Best Buffalo Wings

I'll cast my vote for CJ's Wings in Columbia, Missouri. Best I've had, meaty and the BYFO (burn your face off) sauce is fantastic. If you're ever at MIZZOU you have to try them!

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty246

quote:

Originally posted by TheBone26

I'm not gonna let this wing discussion continue without mentioning the greatest WINGER joint to ever hit the scene. One word, two syllables...Cluck-U. Enough said. Their signature wingers at the "Thermo" level (12 large or 18 huge, both are respectable) along with their spuds are a better than perfect combination. THERE AINT NOTHING LIKE THEM- IT'S AN ADDICTION.

I can't help but wonder which Cluck-U you ate at. Our's is TERRIBLE! I guess it could have been a bad day, but I don't think I'd go there again, not even for beer. The first and last time I ate there the wait person took my order while smoking a cigarette..

Our "Cluck-U" finally closed(wooohooo)and is now a "Dirty Bird's" and the name is fitting. You wouldn't want to enter this place from the looks of the nastiness outside. Still can't get over the visit when it was "Cluck-U". However, "Gator City" right down the street has wonderful wings that always arrive piping hot with plenty of celery AND carrots and your choice of their homemade bleu cheese or ranch dressing.

Getting ready to make my famous wings for the super bowl. Just four ingredients: Chicken wings, franks original red hot sauce, butter, tobasco sauce.
Can't wait.

quote:

Originally posted by UBAlum
...Discovered Archie Moore's in New Haven when I moved to CT. By the way they have had a place in Fairfield for several years now...

Archie Moore's does indeed make the best Wings in Connecticut.

They have 4 locations: New Haven (original -- a couple of blocks from the Yale campus), Fairfield, Milford, and Wallingford. There will be a restaurant opening soon in Derby.



They also bottle their wing sauces for retail sale.
Here is a link to order:

http://www.yankeegrocery.com/archie_moore.html


http://www.archiemoores.com

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

Getting ready to make my famous wings for the super bowl. Just four ingredients: Chicken wings, franks original red hot sauce, butter, tobasco sauce.
Can't wait.

You've got it right on! I've been using this Red Hot sauce for 15 years for my wings (it used to be called Durkee's Red Hot Sauce). I occasionally find it in the gallon container at the grocery store. Try spicing up the sauce with whatever you feel like. I buy a variety of hot peppers at the market - jalapeno, habanero, chilis, serrano - whatever they have. I chop them up and throw them in the sauce, along with an onion (white or purple). Green and/or yellow bell peppers make the sauce a little more attractive. Add ground red pepper for heat. Dried hot peppers work in a pinch in place of fresh hot peppers. I always grind, finely chop, or puree the habaneros/scotch bonnet peppers so nobody get zinged while enjoying the wings. Cumin, curry powder, and a small amount of chili powder provide some variety to the sauce. Adding other hot sauces also makes it interesting.

Frank's Red Hot Sauce has got to be the best wing base sauce ever - I've tried them all. It's so simple to make wings - start with the Red Hot Sauce, and add whatever to taste. I know the label says add butter, but I found they get kind of oily/greasy, and I use it about half the time. Bake (or deep fry if you have the time and energy) the wings for 15-20 minutes a side (30-40 minutes total baking) at 350 degrees.

The sauce freezes well, but loses some heat, and needs to be adjusted a little with some ground red pepper when you defrost it.

I am passionate about wings; I always compare wings at restaurants to the ones I make at home. This sauce makes it laughably simple to make great wings - amaze your friends and co-workers.

Enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by Spicy Food Addict
[br
Try spicing up the sauce with whatever you feel like. I buy a variety of hot peppers at the market - jalapeno, habanero, chilis, serrano - whatever they have. I chop them up and throw them in the sauce, along with an onion (white or purple). Green and/or yellow bell peppers make the sauce a little more attractive. Add ground red pepper for heat. Dried hot peppers work in a pinch in place of fresh hot peppers. I always grind, finely chop, or puree the habaneros/scotch bonnet peppers so nobody get zinged while enjoying the wings. Cumin, curry powder, and a small amount of chili powder provide some variety to the sauce. Adding other hot sauces also makes it interesting.

I am passionate about wings; I always compare wings at restaurants to the ones I make at home.Enjoy!

I definately see your passion, but all those ingredients is just too busy.
The origiginal recipe calls for only four ingredients, and chicken wings is one of 'em. The other three: Franks original hot sauce, butter, tobasco sauce.
That's it. no hot peppers. no cumin, no curry, no chili powder, no bell peppers. no more of nothing.
This is the one food where I'm a purist. Don't mess with perfection.

oh, wait...there are three more ingredients, but all on the side: carrots, celery and blue cheese.
I forgot about those. Just don't put them in the sauce!

I personally think that Buffalo wings are solid evidence of a God that truly loves us all :)

If you are in the Florida panhandle check out:

Buffalo's Reef in Fort Walton Beach - outstanding wings!

Mo-Joes in Sandestin - part of a small Atlanta based chain, but man these guys do it right.

Buffalo's Wings and Rings in Tallahassee - this outfit is at least half responsible for the spare tire I gained in college and carry to this day :) Great stuff!

If you are in Southeastern Connecticut:

Porter's in Westbrook/Clinton - I hadn't had a really good buffalo wing in Connecticut (outside of my kitchen, of course:) until I found these guys. Excellent.

If you are making them at home, its no real secret. Cook the wings right and use Frank's Red Hot. I fooled around for years with different fresh ingredients and all kinds of bottled sauces. I was never able to really outdo RedHot and butter, maybe with a little Melinda's Habanero sauce to kick up the heat when appropriate.

Dave

the simpler, the better. Your wings sound great dholk!

quote:

Originally posted by dholk

If you are making them at home, its no real secret. Cook the wings right and use Frank's Red Hot. I fooled around for years with different fresh ingredients and all kinds of bottled sauces. I was never able to really outdo RedHot and butter, maybe with a little Melinda's Habanero sauce to kick up the heat when appropriate.

Dave

http://www.franksredhot.com/

BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS
Servings: 24 to 30 individual pieces | Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes |

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 pounds chicken wings, split and tips discarded
1/2 cup Frank's® REDHOT® Cayenne Pepper Sauce (or more to taste)
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
Blue cheese salad dressing (optional)
Celery sticks (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Deep fry* wings at 400°F (HIGH) for 12 minutes or until cooked and crispy; drain.
2. In large bowl, combine Frank's RedHot Sauce and butter. Toss wings in sauce to coat completely. If desired, serve with blue cheese salad dressing and celery sticks.

Wing Sauce Variation: Toss cooked wings in 3/4 cup FRANK'S® REDHOT® Buffalo Wing Sauce.

*Alternate Cooking Directions:
Bake 45 minutes at 425°F until fully cooked and crispy, turning halfway.
Broil 6-inches from heat 15 to 20 minutes, turning once.
Grill over medium heat 30 to 40 minutes, turning often.

Don't shoot me, but I like a few of the chain's wings:

Hooters
Damon's
Quaker Steak & Lube (local chain)

Sorry about dat.

We are still contemplating a possible move to Syracuse. (hubby just had another interview up there last week) As such, I'm wondering what the vote for best wing place in that area might be.

Side note to Scorereader: our band participated in the MD MCC conference up in Bmore yesterday. We did a clinic with Frank Battisti -- interesting!

quote:

Originally posted by joanie41

We are still contemplating a possible move to Syracuse. (hubby just had another interview up there last week) As such, I'm wondering what the vote for best wing place in that area might be.

Side note to Scorereader: our band participated in the MD MCC conference up in Bmore yesterday. We did a clinic with Frank Battisti -- interesting!

would love to know your opinion of Battisti. (He guest conducted a group I played with in Syracuse.) you can email me that if you'd like.

Wing place list is forthcoming.

I'm a little slow to remember my favorite wing places today. Still much on my mind from this past weekend and some catching up of work to do this week.
But I remeber my favortie place for wings was a little hole in that wall called Change of Pace. It's a sports bar on the north/north-east side of Syracuse on Grant Blvd.

Most people don't even know about it, but it definately served up great wings when I went.

And Twin Trees Pizza is a commonly known Syracuse wing stop. Although it was made famous for its pizza, which is its own style (not NY and not Chicago) the wings are a Syracuse favorite.
In fact, many pizza places also make some of the best wings in town.

I don't know why everyone is so hot on Duffs and Anchor Bar. Sure, they are decent wings, but they are both really salty and there's definitely alot of better ones out there. I think the best wings (I'm from WNY and have had many) to be found, hand's down, are from Bar Bill in East Aurora. Not only are the nice and big, the sauce there is absolutely excellent, and you can get any range of heat you want. The Beef on Wick is awesome too. The ones I am most likely to get in the city are from La Nova, but from La Nova I usually go with the BBQ wings since they are so darn tasty. Their pizza is great too. Enough with Anchor Bar and BW3's and Duff's, those are the obvious choices. Anchor Bar has some great jazz though, and its worth going at least once.

I am also a "wing-nut" and try them pretty much everywhere I go. Being from NYC I've eaten too many of the breaded wings and can't touch them anymore. The butter and hot sauce thing doesn't work for me either. In NYC it's Atomic Wings (franchised at pizza joints) or Pluck-U which is a takeoff on Cluck-U, also excellent.

I travel a lot to the Rochester/Buffalo area and have been trying wings in different places lately. The Anchor Bar has the best wings that I've ever tasted. I get the Hot and some of the Suicide sauce on the side for occasional dipping (the bar-maid showed me this trick).

Duffs (Rochester) is very good too but they are really, really hot. Be careful if you order heat.

Tonight I tried Jeremiah's Tavern in Rochester and the wings were awesome. I like the sauce at Anchor a bit better but the wings were big and meaty. They were $5.98 for a pound (10) but from 5-7 they were .40 each so I only paid $4 for a basket of ten. I was sad when I ate the last one. They also had a great selection of tap beers. I have to go to the Anchor bar for lunch tomorrow to compare the wings again.

The wings at Jake's Bistro in the Buffalo Airport are pretty good too but it's not the vinegar based sauce that I like and they're not really very wet.

As for the best home-made wings I buy the Anchor Bar sauce (they sell it by the gallon online for $19.99) and make my own at home in the fry daddy. It's almost like being there and your friends will flip.

quote:

Originally posted by dholk

I personally think that Buffalo wings are solid evidence of a God that truly loves us all :)

I thought that beer was proof that God loves us? Or, maybe Ben Franklin just never met a chicken wing.

On my most recent trip to Buffalo, I had the pleasure of hitting both the Anchor Bar and Duff's. These were my favoites....



If you want to find out which ones won, check out my full post for details:

http://styok.blogspot.com

quote:

Originally posted by stevekoe

Originally posted by dholk

On my most recent trip to Buffalo, I had the pleasure of hitting both the Anchor Bar and Duff's. These were my favoites....

Steve, Duff's was my first introduction to Wings back in 1982. I was in the 11th Grade and we had a band exchange trip to Buffalo. I'd never heard of Buffalo Wings, they didn't exist yet on Long Island. I remember everyone was warning me not to get "suicidal" I don't remember if I got hot or medium hot, all I know is my novice taste buds became completely numb. I returned to Duff's in 2000 after seeing the Buffalo Bisons at Dunn Tire park. At that time, my sophisticated "roadfood" palate was able to handle the intense fire of the hot wings, yes, I still wussed out on the "suicidal" stuff.

I am not a fan of "suicidal" either. I had one of my colleagues that got the hottest sauce at Anchor Bar and I tried it. It is just blistering heat -- such that I didn't get much flavor. I guess if you like that...than so be it, but it isn't for me.

Dunn Tire Park is on our summer agenda for this year!

I have only had wings in a handful of cities, but I have had a lot of wings here in Columbus, OH. Best wings: 1. My wife's buffalo wings...mmmm..fried or baked..mmm..
2. Buffalo Wild wings (Blazin', Thai, Captain Morgain best of all the good sauces)]
3. Roosters (super killers)
4. AMF Main Lanes wings (not bad for a bowling alley)
5. Wings Xtreme (near the OSU campus)
6. Kings Wings (cheap and greasy but tasty)
7. Hooters (I know they exploit women and all that but the 911 sauce is good)

I was just down in Florida with my brother and he took me to a place called "Wing House". (It's exactly like Hooters except the girls wear black instead of orange/white.) I have to say I was disappointed with the wings. I ordered hot and they were mild. I asked for some "house afire" sauce on the side and poured it all over them. The "house afire" sauce had some heat but not anywhere near some of the other hot sauces that I've tried. The folks at Wing House that named their hottest sauce have never eaten wings at Duffs.

I was talking with the owner of the Anchor Bar on my last visit there and I asked how they get such big wings. He explained that they only use roaster wings not fryers like everyone else. I have never seen roaster wings at the store. The larger wings are definitely much better I have to find a place to buy them.

If your ever in the South Florida area try Uncle Al's in Davie. 8200 Griffin Rd (954-434-1630). Not to be confused with the Uncle Al's in Weston, they are a totally different bird. Uncle Al's in Davie is a beer and wine sports bar with seven pool tables and arcade games for the kids. Supervised children are welcome till late night hours. Its more known for its WINGS than the sports ( about 18 TV's). The wings are huge.They come either breaded or unbreaded. They even have a boneless verson called Wingers. Very Good. Also if Your looking for a Ohio State Buckeye game this is the place, Uncle Al is a OSU alum.

The Best Buffalo Wings in the world are the ones you like...........

In Daytona Beach it's Booth's Bowery, they win the local "Best Of" every year. The story is that the owners came here from Buffalo and the wife worked at either Duff's or the Anchor.

John

I've read a good chunk of this thread. Good stuff. I'm also from the Rochester/Buffalo area and agree with most of the statements. My favorite wing places in Buffalo are Bar Bill which is actually in East Aurora near the traffic circle. Duff's is my #2. They do traditional wings ideally. Rootie's near UB Amherst used to be great until they changed ownership in the late '90s, then they sucked and now I don't think the place is even there anymore. Good wings are everywhere though in Buffalo. The Anchor Bar is OK but overpriced presumably because it's a tourist trap. The wings are good but not spectacular.

I don't live there anymore but wings are growing in popularity and can be found elsewhere but it's hit and miss. Blondie's in NYC has good wings and I haven't heard anyone mention them. Haven't been to Quaker Steak & Lube but I hear they're good.

If you make your own wings, Frank's with some spices and Tobasco is good. Otherwise use a sauce called Wy's Wings sauce. I haven't had anything that compares to it. Their hot, called Wys Guy I think, is awesome because it has heat and flavor not just heat. The link is www.wyswings.com. Their mild is excellent too although I don't eat it, my wife does. It's the tastiest mild I've ever had though easily.

I'm gonna order the Archie's sauce that someone recommended, but if it's as good as the Wys Wing sauces I'll be surprised. WW was at the Buffalo Wing Festival one year, maybe more than that I'm not sure. They sold them there. I didn't see them the next year though. I'm not sure if they were there last year or will be there this year or not. I get mine online.

Anyway, in Rochester the best wing places are McGregor's in the South Wedge, Jeremiah's as someone pointed out, the Sports Page, and Woody's has pretty good ones too. Hitchcock's now called the Merchant Street Grill or something had really good ones, but after the name change they didn't seem so great. I've only been there once since then so I'll give them another shot.

I make my own often now. They're better than the ones out easily where I live.

quote:

Originally posted by Burgermeister

quote:

Originally posted by UBAlum
...Discovered Archie Moore's in New Haven when I moved to CT. By the way they have had a place in Fairfield for several years now...

Archie Moore's does indeed make the best Wings in Connecticut.

They have 4 locations: New Haven (original -- a couple of blocks from the Yale campus), Fairfield, Milford, and Wallingford. There will be a restaurant opening soon in Derby.



They also bottle their wing sauces for retail sale.
Here is a link to order:

http://www.yankeegrocery.com/archie_moore.html


http://www.archiemoores.com

I just ordered this, I sure hope it's good! Over $10 for shipping for two bottles. It looks like it only comes in original and X-Hot.

I've tried just about every wing sauce I've found unless all they havve is the ingredients in Franks and Texas Pete's and the like. I have yet to find any that are exceptional other than Wys.

Quaker Steak sells theirs though and as I said, I haven't tried theirs yet. I plan on trying it the next time I'm in the Pittsburgh area.

Anyway, if I remember I'll come back and post my findings on the Archie's.

quote:

Originally posted by Burgermeister

quote:

Originally posted by UBAlum
...Discovered Archie Moore's in New Haven when I moved to CT. By the way they have had a place in Fairfield for several years now...

Archie Moore's does indeed make the best Wings in Connecticut.

They have 4 locations: New Haven (original -- a couple of blocks from the Yale campus), Fairfield, Milford, and Wallingford. There will be a restaurant opening soon in Derby.



They also bottle their wing sauces for retail sale.
Here is a link to order:

http://www.yankeegrocery.com/archie_moore.html


http://www.archiemoores.com

OK, I got the Archie's yesterday and tried them today for lunch. I fried my own wings.

It's a very average sauce. There's nothing in it but a base sauce, although I don't think Frank's, and butter. It's an OK average sauce, it's not bad, but also nothing at all special. It's comparable to what you'd find in a gazillion wing places that are never going to win anything for their wings.

It was pricey too considering. I'll stick with the Wy's for now or make my own from scratch using Red Hot.

On a side note, the Red Hot buffalo wing sauce isn't very good. Their original is very good and the best base.

The First and still the best on north shore of Chicago. In Evanston Il. Buffalo Joes

quote:

Originally posted by Pdasilva0324

I have only had wings in a handful of cities, but I have had a lot of wings here in Columbus, OH. Best wings: 1. My wife's buffalo wings...mmmm..fried or baked..mmm..
2. Buffalo Wild wings (Blazin', Thai, Captain Morgain best of all the good sauces)]
3. Roosters (super killers)
4. AMF Main Lanes wings (not bad for a bowling alley)
5. Wings Xtreme (near the OSU campus)
6. Kings Wings (cheap and greasy but tasty)
7. Hooters (I know they exploit women and all that but the 911 sauce is good)

I know it's to each his/her own but Buffalo Wild Wing?? C'mon. I live in Canada where we don't have them. I was so excited when travelling in the states I got to try them. Until I tried them that is. Very disappointed.

DT

Best wings I ever had were the Wango Tango wings at the Dinosaur Barbque in Syracuse, NY. Big meaty wings that were slow smoked, then grilled and sauced with a habanero sauce at the end. Finger lickin' good! Also Wing It on Commonwealth Ave in Allston, MA. This may be blasphemous, but their "boneless" wings are amazing. I know, sounds like a chicken finger, right? Way better and great choice and flavor of sauces (pteradactyl=teriyaki and jerk sauce). My friends dad used to make killer wings at home when I was a kid. He would get big meaty Tyson wings and bake them with a homemade buffalo sauce. Ahh, the memories!

Damons Grill

I believe Kenny mentioned this place, but they had some excellent wings. They were fried, very crispy, and with a great honey-chipotle sauce that was literally finger lickin' good. This was at the one in Gatlinburg.

As for local wings, Toots has it all over Hooters although neither one is spectacular. Seems like the ones I've had at Hooters were always exceptionally greasy.