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Cult fried chicken brand Belles Hot Chicken has splashed down at one of the city's prime harbourside dining spots with the arrival of a new flagship outlet at Circular Quay.

The company's first restaurant-style Sydney venue opened on Friday, March 3 on Bridge Street (entry via Young Street), combining aspects of a chicken shop, wine bar and local diner.

The new location offers a fun, easy-going "high-low" experience, says managing director Joss Jenner-Leuthart, offering table service and comfort cooking in luxe retro surrounds with glimpses of the Harbour Bridge.

The space even includes a draped private dining room, should you wish to hold your own personal hot chicken party for family or friends.

"Belles is unashamedly comfort food, we don't count calories, we don't put kale in our salad, it's very much what we call the queen of comfort food," Jenner-Leuthart says.

"When we looked at how that could translate into a space, we wanted to create a place that embodied comfort and full immersion [for customers] when they come in."

The booze-friendly chain, known for its spicy fried chicken, was launched in 2014 in Fitzroy by fine-dining chefs Morgan McGlone and Aaron Turner after McGlone's stint working in Nashville. (Jenner-Leuthart took over the business in 2021.)

It arrived in Sydney as a canteen-style pop-up at Barangaroo in 2015, followed by a small casual outlet at the Glebe Tramsheds precinct. The new venue is the third Sydney location.

The inviting 130-seat interior features a curved bar, DJ decks, neon features and vintage tiling, plus custom signage, cork and laminate surfaces and a vending machine that dispenses Belles merch.

Belles design director Vicki Punch and Ewert Leaf (Lune interiors) worked on the light-filled design, creating an eye-catching chrome ceiling that can be seen from the street below and a breezy open-air balcony.

The Circular Quay location, within the new Quay Quarter development opposite the four-level Hinchcliff House, was selected after an extensive search and taps into a flourishing new dining area, Jenner-Leuthart says.

"What I really saw in Belles was a brand that had so much more to offer than just its product," he says. "What I've always wanted to do was find what I call a 'spiritual home' for it in Sydney."

The food deliberately doesn't stray far from the core menu: Nashville-style chicken sandwiches, share plates and Southern-style sides alongside tenders, drumsticks and wings in Belles' signature flavours (original, chicken salt, traveller, hot, really hot and really f---in hot).

A few new options such as buffalo cauliflower and an iceberg salad have been added to cater for vegetarian and other dietary requirements.

"Belles will never be a brand that has a menu with lots and lots of things; we really want to be the absolute best of what we do," Jenner-Leuthart says.

"We always want to do our classic hits really well, which is three cuts of chicken and two sandwiches and that's pretty much it."

Drinks range from summery iced teas to affordable, sessionable brews such as Belles Original Draught or top-shelf options such Pappy Van Winkle 15-year-old whiskey, which costs a cool $85 a shot, to Louis Roederer Cristal Brut by the bottle if a bucket of fried chicken with (very expensive) bubbly is more your style.

Small and independent Sydney names are among the beverage options, including popular inner-west spot Baba's Place, which has worked on a special canned concoction called the Rakija and Tonic.

Open Mon-Thu 11.30am-9pm; Fri-Sat 11.30am-10pm.

Belles Circular Quay, 50 Bridge Street, Sydney (entry via 12 Young Street), belleshotchicken.com/locations/belles-circular-quay