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When it comes to ordering delivery for a crowd, chicken wings are where it’s at — even if that crowd is just you and your two cats on the couch. But not all chicken wings are created equal, and in this vast city, the options are endless. Do you want classic Buffalo? Uber-crispy breaded Korean wings? A fish-sauce-kissed Vietnamese rendition? Some smoked barbecue-joint-style wings, cooked low and slow till they’re falling off the bone?
Whatever style you fancy, I’ve got a perfect platter waiting for you. These are the best chicken wings to order in from all over New York City. Just don’t forget the dipping sauce.
Dan & John’s Wings
When it comes to Buffalo wings in NYC, this place is as archetypal as it gets: Two dudes (named, you guessed it, Dan and John) relocate from Buffalo to Brooklyn and cook up some delicious hometown pride in Dan’s apartment to serve during a Bills game. The guys see a hole in the market, and they start serving the masses out of a Smorgasburg stall in Williamsburg. The masses want more and the stall turns into a mini chain, with locations in Chelsea, Downtown Brooklyn, and Murray Hill. The go-to order here is, of course, classic Buffalo wings (hot sauce and butter, baby), but in classic Buffalo fashion, Dan and John give you five heat levels to choose from, ranging from mild to “insane!” And that decision is up to you.
Peeps Kitchen
Korean fried chicken is indubitably some of the best in the game, and this takeout-only spot in Greenpoint is the place to go for some of the most shatteringly crispy breaded and fried wings in Brooklyn. Get ’em plain and bone-in with your choice of dipping sauce (soy garlic, scallion chicken, sweet and spicy, extreme hot, or Peep's creamy sandwich sauce), try the crispy boneless padak with scallion salad, or opt for their insanely juicy boneless stir fry chicken, lacquered in house gang jeong sauce — a sweet-salty-tangy reduction of brown sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar — and topped with sesame seeds and sliced almonds for crunch. Whichever option you choose, a side of seasoned French fries is pretty much mandatory.
Madame Vo
If you haven’t tried Vietnamese-style fish sauce wings, you haven’t really lived. But fear not, young traveler: This East Village gem will fix you right up. Though Madame Vo is known more for their noodle dishes, the crispy-saucy Madame Wings are the menu’s sleeper hit, glazed in a sticky-sweet caramelized garlic fish sauce that you may want to drink straight from a bowl. Or you could order a side of Madame Pho and drink that straight from the bowl instead. Or both. I’m not here to judge.
Hawaiian Fried Wings
Variety is plentiful at this no-frills Sunset Park takeout joint, and the price is right, too. Choose from 17 different wing flavors — which include dry rubs like lemon pepper (an Atlanta favorite that’s woefully underrepresented up here in the North), glazes like mango habañero, and fusion options like a hot and creamy satay sauce dubbed simply “peanut butter” — to mix and match with 8 different dipping sauces. The Buffalo tender fries are also worth a mention: a stoner’s dream of boneless fried chicken layered over crinkle-cut fries blanketed in melted cheese and drizzled with buffalo sauce, hot sauce, and ranch. Whew.
International Wings Factory
The name of this Upper East Side wing haven may make it sound like a chain, but it’s not. There’s only one International Wings Factory in New York City, and it’s the brainchild of passionate owner Deepak Ballaney, who grew up in India and trained at the Culinary Institute of America. Flavor options abound (I personally love the Lemon Cajun) but texture is king, which is why Balleney offers three different crispiness options: Regular (“nice and juicy but crispy”), Xtra Crispy (“crispy less juicy”), and Xtra Xtra Crispy (“very very dry and no juice left — people who order these come back again and again for these, but again it’s not for everyone”). If you’re in that third category and ordering delivery, the chef recommends getting your sauce on the side to preserve that big-time crunch factor. (Here are additional tips for ordering chicken wings so they remain super crispy.)
Wogie’s
Apart from rabid sports fanatics, this West-Village-by-way-of-Philly sports pub is best known for its Philly cheesesteaks, but the prototypical Buffalo wings draw a crowd of their own. Owner Aaron Hoffman credits the secret recipe to his mother, affectionately known as Krazy Kate. Buffalo wings (the correct order for sure; skip the other flavors) come in four heat levels — mild, medium, hot, or krazy — and are meaty enough to satisfy just about anybody, no matter what team you root for.
Hometown Bar-B-Que
Perhaps the all-around best barbecue joint in the whole city, Hometown has cemented a powerful reputation for its multi-pronged approach to making meat delicious. Texas-style slow-cooking is at the heart of the operation, but pitmaster Billy Durney is not afraid to experiment with other styles of smoking and grilling from around the world: Korean, Oaxacan, Jamaican, and — in the case of their truly excellent wings — Vietnamese. In a recipe inspired by a Vietnamese grocer whom Durney used to visit growing up in Brooklyn, the meat is brined for 24 hours, smoked for three, and fried for six minutes. Next comes a fiery, finger-licking glaze of sriracha, soy, citrus, honey, and butter with a cilantro ranch dipping sauce on the side to tame the heat.
Negril BK
Jerk chicken belongs in a category all its own, but many of the city’s best jerk houses don’t offer wings by themselves — you’ve gotta buy the whole chicken plate and fight over your favorite pieces. As of this past summer, though, that’s no longer the case at Park Slope Caribbean oasis Negril BK. Their beloved guava jerk chicken is now available as a wing plate. Hooray! Bathe each glossy wing in a pool of their creamy Trini garlic dipping sauce, and find a flavor combo made in jerk heaven.
Pelicana Chicken
When Pelicana Chicken first opened in Korea back in 1982, its mission was to make a classic American dish — fried chicken — appealing to local palates with the addition of traditional Korean flavors like garlic, onion, and gochujang. The brand called its Korean-style fried chicken yangnyum tong-dak, and a legend was born. Pelicana opened its first stateside location in New York in 2014, and today you’ll find outposts speckled all over the city, serving up some of the crispiest fried chicken wings in the country. The options are plentiful, but you can’t really go wrong with any of them. My pick is extra crispy half boneless with honey garlic sauce.
Fish Cheeks
Unlike crackly Korean wings or fish-sauce-laden Vietnamese wings, there isn’t really a universally-accepted archetype when it comes to Thai wings. But the Zabb style — served at only the Thailand locations of KFC — should be a top contender. (I can personally attest to this, as I used to order KFC delivery on the reg back when I lived in Chiang Mai.) Here in New York, the version of Zabb wings available at beloved Thai eatery Fish Cheeks in NoHo are best in class. The key is the Zabb dust — a spicy, zingy seasoning powder powered by chili, lemongrass, mint, and fried makrut lime leaf. It has the same addictive quality as Doritos seasoning, and is available not just on the wings, but as a standalone seasoning powder you can buy by the shaker.
Bodega 88
This miniscule sports bar in the Upper West Side doesn’t actually have that much room for watching sports (unless you like to watch them alone in a booth with your own individual TV, in which case you’re in luck). Formerly a bodega that was operated for decades by the Arias family, who lived in an apartment upstairs, it transformed in 2016 to one of the best wing destinations in the city. Second-generation owner David Arias brings Dominican flavors to the table with his signature Bodega 88 dry rub, though you can also choose Asian citrus, Buffalo, BBQ, or Honey Glaze. Pair your wings with an order of Arias’ famous mofonguitos — crispy plantain cups topped with chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp.
Chick Chick
If you’re looking for a more artful spin on chicken wings, this Upper West Side Michelin 2023 Big Gourmand winner has you covered. Chef Jun Park’s Korean-style wings are made from high-quality, vegetarian-fed poultry battered in a delicate layer of Japanese potato starch and fried twice (first at a lower temp, then at a higher one) for insane levels of crunch. You can choose from three excellent sauce options, but the sweet black pepper soy — with its signature salty tang — is my favorite.
Mighty Quinn’s
With seven locations spread across Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, Mighty Quinn’s has earned its reputation for serving solid Southern-style barbecue to the good people of New York City. But the unsung hero on a menu full of slow-cooked brisket and pulled pork is their spicy chicken wings. These babies are slow-smoked for two hours before getting flash-fried for that ideal crispy exterior and tossed in a piquant chile-lime sauce. A topping of toasted sesame seeds, scallions, and cilantro adds texture and freshness.
Blondies Sports
No list of New York City’s best chicken wings is complete without Blondies, a neighborhood sports bar in the Upper West Side that has singled itself out from the masses with its dedication to classic bar wing perfection. The meat is seriously tender, the skin shockingly crisp, and the sauciness level is cranked up to 10. Buffalo is the go-to — you can choose from eight (yes, eight) levels of heat ranging from Mild to “Ouch" — but the other flavors are great too, including honey mustard, jerk, and lemon pepper parmesan. These wings are perfect for game days and meant to be ordered en masse: the Party Platter gets you a hundred of them, with your choice of up to four different mix-and-match flavors.
