The City of Nashville Honors Bolton Matthews For His Dedication to Hot Chicken This Sunday

The City of Nashville passed a resolution this week to honor Bolton Matthews for his commitment to Nashville hot chicken throughout the years and through a series of heartbreaking personal and professional challenges.

The resolution recognizes Matthews for his contributions to the culture, economy, development, and panache of the city of Nashville. The resolution (posted in its entirety below) emphasized Bolton Matthews’ impact on Nashville and the world. Bolton’s is one of Main Street’s oldest Black-owned businesses and is recognized by the Southern Foodways as a Nashville Food Heritage Site.

The city will present the official resolution to Matthews in person on Sunday, May 23 at 3 p.m. and Bolton’s Main Street in East Nashville. All are invited to attend.

Named after his uncle, the late Bolton Polk (who started out as a staffer at Prince’s), Bolton and his wife Dollye Matthews have run Bolton’s Spicy Chicken and Fish since 1997. They’re using Polk’s original recipe for spicy fried chicken from when he opened up Columbo’s Hot Chicken Shack on the East side decades ago. The original restaurant closed after the original Bolton fell ill, but before he passed, he shared his hot chicken recipe with his beloved nephew.

In 2020, Bolton’s East Nashville location suffered roof and water damage after the tornado, of course, the Matthews have also been affected by the coronavirus. Matthews has also been battling stage IV colon cancer since 2018 (there’s a GoFundme for his treatment) and he lost his mother earlier this month. Undoubtedly, that’s a lot for one person to endure singly, but Matthews has always served the Nashville community with strength and resilience.

• Bolton’s Spicy Chicken & Fish [all ENASH coverage]