We sent Elazar Sontag, Restaurant Editor for Bon Appétit, to Buffalo, New York to find the city’s best hot wings. Deep-fried and coated in a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce–join Sontag as he eats 16 of the city’s most recommended Buffalo wings in a single day to crown a winner.
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00:00I'm in Buffalo, New York, birthplace of the buffalo wing,
00:02and I'm about to find out if this, this, if this,
00:05is the best wing in the city.
00:07I'm gonna go to 16 spots today
00:09that were recommended by locals, best of lists,
00:11and the internet before I name the best wing in Buffalo.
00:20Lenovo's claim to fame is the barbecue wing.
00:23It's like a five-step process.
00:25So they're frying them, then they're saucing them,
00:27then they're grilling them, then they're saucing them again,
00:30and then I think they're grilling them one more time.
00:33But every place in Buffalo that's worth their salt
00:36is gonna also serve buffalo wings.
00:37For 10 wings, which is a small order at Lenovo,
00:40you pay $19.
00:43The good, the fry on these wings is really nice.
00:47They're real crisp on the outside.
00:48They're cooked to the point on the inside
00:50that they pull apart when you bite into them,
00:52and I like how much sauce they're using.
00:53It's more than coated.
00:55There's, like, extra sauce
00:56in every little kind of nook and cranny of this wing.
00:59The less good, these are pretty heavy
01:01on the vinegar hot sauce end of the spectrum.
01:04I wish that I was getting a bit more buttery fattiness
01:07in each bite.
01:08When you don't have that balance of the fat,
01:10it starts to taste just a little bit flat.
01:12I personally wish that this just had
01:14a little bit less of the acid
01:16and a little bit more of the buttery richness.
01:20Buffalo wings are legitimately my favorite food.
01:24I eat them at least once a week.
01:25For me, a perfect buffalo wing
01:27has a little bit of vinegar kick
01:29balanced out by the butter.
01:31A lot of shops are just weaking that balance,
01:33maybe are making their own hot sauce,
01:35but I'm gonna guess that 90% of the spots
01:38that we're hitting today are using Frank's.
01:40Of course, the wing itself needs to be really crispy.
01:43I'm ordering every buffalo wing medium.
01:46Not too spicy, but you wanna feel a little bit of heat
01:49in the back of your throat.
01:49There are two kinds of people in the world.
01:52There are drums and there are flats.
01:54I am very much a drum.
01:56I like to focus on the crispiness.
01:59The skin on the flats, I think,
02:02tends to sog out a little bit more.
02:04I'm mostly going for that exterior crunch.
02:07All right, now I'm headed to Gabriel's Gate.
02:12Whoa, those look good.
02:13I'm outside of Gabriel's Gate.
02:16People love this spot.
02:17I am being swarmed by bees.
02:19Ignore the bees, focus on the wings.
02:22Single order, 10 wings for $19.95.
02:24The drumettes and the flats are pretty significantly bigger.
02:28They're also literally dodging bees.
02:31There are gonna be like 40.
02:32Like, I feel like we're outside of like a wasp's nest.
02:37Not outside anymore, got bullied off the sidewalk
02:41by an angry horde of bees.
02:44That's a good wing.
02:45The sauce here is, I have to say it, much better.
02:49The vinegar is just a little bit less aggressive.
02:52You're also getting a bit of that spice.
02:55Really, really like these wings.
02:56And not to forget, the blue cheese is extremely important.
03:01Look, it's a little bit funky.
03:04And I do think that's an important part of the conversation.
03:06I don't think you can talk about buffalo wings
03:07without talking about the blue cheese
03:09because it cuts through the heat and the acid on each wing.
03:13This is considerably spicier than the first wing of the day.
03:17More of like a full mouth spice.
03:19Even with the AC blasting,
03:20it's making me sweat a little bit.
03:21I think that's actually like a perfect level of heat
03:24from a buffalo wing.
03:25You kind of wanna be coming up for some water
03:27by your last wing.
03:28I think this is a pretty strong contender.
03:30It does feel like no matter where we go today,
03:33we're probably gonna be referencing back to this.
03:38Ooh, pretty.
03:40I'm at Anchor Bar.
03:41Several places claim to have originated the buffalo wing,
03:45and this is one of them.
03:47They have a shiny coat of sauce
03:51pretty much around the entire wing.
03:53The color on these wings is very striking.
03:57Mostly what I'm getting from this wing
03:59is that initial vinegary kick.
04:01The longer I'm talking,
04:02the more I'm getting that heat in the back of my throat.
04:04I wish they had a little bit more butter
04:06just so that they felt a tiny bit more fatty.
04:08I do wanna taste the blue cheese sauce.
04:12It's not very funky.
04:13The blue cheese is kind of hiding in the shadows.
04:15It almost tastes like ranch.
04:17I do like the size on these wings a lot,
04:19just a hair smaller than Gabriel's Gate,
04:23which is just a little bit more meat
04:25than I need on a wing if I'm eating 10 of them.
04:28This is definitely a buffalo institution,
04:31I think because it has so much history behind it.
04:33They have a huge kitchen.
04:34They have probably 15 fryers in there,
04:36and they're just constantly churning out the wing.
04:38I came in here with, honestly, kind of low expectations.
04:42So many people on the internet really describe Anchor Bar
04:46and Duff's as tourist traps.
04:49I just want to amend the record.
04:51These are definitely not compromised wings.
04:54The crew and I cleared the plate.
04:55For a single order, that means 10 wings.
04:58These are $16.99.
05:00They're very solid, happy here,
05:02but we have a lot more to try.
05:06These are the medium wings at 40 Thieves.
05:09These are the first wings of the day
05:11where the sauce actually looks different.
05:15If you can see, there's little bits of texture
05:18just kind of clinging to the wing.
05:20I believe this is Parmesan.
05:22The blue cheese, homemade.
05:24All the wing sauce is completely homemade.
05:27I like that a lot.
05:28It's got a real peppery kick.
05:30These definitely feel like they're moving the most
05:33in their own direction.
05:34They're not very vinegary, pretty spicy,
05:37but the direction they're actually leaning is sweet,
05:40almost like a tomato-like flavor.
05:43Maybe it is that they're making everything themselves,
05:45but I think that this wing is very interesting
05:48and it's delicious.
05:49This, to me, is the ideal size.
05:52It's pretty small, but it's still meaty enough
05:54that when you take a bite,
05:55you're getting a real tender chunk of meat,
05:57but you just have a lot of the crispy part,
06:00which is the best.
06:02I got more sauce on the pants.
06:04I borrowed my boyfriend's pants.
06:05Alex, I'm sorry.
06:07This is definitely now the best wing I've had today.
06:10It's also the most interesting one.
06:12$17 for 10 wings.
06:14I think this is our new tentative top of the bunch.
06:22I am at Kelly's Corner.
06:24This is a locally beloved dive.
06:27It's full right now, so I'm sitting outside.
06:29Got some wings to go,
06:30but didn't let them steam too long in the box.
06:32Off the bat, they look almost un-sauce.
06:35There's some pooling down at the bottom.
06:37Looks saucy, but honestly kind of oily.
06:40I was sort of excited about these,
06:41but they don't look amazing.
06:45They're pretty salty.
06:46It's like super heavy on the vinegar.
06:48It's got some nice fattiness,
06:49but there's just really not that much of it on the wing.
06:51I mean, if you get up close to it,
06:53there are parts where you can barely even see
06:55that it's been sauced.
06:56That's a bit of a bummer.
06:58It's kind of hard to even say how this wing would be
07:00if it was tossed super generously
07:02because it just doesn't have that much flavor.
07:04It's gonna rank on the lower end of my spectrum today.
07:08It's 10 wings, single order.
07:09They're $17 if you're sitting inside,
07:11but if you take them to go, they're $18.
07:13I don't know, maybe you're paying for the foil in the box.
07:16Whatever it is.
07:17Really glad I gave Kelly's Corner a shot.
07:19I'm gonna keep moving.
07:25Oh my God, the vinegar just like went straight in.
07:29The rumors are true.
07:30I'm at Duff's.
07:32Okay, so, and ooh!
07:34Sorry, I just got vinegar like straight to the throat.
07:37Anchor bar might be the origin point of the buffalo wing,
07:41but Duff's opened a very long time ago
07:43and followed right behind.
07:45Duff's has a lot of fans, a lot of skeptics.
07:48People talk about this place a lot.
07:49You'll see branding on pretty much
07:52every single thing in here telling you medium is hot,
07:55medium hot is very hot, and hot is very, very hot.
07:59Like everywhere else, I did order these wings medium,
08:03which allegedly means here they'll be hot.
08:07They're not that hot.
08:09It's good.
08:10It has the heat that I expect from a medium wing,
08:13and I do feel it in the back of my throat.
08:15Is it significantly spicier
08:17than any of the other wings that I've had today?
08:20No.
08:20I'm gonna chalk that up to good marketing.
08:22This sauce is nice.
08:24It's heavy on the blue cheese,
08:25so it's got the funk that I really love.
08:28I am not in the business of pitting icons
08:31against each other, but if I had to put my stake
08:35in the Duff's versus Anchor Bar game,
08:39these would definitely be my preference.
08:41Single, 10 wings, $16.99.
08:47Wow.
08:49I met Wingnuts, a real fan favorite in Buffalo.
08:52The couple behind this restaurant
08:54has been perfecting this wing for more than 10 years.
08:59Super saucy.
09:00I think it's always a good sign
09:02when the wing has that beautiful,
09:05almost reflective sheen to it.
09:08These are very hefty.
09:10This is a serious wing.
09:13The balance on that sauce is just right.
09:17You can taste the vinegar.
09:18You get this real acidic kick.
09:20It tastes like a traditional Buffalo wing,
09:23but the best possible version of it.
09:26They are obsessive here
09:28about making all of their sauces from scratch.
09:31It tastes familiar, but it also tastes special.
09:34The meat comes right off that bone.
09:36I think the cook on these
09:38is about as close to perfect as you can get.
09:41The crispiness is holding up on the outside.
09:43I'm noticing, as I eat it,
09:45a real kick in the back of the throat.
09:47I wouldn't describe it as hot.
09:49I think it's a true medium,
09:51but they're definitely not holding back on the pepper.
09:54This is a good blue cheese, has that funk.
09:5610 wings here, a single, is $20.
09:59I sort of felt like today's wing journey
10:02peaked at 40 thieves until we got here.
10:05This is a very competitive wing.
10:07This is the Wingnuts guest book.
10:10The owners told me I could not leave
10:12without writing my name.
10:14I'm gonna leave my little note,
10:16and then we're gonna get on the road.
10:20These are the wings at Gene McCarthy's.
10:22It's like everywhere else.
10:23I ordered the Buffalo wings, medium,
10:26but I did get some pushback for that.
10:28Their specialty here is a dry rubbed wing.
10:30I'm trying to be fair,
10:31and that means ordering the Buffalo wing everywhere I go.
10:35The sauce has a little bit of a kick to it.
10:37They have this dotting of herbs on them
10:39that I'm not seeing on Buffalo wings usually.
10:42Looks like it might just be black pepper,
10:44but definitely feels like there's something
10:46a little bit different about these wings.
10:48They're not particularly sauced.
10:50More of the sauce seems to be kind of sitting here
10:53on the bottom of the tray.
10:55The sauce itself, heavy on the acid.
10:57I'm not getting a ton of heat out of it.
10:59It's just that little cayenne kick,
11:01but it does have a bit more of a tang to it
11:03than the other sauces I've tried.
11:05I'm coming from Wingnuts,
11:06which to me was the platonic ideal of a classic wing.
11:10This to me is maybe just a sliver
11:12less exciting than that one.
11:18I'm at Doc Sullivan's.
11:19They're famous here for a South Buffalo classic
11:22called the Smitty Wing.
11:24Along with that really nice kind of classic sauce
11:26that you might be familiar with,
11:28there's also little specks of seasoning covering the wing.
11:31That's the Smitty.
11:32Means that there's 20 different herbs and spices
11:35being mixed into the butter.
11:37When you smell it, still got that powerful vinegar punch,
11:40but you also get these warm spices.
11:43It's no surprise.
11:43They're holding this recipe pretty close to the chest,
11:46but I would guess maybe cinnamon, nutmeg, even clove.
11:51There's this smoky, tingly feeling
11:53that doesn't just come from that classic peppery cayenne.
11:56I love that.
11:57I haven't tasted that many other spots
11:59and it definitely stands apart from the rest of the pack.
12:01It is a little bit dry right around the center.
12:04I wish it was a little bit bigger.
12:06The blue cheese here seems to be a pretty different style
12:09from some of the others.
12:12They nailed that.
12:13They might be missing some of those chunks
12:15just a little bit,
12:16but there's no dip where you just get creaminess
12:19and not funk.
12:1910 wings at Doc's will cost you $17.
12:24All right, I am at Adolph's.
12:28Very first impression, even before the wings.
12:32Look at this blue cheese, huge chunks of cheese.
12:36I think that bodes extremely well.
12:38These are inspired by Smitty Wings.
12:41There are spices mixed into the butter
12:44before it's being mixed with the hot sauce.
12:48I don't know exactly what's going on in this sauce,
12:51but it is different.
12:52That same spice that I'm familiar with,
12:54and it's pretty powerful on these.
12:55I would say this is a true medium,
12:57but there's also this warmth
12:59that's kind of rounding out that heat.
13:01Please don't come in the comments asking me
13:03what the spice blend is in here.
13:05The only people who know are the owner and the head chef.
13:09Do you see the thickness of this blue cheese?
13:12Are you seeing what I'm seeing?
13:14Lo and behold, it tastes like a ton of blue cheese.
13:17This is definitely the best blue cheese dip
13:19that I've had on the road so far.
13:21For a single order, 10 wings, these are 15 bucks.
13:24Without being completely done with today's tour,
13:27this is definitely sitting pretty in my top three.
13:30I can't decide quite yet if it's better
13:32than what Wingnuts is serving,
13:33but I do think that what if you're looking for
13:35is a very traditional, very nostalgic buffalo wing,
13:39there's not much wrong you can say about this one.
13:44I'm inside of 9-11 Tavern,
13:46and this is the only spot of this entire tour
13:49where there was a line queuing up when I got here.
13:52The name of the spot, 9-11,
13:54it's a reference to their address,
13:56and they opened in the 80s.
13:57They only do buffalo wings, mild, medium, and hot.
14:01They are certainly the prettiest,
14:03or at least the most artful wings that I've seen.
14:07Even a garnish in the blue cheese.
14:10They're making everything from scratch.
14:11There are these little specks on the wing,
14:14which look almost like the wings at 40 Thieves.
14:17My guess is that that's Parmesan.
14:20It definitely reads sweeter.
14:23That classic vinegar punch that you get
14:26from the very traditional Frank's combination,
14:29I'm not getting here.
14:30The balance of flavor is not exactly what I was expecting,
14:34but it's really exciting to get a wing
14:36that tastes like the classic, but does something different.
14:39I'm also getting very, very mild heat.
14:42I would not call this a medium wing.
14:44I would call this much closer to a mild.
14:47I do want to try the blue cheese,
14:48take out that perfect little garnish.
14:52I think without dipping,
14:53this wing doesn't quite hit
14:56those little flavor notes for me,
14:57but once it's dipped in, it's pretty much perfect.
15:00A single order, 10 wings is $15.95.
15:03Certainly one of the more delicious wings in Buffalo.
15:06I love what they're doing.
15:07I love the care that they're putting into it,
15:09but I'm not sure it's exactly
15:11the buffalo wing flavor profile that I'm looking for.
15:13If you're on any kind of wing eating tour across Buffalo,
15:16I would not miss this spot.
15:18If you're just here to try
15:20a super, super classic Buffalo wing,
15:23I might not come here first.
15:25Time to keep moving.
15:29I'm at Barbill Tavern,
15:31which is without a doubt a crowd favorite.
15:34This place is completely packed inside.
15:37It's pretty much packed outside.
15:39These wings are honestly gorgeous.
15:42They have this beautiful reddish glow.
15:45One notable thing,
15:46I don't know that anywhere else in Buffalo is doing this.
15:49These wings are not being tossed with sauce in a bowl.
15:51They're being literally painted with sauce.
15:54There are two or three people in that kitchen
15:55who are taking a paintbrush to every single wing.
15:58I think the reason they do this
16:00is so that there's just a really consistent layer of sauce
16:04on every single one.
16:07Much, much spicier than any of the mediums I've tried,
16:12which I love.
16:13They're making their own sauce,
16:16so I think they're getting exactly
16:17the heat level they want on these.
16:18They did actually warn me their medium
16:20is maybe more comparable with most places hot.
16:23Duff's claims that their medium is hot,
16:26and I didn't buy it,
16:27but at Barbill, it's definitely true.
16:29It's smokier, it's a little bit deeper.
16:32It tastes like maybe it's coming
16:33from a different kind of pepper.
16:37I do wish there was a little more funk coming through.
16:39This is the best possible version
16:43of a very classic buffalo wing,
16:45but it is doing things just a little bit differently
16:48so that it still feels fresh and exciting.
16:50Single order, 10 wings is $16.95.
16:54This has a very real chance of being number one.
16:58Excellent wings, and there's a reason
17:00people love this place so much.
17:06I've got myself a romantic little corner table
17:09at Glen Park Tavern.
17:11The waitstaff are all incredibly nice.
17:13Many of them have worked here for over 20 years.
17:15The vibes are high.
17:18Love the crisp on this one, these nice crispy corners.
17:21It is not pulling away from the bone quite as easily.
17:25I wouldn't describe these as spicy at all.
17:27The blue cheese, it doesn't have the chunky bits in it
17:30that I can see, at least not on the surface.
17:32Probably not the wing that I would go to
17:35if all I was looking for was flavor,
17:38but what does set it apart is the environment.
17:40A lot of the places where you're gonna get
17:43a great wing are, rightly so, dive bars.
17:46Kind of a fun quirk on the menu
17:48is that it doesn't list the price for the wings.
17:51You can get a single, which is eight wings,
17:53and next to it, it just says market price.
17:56I appreciate that they're doing what they need to do
17:57to keep their margins right and support their staff.
18:00Right now, market price for eight wings is $15.95.
18:08I am at Elmo's.
18:10Restaurant was too full.
18:11I'm eating out here.
18:13Little hard to see the wings.
18:14Decent size.
18:17Not bad at all.
18:18No crisp on the wing.
18:20That's because I had to get these in a box,
18:21so they've probably been steaming for a few minutes.
18:23These are heavy on the vinegar, which I don't mind,
18:25but they've got a real acid kick.
18:27The meat is tender, and it's cooked nicely,
18:29but it's pulling right off the bone
18:31in these big, clean strips.
18:32I'm gonna have a quick blue cheese dip.
18:35Not a ton of chunks in here.
18:36It looks pretty smooth.
18:38Actually good.
18:39While you're not getting any of the chunks,
18:42you're still getting all of the flavor.
18:42Single order, 10 wings at Elmo's is $16.
18:46One important editor's note.
18:48The style of wing that Elmo's is most known for in Buffalo
18:53is a double dip and a grilled wing,
18:55and you'll notice that this wing is neither grilled,
18:59it's fried, or double dipped.
19:00It's just the classic buffalo.
19:02To keep it really consistent and be fair across the board,
19:04I did wanna order the classic buffalo here,
19:06but I am curious if the other wings
19:09are a step above the rest.
19:11It's getting late.
19:12I got a few more to get to,
19:12so I'm gonna pack up my table and get moving.
19:20I am at Kohl's, right near the college campus,
19:23so this is definitely a staple for college kids.
19:26They look nice, well-sauced, pretty decent size.
19:30Little bit less fatty than some of my preferred sauces.
19:34Has a little bit less kick leaning into that real punchy
19:37white vinegar flavor on this one.
19:39Without a doubt, one of the saltiest wings of the night.
19:41It feels very classic,
19:43but it just veers a little bit too salty,
19:45and when you've had 10 of these wings
19:47and they all taste a tiny bit different,
19:49you start to notice that.
19:5010 decently large wings at Kohl's, you'll pay $17.99.
19:5710.30 p.m., out front of Mr. Good Bar's,
20:00and these come in at the cheapest wings of the night.
20:03For 10 wings, it was 12 bucks.
20:06This is a college bar.
20:07There's a bunch of darts in there,
20:09more TVs than I can count, a pool table.
20:12Good vibe, if that's what you're looking for.
20:16Let me tell you, sauced very thoroughly,
20:18heavy on the vinegar, not super complex,
20:21nothing surprising about it.
20:22Size, they're right how they should be, I think.
20:24Spice, kind of negligible.
20:27These are definitely not at the top of the bracket.
20:29This is what I would describe
20:31as a very standard buffalo wing.
20:33You might not remember it in the morning,
20:35but the night of, it will make you very happy.
20:39That was a lot of wings.
20:40I'm gonna digest, and then I'm going to reveal
20:43the very best wing in Buffalo.
20:45After hitting 16 on Wing Spot,
20:48I am suffering over it a little bit,
20:50but ultimately, I do know what my winner is.
20:54This is it, the absolute best wings in Buffalo, Adolph's.
20:58What really put Adolph over the edge
21:00is the combination of spices that they mix into the butter
21:03before they mix it with the hot sauce.
21:06Does it hold up on a second try?
21:11It does.
21:11So juicy, so much sauce coating each wing,
21:14serious heat in the back of my throat.
21:16It's just a perfect wing.
21:17Not to be forgotten, this thick-ass blue cheese.
21:21Funky, creamy, cold, cut through all the heat.
21:23It really is exactly the compliment you want
21:26for this iconic wing.
21:27These really are the best wings in Buffalo,
21:29and I've got eight more to eat, so I'll see you later.
21:34Hot!
21:42This is the end of the party,
21:43but I still have 19 other places,
21:45and the rest of that line is,
21:47these are all spots that are recommended by locals,
21:49the internet, and many best-sellers.