Greg's WING Page            

What Goes with Wings?Wing Links

Chicken wings, or Buffalo wings as they are more commonly known outside of Buffalo, were first prepared at the Anchor Bar on Main Street in Buffalo, New York on October 3, 1964. Teressa Bellissimo, co-owner of the Anchor Bar with her husband Frank, had the idea of deep frying chicken wings, soaking them in hot sauce, and serving them to their bar patrons with celery sticks and bleu cheese salad dressing.

True chicken wings are unbreaded chicken wing sections (called flats and drums), deep fried, and coated in a cayenne pepper based sauce with other seasonings. Some places will prepare their wings by baking them - these are not true wings and often end up rather slimy - yuck!!  If I am going to have wings outside of Buffalo I will always ask how they prepare them.  If other than fried, I will not order them.

Some people swear by dipping them in blue cheese, but since I'm not a fan of bleu cheese, I think that putting any other sauce on them takes away from that great wing flavor.  While I usually subscribe to the hotter is better philosophy, there is a point that too much 'heat' just ruins the flavor.  A good sauce is not only hot, but has a great flavor that makes you eat more and more of them - and enjoy them with more and more beer.

My favorite spot for wings is Gabriel's Gate on Allen St. in Buffalo.  This pub serves some huge wings with a great flavor and has a great relaxing atmosphere where one can go for dinner and spend the evening with friends.  There are other great places and a visitor to the Nickel City should not feel limited to just the Anchor Bar.

Enjoy your wings!!