Where are the best wings in Sacramento? We offer up a few deep-fried favorites
Deep-fried chicken wings and playoff football go together like a pass and a catch. Just ask the millions of fans of both who can’t enjoy one without the other.
The sports-minded are anticipating their wings for NFL playoff games continuing on a big-screen TV near you. And for those that prefer college ball, the national championship game between Clemson and LSU is Monday, Jan. 13.
Of course, the Super Bowl on Feb. 2 will see a chicken wing feeding frenzy, which has become more gluttonous each year. (Speaking of overindulging, competitive eater Molly Schuyler set a women’s world record in 2015 for downing 440 wings in 26 minutes.)
Nationally, we eat 32 billion chicken wings each year. Last Super Bowl Sunday, Americans ate 1.38 billion wings, 27 million more than during the previous Super Bowl Sunday in 2018, says the National Chicken Council.
The NCC has even lobbied Congress to declare the Monday following Super Bowl Sunday as National Chicken Wing Appreciation Day. So far, Congress has taken no action. However, in 1977 the mayor of Buffalo, N.Y. — where Buffalo hot wings were conceived (though there are several versions of just how) — proclaimed July 29 as National Chicken Wing Day.
For the Super Bowl, it’s predicted an additional 30 million or so wings will go down, likely with plenty of beer. Let’s see, what’s 1.38 billion plus 30 million. ... Well, laid end to end, that’s enough wings to circle Earth three times.
Sacramento loves its wings
Closer to home, the Sacramento metropolitan area ranks in the top five California cities in per-capita consumption of chicken wings, rising to No. 1 on Super Bowl Sundays and during “other popular sports championships.”
That’s from Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation in Modesto, who said, “Wings are a big deal. For one thing, they’re easy to eat, they’re not huge like a drumstick. 2019 was one of the most popular years they’ve ever had.”
Mattos shared some other stats:
▪ More than 80 percent of legislators serving in Sacramento eat wings, both in Sacramento and in the districts they serve.
▪ Californians eat more wings than the residents of any other state, averaging 10 pounds a year.
▪ More than four in five Californians regularly eat wings.
Before deep-fried wings began trending in the early 1970s, home cooks commonly scrapped them or used them for stock. Which brings the question: Just what is a chicken wing, anyway?
Anatomically, it’s composed of three parts — the drumette, which resembles a mini-chicken leg and is the most desirable part of the wing; the flat or wingette, which requires some work because of the two parallel bones inside; and the tip or flapper, which nobody eats.
Wait, that’s not true. Millions of wing tips — along with “all of our paws (feet) are sold to Asian markets such as Hong Kong, China and Japan,” Mattos said. They make excellent stock.
A side of ranch for most Californians
Purists will tell you that a boneless wing is not really a wing at all. That’s debatable, but this is not: Some companies have been caught selling strips of chicken breast meat as boneless wings. Since both are white meat, it’s hard to spot the difference.
We Californians prefer to dunk our wings in Buffalo-style hot sauce, with ranch dressing a close second. Blue cheese dressing? Not so much.
Chicken wings could be safer for our mortality than the uber-popular fried chicken sandwich. While waiting in line to order fried chicken sandwiches at a Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen outlet in Maryland in November, two men got into a fight when one of them cut the line. Out in the parking lot, one of them stabbed the other.
For a saner and safer experience, you might try the buttermilk fried chicken and coleslaw sandwich at Bake Sale Betty on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, where the sidewalk “tables” are metal ironing boards.
Of course, helping to drive wing sales locally and nationally are the Big Three — Buffalo Wild Wings, Wing Stop and Fire Wings, which is mainly a California chain, with outlets in Texas.
We left voicemails and sent emails to each, curious about a few things: How much volume do you sell? Where do you source your wings? How did the chain get started?
No one responded, but for the record we think the overall best of the three is Buffalo Wild Wings, mostly because the model is a warehouse-size sports bar with plenty of elbow room and a staff that understands the connection between football and wings (the size of which seems to be shrinking, with fewer drumettes and more wingettes per order).
We like Fire Wings’ flavor-infused and dry-rubbed options, and its mozzarella sticks with marinara are tops, but orders have been known to get lost and waits can be tedious.
For some reason, Wing Stop outlets feature a retro-aviation theme as décor. Yes, we appreciate color reproductions of vintage Coca-Cola ads starring art of Amelia Earhart-looking pilots, but we wish the wings were bigger and better.
Scouting round town, we visited a few family-owned businesses with some surprising options. All the wings are fresh, not frozen. Mind you, this is not a survey, but a small sampling listed in order of preference
Sacramento’s chicken wing offerings
Corner Tavern & Grill: The only place we found whole wings, and they’re massive. They’re brined and seasoned (co-owner Dominick Bellizi isn’t revealing any ingredients), baked and then fried, five to an order. Bonus: No flour is used. The Buffalo and BBQ sauces are fine, but the garlic-Parmesan-grated lemon zest is the winner.
A dinner pal remarked, “These are delicious, but the mess isn’t worth it.” Maybe there’s a gender component connected to eating wings — which is definitely primal — because she just didn’t get it.
700 Glenn Drive, Folsom; 916-467-7800, www.cornertaverngrill.com
Southpaw Sushi: What are chicken wings doing on the menu of a sushi restaurant? Simply because sushi artist-co-owner Lou Valente (formerly of Zen Sushi and Lou’s Sushi) is “crazy about wings.”
Valente uses a marinade and a special technique to get a super-crisp skin on his Mary’s air-chilled wings, then finesses them with red curry-butter sauce.
1616 Del Paso Blvd., 916-550-2600, www.southpawsushi.com.
Kiki’s Chicken Place: Husband-wife business partners continue to expand this local mini-chain, notable for its organized service. These juicy, bigger-than-average wings are light and crunchy, with 15 dips and sauces to choose from. If you’re going Buffalo, don’t be a chicken with the original or hot –the extra-hot brings it.
For locations, call headquarters at 916-550-0146 (5110 Auburn Boulevard, Sacramento). The website www.kikiscicken.com was under construction when we visited.
Pho # 1: The family-owned Vietnamese restaurant guards its heritage recipes closely, but co-owner and head cook Binh Nguyen did say the wings are marinated, followed by a process involving egg white, spices and rice flour before they’re fried. What makes them special is the tangy-sweet basil-spiked sauce that covers them.
5323 Sunrise Blvd., Fair Oaks, in the Quail Pointe Shopping Center; 916-966-2020, no website.
Wing Festival
One last thing: The sixth annual Sactown Wings Chicken Wing Festival will be 2 to 6 p.m. June 7 at Southside Park, featuring “music, games, cheap beer and over 40,000 chicken wings.” Information: www.sactownwings.com. And, yes, there will be a judging.
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 12:49 PM.