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OT: Who serves the best Chicken Wings in New Jersey?

Sharkeys is good - correct about getting crowded though.
 
I have to make my own Buffalo wings since so many places screw'em up. Real Buffalo wings are NEVER breaded, barbecued etc and they aren't baked. Luckily one of my roomies was a short order cook from Buffalo so I knew how to make them way back (not that they are hard at all)
I make my own as well but am always looking for new / better recipes. Care to share yours.
 
My vote is Cluck-U in NB. Every time I come home I stopped by there to get an order. Living in NC for several years I can't handle the hot ones now, maybe it the age.
 
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I love buffalo wings. Best wings I ever had, and it's not even close, were from a little hole in the wall place on Commercial Ave a bit south of the campus called Willie's Wings. It was eventually closed down (rumor was for health code violations :D).

Plenty of good wings around, where different places use different approaches. Olive Branch's wings are pretty good, but not really buffalo wings. For buffalo wings, the Ground Round that used to be (or still is for all I know) up on Route 22, had really good wings. Hooters has pretty good wings.

I like to make my own and like them better than everything but Willie's Wings. Do it every couple weeks. I bake them, but in trays loaded up with Crisco. So they are baked but also kind of fried too. I slow cook them for at least two hours, often more like four hours, at a very low heat first. Then crank the oven up to 450-550 to crisp them up. No breading.

I will make difference sauces, but my favorite is an approximately 65/35 blend of Frank's Red Hot sauce with Tropical Pepper Co's XXXXtra Hot Habenero Pepper sauce. When I'm feeling particularly masochistic, I'll throw the sauce into a pan, toss in some red chili peppers and cook it all until the red chili peppers turn black. Pretty much impossible to stay in the kitchen when that's cooking. But yum.

The key is NOT to coat the wings in the sauce, but to put the sauce in mugs or bowls and dip as you eat. That way the wings retain their crispness and the sauce retains it's full heat.

Anyway, seems like I need to visit some of the places mentioned in this thread that I haven't been to.
 
I love buffalo wings. Best wings I ever had, and it's not even close, were from a little hole in the wall place on Commercial Ave a bit south of the campus called Willie's Wings. It was eventually closed down (rumor was for health code violations :D).

Plenty of good wings around, where different places use different approaches. Olive Branch's wings are pretty good, but not really buffalo wings. For buffalo wings, the Ground Round that used to be (or still is for all I know) up on Route 22, had really good wings. Hooters has pretty good wings.

I like to make my own and like them better than everything but Willie's Wings. Do it every couple weeks. I bake them, but in trays loaded up with Crisco. So they are baked but also kind of fried too. I slow cook them for at least two hours, often more like four hours, at a very low heat first. Then crank the oven up to 450-550 to crisp them up. No breading.

I will make difference sauces, but my favorite is an approximately 65/35 blend of Frank's Red Hot sauce with Tropical Pepper Co's XXXXtra Hot Habenero Pepper sauce. When I'm feeling particularly masochistic, I'll throw the sauce into a pan, toss in some red chili peppers and cook it all until the red chili peppers turn black. Pretty much impossible to stay in the kitchen when that's cooking. But yum.

The key is NOT to coat the wings in the sauce, but to put the sauce in mugs or bowls and dip as you eat. That way the wings retain their crispness and the sauce retains it's full heat.

Anyway, seems like I need to visit some of the places mentioned in this thread that I haven't been to.
Willie'e Wings were the best. Good buddy worked there throughout high school. The owner had a major gambling and drug habit. You could tell how good or bad he was doing by the ever fluctuating size of his wings. When things were good and he had his habit under control there were larger wings. When he wasn't the small wings made their way on the menu. There were usually small wings being served.

They were not shut down for health code violations. They moved to what they thought would be a better location on Livingston Avenue across the street from New Brunswick High School. So many people tried to buy his recipe but the guy wouldn't sell. He always thought he would reopen.

Willies wings were truly special.
 
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From Pete Genoveses' Munch Mobile:

TOP DOG We loved the Thai chili wings at Michael's Roscommon House, the lemon pepper wings at Sharky's, the smoked wings at Hot Rods, the dusted mango habanero wings at Quaker Steak & Lube, and the plain wings at Mama's. But there was no doubt who served up the best wings on this trip. Top Dog honors go to Marley's Gotham Grill in Hackettstown. TELL US WHERE TO GO Last trip of the summer? What?? Yes, it's true. Tomorrow, the Munchmobile faces its toughest challenge: Finding Jersey's best d
 
Firkin Tavern in Ewing has great wings. Big, meaty wings and if you like your wings hot, the nuclear wings are fantastic. Not as hot as Cluck-U nuclear fusion wings were but still a great burn. Their sauces are all made in house from scratch.
My new go-to place. It's close enough and they're really good.
 
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Not in Jersey, but anyone ever have the wings at Andy Ricker's Pok Pok in Brooklyn? They're different, full of the deepest, funkiest umami flavor.
 
Thank you fellow Wing Nuts. Everyone has provided excellent choices and my goal is to try them all by Labor Day. Now, How do I print this thread out? ****Never mind....got it copied.
 
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My vote is Cluck-U in NB. Every time I come home I stopped by there to get an order. Living in NC for several years I can't handle the hot ones now, maybe it the age.
Sadly, Cluck U is gone. It's a mediocre tapas bar now.
 
I make my own as well but am always looking for new / better recipes. Care to share yours.

I keep it simple. Some places call for garlic and paprika etc (Anchor Bar - I like Duffs and others better) but that stuff is already in the basic Frank's Hot Sauce (I don't use their wing sauce). Frank's and butter is practically all you need. If people like wings hot then use a little Tabasco instead of overusing the Frank's (too much Frank's makes sauce runny). Adding a little veg oil to sauce makes it cover better. A little Catalina French dressing can do the same (my Buffalo cook's touch). I add a little more (teaspoon maybe) white vinegar to one stick butter and the Franks (more than a little). I also add a little Worcestershire sauce and tiny bit extra salt. Double-frying can make "drums and flats" crispier but I skip that. If people want hotter-n-hell wings then let wings sit in hot sauce for a couple days. Food in hot sauce gets extra hot when left to sit awhile. Better bring some aloe to the bathroom with ya after that lol
 
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I have to make my own Buffalo wings since so many places screw'em up. Real Buffalo wings are NEVER breaded, barbecued etc and they aren't baked. Luckily one of my roomies was a short order cook from Buffalo so I knew how to make them way back (not that they are hard at all)
Recipe / instructions (please). Sorry, was reading from beginning of the thread. What are the steps you take? Bake? Fry in oil? If fry in oil, in what? What oil? How long? Prep steps?
 
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Went to Clifton today .Passed on Ruts Hut.Then travelled west on route 46 and crushed a few at Hot Dog Johnny's in Buttzville.Oh wait? This was about wings? Don't like them. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
 
My vote is Cluck-U in NB. Every time I come home I stopped by there to get an order. Living in NC for several years I can't handle the hot ones now, maybe it the age.
Second the age. I used to get the thermo nuclears, and now yrs later, there's no way I would order them that way again.
 
I guess I'm not a wing connoisseur. I can really eat any wing and prefer boneless. BDubs for multiple flavors, Friday's Jack Daniels wings, all the same.

Burgers on the other hand, I'll be all over that thread.


I also prefer boneless wings to the real thing...less mess and more meat
 
Chicken and the Egg in Beach Haven
Been there a bunch over the years. The wings are okay, tons of different sauces. But I was never blown away by them. I've always felt like whoever their chicken supplier is ain't all that great. The sauces are good; but the chicken is meh.
 
The Olive Branch has excellent wings. Not a wing connoisseur per se, but 2nd only to Golden Lion in Central Jersey for me.

Agree - OB has my favorite wings - huge, meaty and tasty. Sciortino's in South Amboy, best known for its awesome thin crust pizza, also happens to have great wings. Hailey's in Metuchen makes great wings, too.
 
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1devotedfan,

Anchor is where it all started. Im into nostalgia and the wings are pretty good too.
 
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I have never been to the Boonton Sharkys..... anyway the Clifton one
gets crowded early and you have to be lucky to find either a table or a place for two at the bar..... I don't like going into the back dining area because then there is no atmosphere at all ( makes it tough to
breathe)
That is exactly why Boonton is better. Much larger establishment and they have a ton of TVs so great for sports as well.
 
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Agree - OB has my favorite wings - huge, meaty and tasty. Sciortino's in South Amboy, best known for its awesome thin crust pizza, also happens to have great wings. Hailey's in Metuchen makes great wings, too.

Sciorintinos I love their pizza, never tried their wings. Tried other things on the menu, but think the pizza is the best thing they got. Friend of mine went for the first time last night and hated it.
 
There's a place in Hackettstown that is supposed to have great wings but the name is escaping me right now.
 
I prefer dry rub wings and am big into Lemon Pepper wings right now. Although I prefer local places, Milers Ale House in Paramus has great Lemon Pepper wings. Large and they stay hot.
 
The wings at Dallas BBQ in NYC are enormous. I didn't think chickens grew that large....
 
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First and Ten in Hamilton. By far the best.
Jug Handle in Cinnaminson. Very good and big large wings.
 
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