You know, I’m a sucker for good chicken wings! That crispy, salty meatiness of well done wings are a shot of flavor to the palate. And while I enjoy Buffalo Wild Wings from time to time, the service at BW3 leaves a lot to be desired. But I had heard about the Wingstop chain and people seemed to like it a lot. And it was National Wing Day so I had the perfect excuse to finally visit…
Located in a little strip plaza in front of the Wal*Mart off of Wake Forest Road, Wingstop looks like your typical quick-casual, eatery. Inside you’re greeted by a counter and in today’s case, a long line of folks waiting. For National Wing Day, Wingstop is running a special of 5 extra wings with each order for lunch time, woohoo! Wing Stop has a small dining area where quite a few dudes are happily munching on their wings. Up front I put my order in for an 8 piece combo (with fries or veggies and drink) which gives you the option of 2 flavors of wings and a dipping sauce. At $10+ for the combo it’s not cheap but with the 5 bonus wings, a pretty good deal! Wingstop has a shorter list of wing flavors, ranging from buffalo sauce to dry rubs, I go with the garlic parmesan, honey BBQ and Louisiana rub for my combo.
Unfortunately now, the wait begins. Due to National Wing Day, Wingstop is slammed so it’s going to take 30 minutes for my order. I imagine during a normal day it might be 15 minutes but what can you do? Order online, my friend! Wing Stop has a website with online ordering which should save you some time. I decide to do a quick Trader Joe’s run instead before coming back to pick up my now, To Go order. Service at the counter was great, the guy taking the orders was a pro even with the heavy crush of customers.
I get home with my package and unwrap it all. Aside from the styrofoam containers Wingstop did a great job. All the wings are packed by flavor separately in brown paper and the fries are a nice portion of skin-on, medium thickness fries with a sprinkle of spices on top. Salt, pepper and a bit of sugar from what I can tell, excellent! Moving on to the wings, I start with the dry wings which are crispy and perfectly fried. Wing Stop uses excellent chicken, the drumettes are plump and meaty and the flats are wide with lots of browned skin. A nice dusting of parm cheese completes this flavor hit!
The Louisiana dry rub wings are nicely spicy and the honey barbeque wings are a bit messy but work well with some sweet and hickory flavored sauce. All in all I’m pretty happy with my meal here at Wingstop. And totally understand why they are so well though of. While you certainly should limit your intake of wings, Wing Stop is a pretty good excuse to break your diet and throw caution to the wind. Excellent wings, good fries and solid service puts Wing Stop near the top of the heap in my mind.
1721 New Hope Church Road
Raleigh, NC 27609
919.872.8856
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