visit, helped too!
Late post of my visit to Hotville Chicken after attending a local rally in August.
Started with “The Shaw” fish sandwich with “Cali-mild 4/12” heat level. Fish tasted clean and the crust was delightfully crispy 
The accompaniments were kaleslaw (not my thing) and a huge mound of crinkled fries (I took most of these home with the key lime pie).
Then moved on to the fried chicken - got a dark leg with “Music City Medium 7/12” heat level (the next level is “Nashville Hot 12/12”). Ate half and took the rest home. As with the fish, I loved the coating on the chicken 
and since I normally can’t eat white bread due to my low carb diet, biting into the spicy hot 
chicken on soft, squishy white bread 
was such a treat then and there, and as leftovers the following day (sorry CS1999 I don’t agree with you RE Hotville Chicken at all 
).
Thanks to @Dommy ‘s write up, I got the Southern fruit tea and they also gave me a free refill.
The cashier/server on the Sunday that I went was so sweet! Also saw her congratulate a customer at a different table who did the “Nashville Hot” chicken challenge - the cashier/server came over flapping her arms and told him he won 
The stand alone building with a small patio is quaint and although I am a fan of Howlin’ Ray’s in Chinatown, it’s nice to be able to sit down, relax and eat my chicken in peace. Plenty of free parking in its adjacent lot also a huge plus!
Surprisingly quick to get to from SaMo/West LA, I’m definitely looking forward to going back!
PS: I wouldn’t compare an In-N-Out burger to HiHo’s grassfed burger and in the same vein, I’m not interested in making the argument with Hotville and Howlin’ Ray’s .
Other FTCers may differ in their opinion, and are certainly entitled to do so.
I think Hotville has pulled it together since reports on the initial soft-opening. 
Whole Chicken - Cali-Mild Heat
Crispy skin, breast is moist and dark meat is juicy. Mild heat level has a nice kick and not salty at all.
I try not to judge all fried chicken by Howlin’ Ray’s standards but this is Nashville Hot Chicken so the comparison is understandable. My opinion aligns with @Dommy @glazedonut & @foodshutterbug’s - it’s not Howlin’ Ray’s, but it’s a very fine fried chicken. 
Mac & Smokin’ Cheese and Potato Salad
Let me preface this with I’m picky about southern sides, so please judge for yourselves. I thought both the macaroni and the potatoes were over-cooked. The mac & cheese was creamy and had crispy edges. The herbs inside aren’t a deal breaker but I didn’t care for it. I liked the vinegary-ness of the potato salad.
Tomato, Corn & Avocado Salad by TheCookie
Fried Fish
More concurring! My favorite! 
Perfectly seasoned, coated & fried. I know nothing about Swai, but it seems like a perfect frying fish and it absorbs the seasoning & spice really well!
I ate one piece of fish & a thought cloud appeared over my head. It said Fried fish, grits & eggs! So I saved a couple pieces for our breakfast. Even reheated it was tasty! 
Bang bang! Southern Girl Desserts…
Red Velvet, Double Chocolate, Vanilla Buttercream, Sweet Potato, Lemon
@glazedonut you will enjoy the moist, dark chocolate cupcake! 
Every cupcake has its own unique flavor profile and all are moist & yummy. The sweet potato was sweeter than I remember and instead of a piece of caramelized sweet potato there was a squirt of sweet potato purée on top, but still yummy w/a layer of sticky purée under the frosting. Loved the lemon. 
Vanilla Buttercream was nice & light and not as sweet.
Both spots had friendly, warm, southern hospitality!
Great report and thanks for the heads up on the double chocolate cupcake! I love that dark color of the cupcake in your pic, very encouraging sign.
Glad you enjoyed both places, and what a great idea to use the fish with grits and eggs. I was also impressed with how well the fish reheated.
Thanks @glazedonut.
Not to get too far off topics but here’s a closeup. 
One thing - I understand the towering swirls of frosting on top are eye and photo pleasing but it requires a need to eat these with a fork or spoon, lol.
Wow! That cake looks ridiculous! I am not a big cupcake person, but when I get them, I’m that person that makes the cupcake sandwich to Everyone’s horror
Great solution to the frosting dilemma.
Cut the cake in half and make a sandwich with the frosting in the middle. This is always the correct way to eat a cupcake.
Eater with a great followup. Baldwin Hills Mall is a curse.
“We decided to call it Hotville because people in LA don’t know the Prince name,”
really?
Yes, location is not desirable as its really not near a freeway and especially bad for me as I live in the Redondo Beach. I went once and had a chicken sandwich with fries and mac n cheese and it was really good and would return if I was in the area. Service was also top notch. A change of location might be the best next move?
They need to open a takeout place next to Daichan, Tacos 1986, and KazuNori in the SFV.
Now THAT’S a desirable location… for me.
Yep, @Ns1, it’s the mall. I’ll agree that whenever there’s a downturn in the economy minority neighborhoods feel it most. But, Farley Elliott, who mentions that View Park/Windsor Hills (one block west of Hotville) is 75% black, doesn’t mention that it is one of the wealthiest primarily black neighborhoods in the country with some houses going for $2+ million. And one block east is solidly middle-class Leimert Park. It pains me to say that Hotville’s biggest problem appears to be betting on the Crenshaw Mall. The historical landmark and once shining beacon of black progress has gone through too many hands and too many changes over the decades and now sits in flux. Along with Crenshaw looking like a war zone because of the train-line construction, it is not a convenient or appealing destination to people in the area. If Ms Prince hangs in there and the latest developer pulls off what others have been threatening to do for years it could be gold. If, if, if. My2Cents.
Yep! I live literally DOWN THE STREET. I went to Hotville a fair amount during the pandemic. I think more than anything else is the location, the crenshaw line construction and the general mall traffic. I was HEARTBROKEN when Everytable shut down in the mall and cited the lack of traffic in the mall.
Thankfully they opened up even closer to me in Expo Park, but losing the walmart and then the sears has really really hit traffic in the mall.
It’s not to say that the mall is instant death. Southern Girl Dessert does VERY well in that mall. But there is much less competition nearby. Hotville also closes a bit early. At 7pm. Although our homes have seen a huge rise in value, sadly we haven’t seen that many big professional employers come into the area (It’s SLOWLY changing… SweetGreen HQ recently opened), so folks in the neighborhood nearby, including the tidy neighborhoods of Leimert, Crenshaw Manor and View Park are commuting elsewhere. There has several times we wanted to go… but then realized it was past 7pm.
I will say, the food continues to be super good and the folks working there SUPER SWEET. This article has actually made it’s rounds in neighborhood boards which is good. Hopefully folks realize that, especially in times like we we all just lived through and in time which may come, it’s so important to support the businesses in our neighborhoods.
Good points @Dommy… Hotville’s 7pm closing is
a hindrance. I wonder if they don’t feel safe staying open late with there being less traffic. I thought about Southern Girl Desserts’ continued popularity. You’re probably right there too lol - less competition. Plus they make a darn scrumptious cupcake and have the curbside window.
Thank you!
I am sure the mall and the neighborhood are huge problems but I gotta say the competition is as well.
Howlin’ Rays is also in a terrible mall situation, has a fraction of the seating, etc…but the food is so much better. I only went to Hotville once and the fried breast and thigh pieces were not nearly as good as HR’s. Coating was thicker and greasier and the seasoning was not as vibrant and tasty.
Yeah, the market for fried chicken in all its iterations seems really saturated. Not sure it’s a food i’m driving across town for, but maybe others disagree.
Yah, competition was touched upon in the article as a not small factor. Hotville is not Howlin’ Ray’s. Howlin’ Ray’s is twilight. What it is is in competition with a sea of not Howlin’ Ray’s. I enjoy Hotville’s chicken more than some of the others I’ve tried and think it could be a popular local spot, which circles back to the problem location.
Yes, then you have the people like me who live in the neighborhood and love fried chicken, but do not like these hotville, howlin rays places…i.e. high ass prices with that hot powder/mix sprinkled on there, chicken cut up all weird. I just stick with louisiana fried chicken. popeyes and gus’s when they have a sale, even albertson’s. Or fry my own.
I went today and had the wings. Shit is delicious! Cooked very well. I take back what I said. I hope they can stay open. It was fresh and cooked well.