LOL.
So these are not necessarily the only great wings in Atlanta...I don't actually order wings that much since they're so freaking expensive. I like about 15 at a serving, and that means ordering 20 for like $23 or something in most places. But I'll still sample a few here and there. My two favorites are definitely geographically biased toward where I used to live (Johns Creek).
So, there's a place called Syd's Pizza in South Forsyth in the Target parking lot at the corner of Brookwood (Jones Bridge) and 141. For my money, that's the best pizza in Atlanta (which I've sampled more aggressively than wings in Atlanta), and the wings are as good as any I've had here. Nobody beats the combination, that's for sure. The pizza might not be for everyone, because it's not the paper thin NY style that everyone wants down here. It's not deep dish or Sicilian either, it's just not NY style crust. Everything about the wings would be right at home in Buffalo...size, crispiness, the sauce, and amount of sauce. A+.
Probably the second best combination pizza/wings was a place called Calabria in Alpharetta on 9. I haven't been in probably almost 10 years, but went a couple times and the wings were excellent. Pizza was not quite as good as Syd's but it's up there.
But probably my number one wing in Atlanta is at a relatively new sports bar in John's Creek called Joe's on Jones Bridge Road. Weird place, it's on the second story of a plaza, been there twice and neither time was crowded...not sure if it's long for this world. But the first time I went they had all you can eat wings for March madness...the first order was good, but not special. Probably had sat about 10 minutes maybe before we ordered, but definitely were fine. Second order though, I'm assuming straight out of the fryer, was A++. We've moved, but I drove back last month for the wings. This time, again, A++.
There's a place in Chamblee and Perimeter called Galla's, that's owned by people from Buffalo. Solid wings, but more like an A-, and not super consistent.
Again, I'm sure there are other places in town I haven't tried, but Syd's and Joes is about 100% perfect for me, but there could be a bunch of places that would "tie" them.
And the thing about wings...I've noticed that in Atlanta, you're really at the mercy of whoever is in the back making them, quality control isn't that great, so YMMV at all times with wings in Atlanta, although I've never had less than perfect at Syds.
Speaking of quality control...that's where Taco Mac really suffers. About ten years ago, Taco Mac would generally have perfectly acceptable wings. But their quality control and service across the menu is horrible, a "medium" hamburger might be blood red raw on Monday, and a hockey puck on Tuesday, they are really pathetic. And it caught up to their wings. I find myself having to have Taco Mac wings a couple times a year or see someone else have them, and they still have the capacity to make a decent wing about one time in ten. I don't think they're philosophically opposed to a proper wing, like say a Hooters or BWW is, they just don't give a crap I guess. 9 times out of ten, they're overcooked, or not crispy enough, or too dry with the sauce...it's not worth spending the money on. I don't really have a problem with their sauce taste wise though.
Three Dollar is something else. Every location I've ever been too has had crappy wings, overcooked, stale, improperly sauced, except their original location on Roswell Road. For years, I still could get very good wings, solid A- wings, several times a year. And I do like their sauce a lot.
But starting about 6-12 months ago, they made some conscious change at that original location to go from A- wings to D wings. They switched to frozen, which isn't great, but isn't a deal breaker...you can make perfectly good wings from frozen, if you do it right. But it's more than that...they're clearly messing around with something, and they're super stale. I think they're frying them ahead of time, and just dropping them in to heat them up. I get the desire, especially at lunch when I usually go, because wings can easily take up to 15 minutes in the fryer, and that's if you don't overload them. But the taste is VERY noticeable when you do that, it creates a very stale situation. I know it from making wings at home and trying to cheat like that, to be able to serve 40 hot wings at once, when I can only do 15-20 properly at a time. Even ones that are out 20 minutes, and get redropped, I can taste it.
The staleness (I don't know how else to describe it, I know it when I taste it) is so extreme at the Three Dollar on Roswell, I suspect that they're fried the night before or once a week or something, and pulled out of the fridge and dropped for two minutes when someone orders. They're legitimately awful, and it's clearly not a quality control thing, it's an obvious intentional change. They might be the worst wing availabe that's still technically done "right" (no breading, fried, hot sauce). They're dead to me.
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