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If you decide you want wings in San Francisco, you’ll still have choices to make. Like every other delicacy in this food town, diverse versions abound: Korean, buffalo, dry-fried, Thai, lemon-pepper, unconventional … you crave ’em, this city’s got plenty of ’em. With so many places slinging golden-delicious seasoned ’n’ sauced wings and flats, how do you choose? Follow our lead to all the finger-staining, lip-smacking options worth flapping about.
Word to the wise: Before you order, check out our tips for how to order wings for delivery to avoid soggy sadness.
Square Pie Guys
As known as this Detroit-style pizza chain is for their eponymous square pies, wing lovers flock here for their plump, fried drumsticks. They are available in three lusty flavors: classic buffalo, dry-fried Szechuan-style — complete with a tingly-spiced creamy cilantro-lime dipping sauce — and lemon-pepper, basted with lemon butter and lemon-pepper seasoning and accompanied by ranch dressing for the win!
Muukata Charcoal BBQ
There’s a reason the dry, crispy chicken wings at the Richmond’s source for charcoal-grilled Thai barbecue are one of the most-ordered items on the menu. They’re marinated with fish sauce then fried for a purely divine dry wing experience. The tangy Thai dipping sauce also deserves a chef’s kiss.
King’s Thai Cuisine
Anyone heartbroken over the closure of the original first Clement Street location can find solace in the fact that their nearby “#2” Richmond District outpost also cranks out heavenly, glossy-sticky angel wings bathing in the sauce of the gods, i.e. their sweet-and-spicy garlic chili sauce. Don’t forget extra napkins.
JjamPpong
Outer Mission’s ever-popular Korean-Chinese haunt may be most famous for its spicy raw crab, but it also goes big with a generous portion of bulbous, double-fried, crispy-crusted wings glistening with garlic sauce. It would be a shame, though, to pass up their crispy, cluckin’ delicious battered and double-fried salt-and-pepper wings. Sounds like a good excuse to order both and have an old-fashioned wing-off!
Fiorella
Come for the pizza, stay for the herbed chicken wings! The bronzed, ultra-flavorful garlic-and-lemon-flavored beauties from this Italian Michelin Bib-approved mini-chain are unsauced, allowing the focus to be on the sensationally seasoned ultra-crispy exterior and the juicy meat revealed beneath. With a side of house-made ranch dressing for dipping, these refined wings are straight up amore.
Dumpling Home
Hayes Valley’s casual, Michelin-Bib-Gourmand-awarded Chinese spot is one of the city’s top soup dumpling destinations, but its wings also take flight. Seduction begins the minute you sink your teeth into the crackly skin lightly coated in sticky, sweet-salty-spicy sauce. Order a couple xiao long bao to go with.
Foghorn Taproom
The Richmond District sports bar scores extra points with its whole team of wing selections. As you browse the 12 (!) options, you can go with what you know — buffalo, dry spice, lemon-pepper, Nashville, twice-fried Korean, BBQ, chili-lime, or garlic-Parm wings — or opt for creative flavors like thyme-kissed hot-honey, mango-habanero, pineapple-basil, or Tajín.
Kezar Pub
The Haight’s premier sports bar isn’t just generous with its airing of global sporting events. It also offers one of the heaping-est orders of award-winning tangy, saucy, perfectly cooked buffalo wing-and-flat combos. With just the right amount of sinus-clearing heat and your choice of ranch or blue cheese dressing on the side, the order always scores.
Love washing down your chicken wings with a cold one? Check out our beer pairing guide if you’re not sure what to order with your hot wings.
San Francisco Athletic Club
The options at this Divisadero sports bar will help you spread your wings: Choose between orders of six, 12, or 18 wings, then decide whether you want your crispy-skinned chicken adorned in classic buffalo sauce, chipotle BBQ, dry-jerk spice, or hoisin glaze. Got vegans in the mix? Crispy cauliflower wings come with the same sauces.
Halal Wings Plus
You know the chicken wings are good when the restaurant is dedicated to them. The Tenderloin’s halal-certified joint follows through with enough flavors of “naturally small” drums and flats to delight every type of wings lover. For a wing-dinger nosh fest, select between Cajun, BBQ, chili lime, garlic Parmesan, honey garlic, lemon pepper, mango habanero, salt and pepper, spicy lemon pepper, and good ol’ buffalo — all with a side of ranch. Or get a wing combo dinner complete with fries and a drink. They’ve got party-size servings, too!
Prubechu
There’s no bocking at the flaky-crusted dry-fried wings at the Mission’s restaurant specializing in the cuisine of Guam and the Mariana Islands. Seasoned with their “pork spice,” which, incidentally, does not include pork, the drumsticks are crispy-tender flavor bombs amped with a side of lemony fina’denne — a traditional dipping sauce of the Chamorro people.
Outer Orbit - 665737
Mission-Bernal’s cool pinball bar gives a tasty Asian-fusion twist to snack favorites, which means organic Mary's Chicken wings come seasoned with furikake and served dry-style or slathered with your choice of sweet ’n’ spicy Gojuchang, buffalo, or miso-ramen sauce. Dips have game, too. Opt for one or many of their 15 flavors, including blue cheese, creamy lemon, and furikake aioli.
Funky Elephant
The sticky, spicy chili jam slathered onto the hefty, organic “party wings” at the Mission’s award-winning Thai restaurant gets taste buds jumping with their fiery flavor. But you can order it on the side if not everyone at your dinner table wants to raise the proverbial roof.
Um.ma
The Inner Sunset’s king of Korean-style wings and other delicacies fries its way into finger-lickin’, chicken-lovin’ hearts with its widely touted offering, available in 6- or 10-piece orders. Beautifully battered, sticky with a glistening gochujang-honey-butter glaze, and festooned with black and white sesame seeds, it’s also got a nice spice kick.
Tin at 937 Howard
Tin for the win! An order of chicken wings from SoMa’s Vietnamese favorite promises three full wings shellacked with a savory soy-garlic sauce. Dip it in the accompanying salt-pepper-lime sauce for a full-mouth flavor experience.
