Atlanta has a lot of good grub but a sleeper is the wings. I know people from Buffalo like those dinosaur-bone, fried messes drowned in Texas Pete and butter but forget that. Keep the blue cheese but order the wings. Where? I’m getting to that.
Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q
Listen, this isn’t just the spot for wings; this is the spot. First, you can’t beat barbecue. I dig sushi, fine dining, a gyro, but smoked pork, slaw, smothered in secret barbecue sauce that has some fantastic legacy always takes the trump card in my book.
Maybe the recipe came from a man without index fingers or a right ear who knew a thing or two about ketchup, peppers, and granulated garlic and mixed it into a thick sauce. He builds a shack and starts serving ribs, pork, and chicken, smothering the moist meats in the secret sauce that if he told ya the recipe, he’d have to take off your index fingers.
It’s the American dream in its most sincere form. You got to appreciate that culture, chilling for hours while you’re cooking perfection on a rack. Rubbing a blend of sacred spices on a slab of meat with inventive nuances to your technique that makes it one of a kind. Hop out the car and the whole block smells like smoky heaven. If you don’t get the wings, just get the pulled pork with slaw. Anyway, the wings.
The smoked wings come out with the most provocative hue, like an indigo glaze with coarse black pepper visibly hanging on. It’s not their traditional in-house barbecue sauce but an indescribable hybrid that flawlessly accompanies the smoked wings.
Take a bite. It doesn’t make sense. You go try them and then explain it. I can’t. It’s just the best wing sauce of all time on the most perfectly cooked wings. They are prime wings sitting for hours in a hickory sauna.
Damn, those are some good wings.
The Wing Bar
These are also some damn good wings.
You’ll find the joint squeezed between a cigar and weave shop. You can’t miss it. They covered all the windows in an artistic display of their perfectly fried wings. Just walk in and order some wings before you stumble home from your favorite bar on the block.
Pop in, and look at their menu. Wings. That’s all they serve. No nonsense. No drama. Wings and fries, let’s be honest, who needs another option? As soon as you pick out the sauce for your ten piece, you’ll hear your order drop in sizzling grease. “Be back in fifteen,” they’ll say. Hop back in the bar and chill. Come back and take your wings to go. Dining in is not an option.
I’ve only gotten their hot buffalo wings and I’ve never considered expanding the search. You can’t mess with perfection. They are tiny, tiny wings, crispy, covered in a vinegary buffalo sauce with a nice pinch of cayenne pepper.
I once ordered ten to devour after I stumbled home from a night of cheap tall boys and the occasional shot of well whiskey. The Irish stuff because Jack Daniels is overrated. I sampled one on the walk back and ended up eating the whole order before I arrived at my front door. I looked down, and I accidentally spilled an insane amount of sauce all over my jeans. I’m talking splattered puddles of delicious sauce that looked like Nickelodeon logos all over my pants. I ruined a pair of jeans and I’d do it again for these wings.
Jack’s Pizza & Wings
I haven’t steered you wrong yet. Jack’s, as advertised, has great pizza and wings. This punk dive bar has tasty cheap drinks too, including four-dollar pitchers of High Life, if you’re trying to chill.
Inside, you’ll find a collection of Atlanta’s finest misfits. Don’t be surprised if you see someone with a classic Nintendo cartoon character tattooed on their calf muscle or a person with a colorful sleeve featuring the whole cast of Rocko’s Modern Life on it. Anyways, get the combo. Five wings and a slice.
They got some funky flavors like strawberry, but I always go with the on-fire wings. They’re hot but just before it gets to a gimmicky hot. They are baked wings too, so they fall right off the bone. Enjoy with a unique New-York slice.
Jack’s folds their crust over to make a backward lip. It gets nice and crispy on the outside but then the inside of the crust is a pocket of light, fluffy dough. It’s a big-ass slice. The thing about most great spots is that the menu is simple. If you don’t want some pizza or wings, what are you doing walking around in public anyways?
J.R. Crickets
If you’ve watched the show Atlanta, this is where Paperboy got those lemon pepper wings, and when he opened them, they glowed like the Pulp-Fiction brief case. Visit the North Ave or downtown location. There’s a big cricket dressed up like he’s about to do the Charleston welcoming you in. Listen to the cricket.
Get the ten piece with fries. Order and let’s move on with the day. They are a lot like Wing Bar’s wings, small, crispy, and drenched in a vinegary hot sauce. By the way, you got to have that vinegar tang on your hot sauce. If you don’t, I’ll just get a salad with some croutons.
I’ll warn you, you’ll get the itis after this meal. In a pleasant daze from devouring fried chicken and potatoes, turkey will seem like Adderall.
…
Well damn, now I just want some wings.
