Tampa Bay Food Monster

had some wings today. REAL MEN LOVE WINGS.

so i went to the wingstop, part of the university collection, with my brother. this place is a chain, like many of the wing places i eat at, so it’s not TOO exciting, but let’s face it – wings are always exciting. spicy. crispy. chickeny.

*not pictured: a COKE

i picked up a “combo meal” of sorts: 15 wings in two different flavors, with a large order of fries and a large drink. and a… uh… a roll. they offer a nice variety of flavors (atomic, cajun, hot, mild, barbecue, lemon pepper, garlic parmesan, hawaiin, and teriyaki), and this is where they win.

you see, ordinarily, i am a traditional buffalo style medium wing kinda guy. if i go to a wing place, i expect my wings to be fried and dipped in a spicy wing sauce. pretty standard. but going to wingstop, i found that i did not much care for their regular flavor wings. but i found that i VERY MUCH enjoyed their special flavors, the lemon pepper and garlic parmesan especially. so much, in fact, that this has become one of my more regular wing spots, and i never get real wings from them.

but today, for comparison’s sake, i went ahead and got lemon pepper, and the traditional hot sauce.

pretty great. as you can see, the lemon pepper is less slimy, though it is served in a pool of delicious lemony-peppery drippings. they are salty, with a clear lemon taste and just a hint of black pepper bite. the traditional hot wings are coated in the wingstop hot sauce, which i honestly just don’t care for. they have a pretty similar taste to their cajun wings, actually, with a very strong hot pepper flavor. maybe they use less butter in the preparation? whatever it is, it just doesn’t have that classic wing taste. that being said, these are far from the worst wings i’ve ever tasted.

an added bonus to the wings is that their fries are some of the best fries i’ve ever had. they have a sweet/salty seasoning on them that makes them irresistible and addictive.

bottom line: if you’re looking for a buffalo wing fix, wingstop is not where you want to go. but if you like crazy-style wings, try out wingstop, and you’ll be hooked.