Plenty of options out there to celebrate National Chicken Wing Day
DID YOU KNOW?
Chicken wings are a very personal dining experience. The incredible range of sauce and rub options coupled with the various sizes, cooking preparations, textures and dipping sauces makes for unlimited combinations.
To illustrate this point, you could go to Buffalo Wings & Rings more than 150 days in a row before you had to repeat a sauce combo. Hard to believe, but mathematically true.
For the 2018 Super Bowl, the National Chicken Council estimated that Americans consumed 1.35 billion wings — the most ever in Super Bowl history.
With the average American expected to eat 90 wings this year, it’s a food that is on fire both in flavor and sales with interest only continuing to increase, so it’s fitting that there’s a day to celebrate.
National Chicken Wing Day falls on July 29 and exists to fete one of the most popular and sauciest appetizers in America.
Monday is the right time to head out and get some of these deep-fried, sauced-up bar staples.
So the most important question becomes what chicken wing to eat.
Luckily I served as one of the judges for this year’s Kickin’ Chicken Wing Fest at Fraze Pavilion a couple of weeks ago where I had a frontrow seat to the best that 12 local restaurants had to offer in the name of steamy hot deep fried dummies and wings.
Judges sampled and sampled and sampled and awarded their favorite wings:
Archer’s Tavern
Archer’s has taken home top prize for the hottest wing in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. This year their wings came in hot, but were definitely not the hottest. Instead, the Centerville location took home best sauce with their fantastic Archer’s Style sauce that will satisfy all of your garlic cravings.
9496 Dayton-Lebanon Pike, Centerville
937-401-1015 or archerstavern.com/ archerstavern
2030 E. Dorothy Lane, Kettering
937-291-1015 or archerstavern.com/ archerstavern
Giovanni’s
Giovanni’s in Fairborn won best wing for the second year in a row and best boneless wing. You may not think of an Italian restaurant for wings, but you might want to start. This is a restaurant that clearly knows what to do with drummies and wings. Their wings over the weekend came in many great flavors including Italian, strawberry habanero, Bourbon BBQ, sweet and spicy Hawaiian, but the best by far was their creamy lemon pepper with a rich bite.
215 W. Main St., Fairborn 937-878-1611 or www. giovannisfairborn.com
Nick’s Restaurant
The People’s Choice Award for “Best Damn Wing” was given once again to Nick’s Restaurant in Xenia. This is the ninth year in a row that Nick’s has taken home the top prize from the thousands gathered to sample and enjoy the best chicken around, which speaks volume. The only year it was close was 2015 when Romer’s and Nick’s tied for first. Nick’s Awesome Sauce is awesome and there’s more great options where that came from. Sweet hot damn, Sriracha Bourbon BBQ, fire in the hole, spicy garlic, General Zen and Buffalo dry rub. 1443 N. Detroit St., Xenia 937-372-3202 or gotonicks.com
Romer’s Bar
Romer’s won best side dish for their incredibly delicious turkey balls. Deep fried and packed with turkey, rich dressing and topped with gravy, they are a bit of Thanksgiving whenever you are feeling the holiday urge to celebrate. But it wasn’t their turkey balls that left the most memorable impression. Their Aftershock sauce that made lips burn an hour later left quite the impression. If you are a fan of hot things, this is the wing for you. They have a full roster of flavors if not feeling your mouth for an hour isn’t your thing. Hot, hot BBQ, honey BBQ, classic BBQ, spicy garlic, dry rub, Cajun, Asian persuasion, Carolina gold, medium, mild, BBQ and teriyaki. 1151 Brown St., Dayton 937-938-5806 or www. romersbar.com
Outside of the winners, there were several others that left an impression. Here were the other standouts that rose to the top of my list while we sampled:
Amber Rose
Amber Rose’s Sweet & Spicy Thai BBQ sauce is super tasty, with a thick tang that’s zesty and bright. It’s not a dish on the normal menu, so it was a real treat to enjoy. The blueberry BBQ chicken wings were also a treat.
1400 Valley St., Dayton 937-228-2511 or www. theamberrose.com
Dewberry 1850
Dewberry has wings on their feature menu including North Carolina BBQ, 7-spice dry rub and Buffalo. They had a spicy ginger BBQ chicken wing at the Kickin’ Chicken Wing Buffalo chicken wings found their future fandom in of all places, Buffalo, N.Y. Legend has it that Teressa Bellissimo who owned the Anchor Bar with her husband, Frank, was looking to make a meal for her hungry son one eventful day in 1964. At that time chicken wings were used on the restaurant menu for broth and that’s all that was on hand. Bellissimo took the wings and deep-fried them and tossed them in hot sauce. Not long after the restaurant began selling chicken wings. Word spread and the dish was popular. So popular that by 1977, the Mayor of Buffalo declared July 29th would be a day to celebrate the deliciously humble chicken wing. Fest that was satisfying and delightful.
1414 S Patterson Blvd., Dayton
937-223-1000 or dewberry1850.com
Nelly’s
Big, meaty wings with a slow burn that picks up heat and lights a fire. These wings are addictive and well executed with flavor for days — not surprising for a restaurant that specializes in Bolivian cuisine.
79 S. Main St., Centerville 937-859-5555 or www. facebook.com/nellysbolivia
Pies & Pints
These char-grilled hot wings are dry rubbed and marinated in Sriracha hot sauce, citrus, garlic and cilantro served with a creamy Gorgonzola sauce, they are a tender, smoky flavorful revelation. We’ve had them before, but it was a terrific reminder of how great they are.
52 Plum St., Beavercreek 937-429-7437 or piesandpints.net