Hot BBQ wing lovers, Buffalo Wild wings has met their match for a hot bbq sauce. Called their "SpicyQ" all I can say is 
Buffalo Wild Wings
3/06 
BWW is up there near the top of my list for the best wings in Columbus. Now a national chain, BWW's first Columbus restaurant started where the old Ching's wings restaurant was on the OSU campus. This was the first wing place in town and we were among their very first customers. Does anyone else remember the 10 cent wings on Tuesdays? Personally, I hate going on campus, but now BWW has many locations, of which Bethel Road and Polaris are my favorites. The BWW wings scores the highest for authenticity and taste. They do an excellent job of making great tasting wings in all ranges of heat levels from mild to blazing. For you non-purist, they have other flavors that are good. Hot bbq is one of my favorites The great taste and usually decent size wings make these one of the best in town on most occasions.
For years, I have defended this place for their small wings, even discussed it with several of their managers. However, after a 27 year absence from visiting the Anchor Bar I got a reminder of how great a larger wing can be. Its time for Buffalo Wild Wings to drop the per piece charge and go to a weight based system and deliver decent sized wings. (Still a great wing here folks)They would argue that they sell more wings than everyone else and can't get that large of wings consistently. I really don't mind a couple small wings when I order 18 or 24, but it can really be offensive to someone who orders 6, hence my recommendation to drop the per piece charge. .
Rooster's
Many people's favorite wings come from Rooster's. They have several locations around Columbus. I frequent the one on East Dublin-Granville Rd (Rt.161)and the store on Olentangy River Road between North Broadway and Ackerman. These guys are real good at being consistent and they are consistently good. No doubt these are some of the best wings in the city. Rooster's manages to deliver a crisp wing with breading, something that is hard to do. Their wings are fresh not frozen. They do a good job with the different heat levels and the wings are meaty and brought to you by an excellent service staff. Definitely one of the better hot wings in town. Its slightly annoying that they don't cut off the tip as all authentic Buffalo wings do.For those of you looking for something other than a hot wing, Rooster's garlic wing maybe one of the best tasting wings to be found anywhere. The new Chipotle is bound to be a big hit.
Rush Creek Sports Bar and Grill - Westerville 
Rush Creek is located where the old Scoreboard Lounge use to be on Sunbury Road at Rt 161. (Scoreboard use to have great wings) Previously, I had given RC a three star rating. I stopped in one weekday lunch before Christmas. I had remembered this being a good wing, but what I received that day was a very good wing. Have they improved or did I catch them on a good day? Time will tell. Normally, I reserve 4 stars for fresh wings only not frozen. I could not detect any sign of this being a frozen wing. As usual, I ordered the "hot" wing. The heat was a pleasant level, just what I expected and the wings were perfect in both size and cooking. Nice job! Two subsequent visits and I have to say the 4 star rating is deserved. I have yet to check out their new Continent area store on Busch Blvd. We will soon.
Gatsby's 
Our visit to Gatby's was over a year in coming and long overdue. At the 2002 Wing Zing, I noted they had a good tasting sauce, but it wasn't until they won the "Best Hot Wing" at the 2003 event (where I was a judge) that prompted me to make the trip. They are about a mile north of I-270 on Hamilton Road in Gahanna. I first noticed they sell the wings by the pound, not the piece. That is a good thing for the customer. We ordered 2 pounds of their hot wing. I've had hotter and milder wings that call themselves hot, but this is perfect heat with great taste. Their award this year was justified, This is a good wing. This is a must try!
Nick and Sydney's Roadhouse Grille
RIP, under new ownership, Now called Pete's place, an intersting wing at Wing Zing, we will make another visit soon.
Quaker Steak and Lube 
, is located in the area of Polaris and I-71 on the north end. We attended the Grand opening on Tuesday Nov.14th,2000. We first tried QSL's wings while making one final trip to Three Rivers Stadium (recently torn down) in Pittsburgh. They were great, the smell drove us nuts during the game and we rushed down after the game and had some great wings. Recently QSL increased the size of their wings. This isn't always a good thing. Larger wings sitting at the bottom of a bucket get soggy, and these wings were never that crispy
But back to the heat level, on QSL's menu, HOT is the third from the top on the heat chart behind atomic and suicidal The wings we received tasted great. As for heat level, I would rate these as just a little less than a Buffalo Wild Wings "hot" but more than their "medium". ( I currently use Buffalo Wild Wings' mild, medium, and hot as the industry standard because they are consistently the same ) On our second visit we did a split order of part HOT and part Suicidal. I would rate their suicidal as close to Buffalo Wild Wings' "wild". Both retain a lot of taste for the heat. This sets BWW and QSL apart from many Buffalo wings. The Queen loved the suicidal, but I will stick with the HOT for its maximum flavor. I noted on their menu that they offer a lunch buffet. So we tried it. It was pretty good as buffets go with good variety and a good dessert. . The buffet has 2 or 3 flavors of wings available along with several other interesting items. They did have a selection of chicked breast strips in their bbq sauce, which was an excellent sauce. I don't like BBQ wings, but it is truely excellent on their sandwiches and chicken strips. Overall, it was a very good buffet for $7.99 After a few visits to the buffet I would conclude it is a good idea and enjoyable, but don't judge their wings soley by the buffet. They are good, but they usually don't match up to a fresh batch served directly to your table. UPDATE 9/04 Quaker Steak has gone to larger plumper wings, leaving BWW behind for size anyway. Still, they lack crispness and the wings at the bottom of their bucket can get soggy in all the sauce. (They are so close to the perfect wing)
We are Atomic Wings Survivors!
So many people wrote us and asked if we had tried QSL's atomic wings. To make you happy we did. And as you would expect, they are hot, very hot probably comparable to BWW's Blazin. (However, I won't be eating both on the same day to do a real comparison) To me they were hot beyond being enjoyable to eat. Why would you want to eat wings if they aren't enjoyable? I've long outgrown such foolish stunts to prove my manliness. But I will say these atomic wings have taste, at least until your lips, tounge, and pallate go numb.
Shade's on the Canal 
7/28/09
Shades on the Canal was back at Wing Zing in 2009. This year I made the trip to the store in Canal Winchester. A very nice place in a nice neighborhood with lots of parking. The wings are breaded, but they are fresh, well cooked wings with very tasty sauces. My only issue is their description of the sauces, the medium is very mild, the hot is medium at best, the "ragin" is a very good hot, their "fatalli" is a very good extra hot. Love the fresh cust fries. We will be back to try other things that looked good.
Wings To Go
Thanks to one of our viewers, Jay Lane, for letting us know about a new place in Pickerington called "Wings to go" Wings to Go is a chain and this is the first store in Ohio. The name suggests carry out only, but they actually have a very sizable dining room and bar so if you don't live in Pickerington,make the drive and eat in! This place is located in a strip on Rt 256 just north of Refugee Rd and a little more than a mile south of I-70. We found the wings to be very good, but a bit pricy ($6+ for 10 wings) The price comes down with bigger quantities. I didn't see any signs, but I read in the "This week News", On Tuesday nights, wings cost 35 cents each. The kitchen is wide open so you can see all the cooking being done. We found the wings to be excellent. They were perfectly cooked, a nice size, and just the right amount of sauce. They also have excellent descriptions on their menu describing each sauce of the many available. The hot was great tasting, but closer to a medium heat by our standards. The average patron will be comfortable with this heat. The next time we will try a hotter sauce and perhaps some others like their garlic spice and teriyaki. The only negative was the seasoned fries, I'm bored with seasoned fries, give me fresh cut anytime! (But I'm the Wing King, not the Fry King) This is a must try for east siders or for those who find themselves in this part of the area.
WingsXtreme 
Another recommendation from our viewers was WingsXtreme. Located at 1437 N. High St, it is between the short north and campus areas. What makes this place unique as far as local wing joints is this place is carryout and delivery only. This limited our opportunities to try it, but I think it was worth it. The menu features many items in addition to the 25 flavors of wing sauces.
As always, we tried the hot wing. We received an order of wings that were a very nice size and very flavorful. , The heat level however, was closer to most medium wings.
We did receive a quality, tasty product. If you live in the short north/campus area, give them a call at 424-WING
NOTE: WingsXtreme has opened a sit down restaurant in the Carridge Place Shopping center near Sawmill Road and Bethel. We visited on opening night 10/6! Again the wings tasted great, but closer to a medium than what I expected from a hot. So on my next visit, I tried the Xtra hot. Again, this was a great tasting wing and the heat level was approaching what most hot wings are. My advice as the City's resident Wing expert is order one or two heat levels higher than what you might normally. On my third visit I tried the Xtremely hot wings. Normally, I stay away from the hottest sauce on the menu, but in this case, it might be just right. The wings them self were very nice plump wings cooked perfectly. Few wings in town are this big and still crispy. For that reason I bumped up them to 4 stars. This is a must try in Columbus
Old Bag of Nails
The Old Bag of Nails has several locations including Upper Arlington and Worthington. I first visited the UA location at lunch time. I later tried the Hard Rd location for dinner. OBON finally has seen the light and added a "naked" option for wings. This is the way Buffalo wings are meant be served. This is a great update and the wings were excellent. They were crisp and lightly covered with an excellent hot sauce. The other wings are ok, but not up to the standards of their other food, but the "naked" wings are excellent. Note: I would like to suggest instead of calling these naked wings, they might call them Authentic Buffalo wings. On another note, I absolutely loved an appetizer I have not seen anywhere else, the "potatopancake" I can see it now columbuspotatopancakes.com!
Lazy Chameleon
We discovered this place when we learned that The Menu's would be playing here soon. LC is near Powell on Sawmill Parkway at the corner of Presidential Parkway. Lots of seafood appetizers for you seafood fans. A very nice neighborhood establishment,they serve authentic style Buffalo wings in hot and mild flavors. The wing it self was an excellent sized wing cook perfectly to the very cusp of crispness. Of course we ordered the hot and the heat level was very appropriate. (just enough to raise a sweat) The flavor was good, just a little different. It wasn't just another "Franks" like sauce. We couldn't quite figure out what was different about it, but its different enough that it just might be the favorite of many people. Its definitely a quality wing.
Carsone's
Carsone's is in Westerville, on Westerville Road south of I-270. A little history for wing fans, this building was the first BW3 in Columbus outside of campus. I remember going there for 10 cent wings. Unfortunately the prudes of the time in Westerville wouldn't give the place a liquor license. A wing place can't survive without beer. Carsone's is an Italian restaurant/bar. We had two aborted attempts to eat here because of power outages and a late opening one day. Well, it was worth the wait. The wings were good. Nice sized and cooked to a nice crispness. We as usual, ordered the hot. There was some heat, but it was more like a medium by most standards. Few people would find them too hot. But with the heat it did have, the sauce tasted very good. The queen and I thought perhaps this might even be their own sauce. As I mentioned they were crisp. Sometimes crispness can make it hard to tell if a wing is fresh or frozen, but either way I think people will enjoy these wings. I had a great Strombolli with it and the queen had spaghetti. I look forward to trying their pizza next. A good wing place if your in the area.
Shane's Rib Shack
I have Steak houses and Sea Food restaurants here so why not a BBQ place? I thought long and hard about whether to give Shane's 3 stars or 4 stars. I don't have an icon for 3 1/2 stars. I finally decided to give the entire restaurant 4 stars. I didn't eat anything I didn't like after two visits. The pulled pork, Buffalo tenders, and ribs are excellent, but this is columbuswings.com :) The wings were good, probably fresh, well cooked and tasty. I found on my first visit, the hot wings didn't go well with the spicy BBQ sauce on the pulled pork. I love wings, but I think when I come here, there is too much good other stuff. Good service and a nice place as well
Buffalo Wings and Rings 
BWAR was a franchise that had a couple of locations here in Columbus years past. Back again, I visited the new Polaris location located in the same outlot as Walmart north of Polaris Parkway on the east side of Rt 23. The locations is great with many Hitachi wide screens and NTN trivia. The wings were big and cooked very crisp, perhaps too crisp. I ordered hot as I usually do in a first visit. The sauce was closer to a medium heat, tasty, but not what I would call hot. For an extra charge you can order the wings "wet". Usually that means way too much sauce in puddles at the bottom. These wings were very light in sauce with many parts of most wings with little or no sauce. Finally, my wings were not that hot in terms of spiciness, they also were not hot temperatures wise. I got the feeling that they cooked up a lot of wings and then sauced when needed. I felt like I was eating wings cooked 30 minutes ahead of time. This is not fresh. I'll try again, but for now, nice place, Good potential, not yet realized.
Red Robin
We tried the Red Robin Polaris. Wings are an appetizer here with lots of other good food. The wings were a pleasant heat with a very slightly buttery sauce. They were definitely fresh, and a good apetizer, but a bit pricy at $9 for 10.
Cheesburger in Paradise
I had to think long and hard (for me) on where to put this review whether it be under the Authentic Buffalo wing, or the generic Hot wing category, and whether to give it 3 or 4 stars. We went to the store near Polaris on Sancus Road. On the menu, they call these their pilot wings, with an international flavor. The one flavor of interest to us was the "Buffalo Caymen" flavor. Maybe when I visit Grand Caymen in spring of '08, I'll have some idea of what Caymen flavor is. When the wings arrived, they looked wonderful. After one bite I can easily say these might be the best prepared wings in Columbus. They are a perfect size and cooked to a perfect crispness. In fact, in preparation, they might be as close to Buffalo's Anchor bar (which we revisited 9/06) as I have seen. As for the sauce, well, its nice. It tastes good, but it no way was it hot. It would be a stretch to call it mild. Since they have other flavors, this one should be hotter. With a hotter, more authentic Buffalo flavor, this could be the best wings in town. While there, also try the mini-cheeburgers. They are kind of a high class White Castle served to you by someone who made it past the 6th grade.
Wings N' Things
We tried this one after receiving word from one of our local viewers. This sports bar/Wing chain is easy to get to off of the 256 exit of I-70 on the east side in Pickerington. Nice looking place with plenty of TV's and a good wait staff. We usually order HOT as a starting point when visiting a new place. Here, that caused a little confusion. The bottom of the heat scale is labeled HOT. Specifically, it says, "Buffalo Original (hot). The next step up is called Buffalo Medium (hotter) and the obligatory warning sauce is called Wings on Fire (watch out) So we ended up with the Medium(hotter) The wings (25) arrived with much potential. They looked great. A nice uniformly large sized wing with just the right amount of sauce. Well, the queen and I had a minor disagreement on the sauce. She said it didn't even make it up to most mild sauces, and I would definitely call it a mild. (Now, most of you know we like hot stuff, but we know how to judge mild amd medium sauces. Unless they brought us the wrong type, this is mild. Next time we will go for the Wings on Fire (watch out)wing. Now for the meat. These wings were undercooked in that there wasn't the slightest amount of crispness to them. This is really noticable on large meaty wings as these. They weren't undercooked to the point that it might be a health issue, but we couldn't finish them. When we mentioned it to our waitress she pointed out that they are cooked for 9 minutes. This may be sufficent for the average BW3 wing, it was not enough for these wings. Wings cooked this way make for horrible take out wings. Unless the wings you sell are consistent in size, you can not judge cooking solely by cooking time. Keeping in mind we visited on an NFL Sunday, this could easily go to 4 stars with a better order next time. As a side note, if this was columbusfrenchfries.com, this place would be 5 stars. They have great fresh cut fries with cheesed (So they do know how to deep fry long enough )
Beef O'Brady's
This place appears to be a nationwide chain and serves millions of wings a day. The first one in central Ohio is located in Pickerington about 2 miles south of I-70 on Rt-256. It is a nice place with good food and service but the wings could use some improvement. They are big and meaty and probably served fresh not frozen, but the sauce was extremely thin. With big juicy wings the sauce gets dilluted even further. The "hot" was closer to a mild as served to me that Saturday morning. They are planning on opening a Hilliard location sometime in '06
Winking Lizard Tavern
This place is located in the Crosswoods section of North Columbus where the Dick Clark's American Bandstand restaurant use to be. We first visited this place when it was brand new. Now, two years later, the place still looks brand new. This has to be the cleanest place I have ever eaten wings. They have at least 12 flavors of wings if you call plain a flavor :) On our first visit, we enjoyed the "Hot wings" but found them to be closer to a medium in heat. We went back in March of '05 to consider raising their rating to 4 stars. While most of our meal and service was great, the wings were not as good the 2nd time around. For some reason it seems like noon Saturday is a bad time for wings for some places. It seems like perhaps you get Friday night's leftovers. The Hot wings were exremely mild and had almost no sauce. I could also tell they weren't real fresh. I know they can do better than what they did this day.
Jr Buzzards Bar and Grill 
R.I.P
Cluckers House of Wings
I really wanted to like this place. As webmaster of Columbuswings.com I have visited hundreds of places. This is a small non-chain place next to a pizza place. Its small with about 10 tables, so I'll bet it gets busy when certain sporting events are on, but that is common for wing places.
The wings themselves looked good, well cooked and nice size. I knew I was in trouble when I read the menu. My first time at any wing place I go for the HOT BUFFALO flavor for comparitive purposes. Right away their menu is confusing.
I immediately spot the CLUCKERS CLASSIC BUFFALO in the middle of the menu. All of their categories have little pepper symbols to reflect the heat. IN the forementioned Classic Buffalo it lists HOT MEDIUM and MILD. This is pretty routine and what I would expect. Here however, is where it gets wierd. It shows 4 out of 5 peppers for hot, but then the description says " A mellowed version with all the flavor and half the heat" Half the heat of what? Why would you call anything hot, "mellowed"?
What finally arrived was obviously a sauce heavily buttered down. This one wouldn't make mild in most authentic buffalo wing places. I would think their mild would be like drinking pure butter.
They list their Habanero and Jalapeno flavors as hot, but I'm not a fan of Habenero wings. If I'm ever back which is questionable I might try to find something hot here, but 10 of 13 heat levels have mellow in their description. The chicken is good here, but they desperately need to work on their lame sauces!
Cosmos Grill
This place, a sports bar located in Dublin's Karriq Square, was recommended to us by one of our viewers. Apparently a viewer with a pretty good knowledge of wings I might add. Cosmos has a variety of wing flavors and we did try the HOT. The wings we got were a nice plump juicy wing with an excellent tasting sauce. The heat level was appropriate for a hot wing. They also cooked the wings to a perfect crispness. Everything else we had from their menu was also very good with generous portions. This place is a definite must try.
Brother's ARENA DISTRICT
We tried Brothers on a Blue Jackets home night and got the 8 for the price of 12 Wing special. We got a good piece of chicken served hot and juicy with a good tasting sauce. I guess you have to expect things in the trendy Arena District to be expensive, but at only 8 wings, I consider that an appeteaser rather than an appetizer. Good wing though, just order other food too.
Dublin Village Tavern
This place was recommended to us by the listeners of John Corby's show on WTVN and we thank them for it. This place is a must try for everyone, not just wing lovers. We were fortunate to try this on a football weekend where appetizers were an incredible bargain. First of all, I love the facilities. It has all the charm of a small town tavern and it is obviously well maintained. The service was excellent. Getting away from wings for a moment, the chili was great. Our daughter fancies herself a chicken finger expert said these were some of the best she has tried. (I tried them and agree) There was a lot of other items on their menu that I will be back to try. But getting to the wings. The wings were served on a large plate with a very good blue cheese and a more than generous portion of celery. The wings were very plump and meaty giving an excellent value.
City Limits
This place was our winner for the best Buffalo wing at the 2002 Wing Zing so we went for a visit. Located at the corner of Norton and Hall Roads on the southwest side of town, the first thing you notice walking in the door is that it is big. Even if it gets crowded there should be plenty of room to move around. Throw in 4 pool tables and I am comfortable. As usual for a first visit, we ordered the hot wings. The taste was very good, not exactly like anyone else's I have tried. The heat was a noticable heat, it will be too much for some people, but just right for experienced wing eaters. The sauce was pretty heavy on the wing, just a little too much for my preference, but many people like it this way. With the great wings,other appetizers we tried, good service, and clean facilities, this is another must try for west siders.
Kacy's Sports Bar and Grille
Located on East Wilson Bridge Road, near Huntley Road, Kacy's is located in the former Rush Creek Worthington location. As of 1/03, the signs on the outside still say Rush Creek. This place is typical of sports bars with the multiple big screen televisions and bar food. We ordered the hot Buffalo wings and the heat level was at our just above, what a hot wing should be. Rookies will probably be gasping for their drinks. The meat was good sized pieces of properly prepared wings that were prepared in an authentic manner. The only negative was the sauce. First, there was way too much of it. After our wings were done, there was at least a half bottle of sauce in the bottom of the tray. Besides being a huge waste, the sauce as it can when the wing has to swim in it, is overwhelmed by what is a fairly routine caynee sauce.
Signature Bar and Grille
One of our viewers recommended this place located on Mill St in Gahanna. It's easy to find and has plenty of parking. They feature NTN trivia which is a big plus for me. They have a great menu and good service. Definitely great potential as a wing joint. What we got looked like a great pile of wings, they were plump, cooked to a nice crispness and smelled great. It was clearly going to be a great value. The hot was a perfect temperature with just a slight black pepper taste. Everything else we ordered, was excellent, This is a great neighborhood establishment that people in the Gahanna area should frequent. (Easy access from I-670 makes it pretty easy to get to from anywhere on the east side. Note: Just tried the Teriyaki wing, Very good!
Roadhouse Wings and Cafe 
This place is located on the west side of Rome-Hilliard Road about a mile north of I-70. As usual, I tried the hot wings. (They also have Teryaki and Hot BBQ, two of my non-traditional flavors at BW3) The first thing that I noticed about these wings was that they are very crisp. I don't order take out wings, because they get soggy. If you live nearby these might survive the trip home and still be edible. The hot sauce was pretty routine. The cayenne pepper dominated the taste. This was tasty, but nothing too special. I was impressed by the selection of appetizers and sandwiches that accompanied their wings. I was also impressed with the service and family type atmospehere. - A must vist for west siders.
Donato's Pizza
In one sense this is just another baked pizza shop wing. However, the sauce is great and the perfect heat and they do bake them to a nice crispness and they are big and meaty. They make a great addition to a pizza but would I make a special trip just for their wings? No.
Mr. Geero
As we walked into Mr Geero's, which is located in the McNaughton Center just off I-270 and Main St, what caught our eye was a sign painted on the window that read, "50 Wings $10.95". To me that is equivalent to selling a NY Strip Steak for $2.95. That sign should get people in their door.
Once we were inside, my confusion didn't let up. As you might have read elsewhere on this page, when we try wings for the first time, we go for the "hot" entry. I'm not a fan of killer hot wings that burn or mild wings. The two hot buffalo style wings on Mr. Geero's menu were, "Blazin Hot" and "Mild Hot". Despite having taken my Nikken Mental Clarity pills this choice perplexed me. The Queen and I finally settled on 24 of the mild-hot wings and someother appetizers.
After listening to 10 minutes of loud rap music, our food came. Now I understood how they could serve 50 wings for such a low price. These wings are puny. I could eat 50 of these. However, all was not lost. Other places that have small wings usually have them mixed in with decent size wings and the small wings usually end up overcooked. This was not the case here. They were crispy well cooked wings prepared in an authentic manner. The sauce turned out to be a medium heat, which I guess if you mix hot with mild, you get medium. The taste was good, with a slight hint of something, perhaps ranch dressing. If one of you try their blazing hot let me know how it is. If they offered a hot level more consistent with other wing joints these might be pretty good. If you go here, just order 50% more wings than you normally do, The queen and I left hungry.
Pizza House
I should have added this year's ago, the queen and I have been eating pizza at the Pizza House since 1978 at their previous location. They are located near the corner of Lincoln and Sinclair on the north end. Once voted the best pizza in town by Columbus Monthly Magazine, they remain our favorite pizza. The wings are good. Big meaty wings with the right heat level and a somewhat routine cayenne sauce make these a good appetizer. On a related note, from Oct-March, try their wedding soup.
Appleby's
Authentic style Buffalo wings are one of several good appetizers at this place. We visited the one in the University City Shopping center. Served with celery and blue cheese these were a good wing typical of what you get as an appetizer at many local restaurants.
Long Horn Steakhouse
Again, served as an appetizer, the wings here are suprisingly good. The thing to note here, since they don't sell that many wings they can afford to buy the biggest wings. These things are huge and taste pretty good. The hot is a tolerable medium heat with a lot of taste. It impresses me that a steak house can have top quality ribs and wings. I think that is a good sign of their overall quality.
Chili's
I was plesantly suprised to find that Chili's wings were quite good. Like most restaurants in Columbus, they serve wings as an appetizer. They were plump, very tasty and pretty authentic. Not quite as good as the places that make the wing their main fare, but good if your eating there anyway.
Wings over Columbus
Several people recommended I try this place. The store is carry out only and located on Lane Ave between Kenny and Northstar. I was disapointed to find out that the wings were "lightly breaded", though the sign in the store and carry out menu does say, "unless otherwise requested". On my next visit, I'll be requesting otherwise. Breaded wings, for a carryout only place, are a huge mistake. It takes a really crisp wing to properly survive a car trip, and these aren't them. I will visit them again and order a more authentic Buffalo wing. I was also kind of irritated by the names of the heat level for the Buffalo wing. Instead of a useful description, the heat levels are more named for cute theme names that match the restuarant motif. I try to start with HOT for comparison purposes, but my choices were Wimpy (ok), Cruisin altitude (Huh?), Red alert (sounds hot), Jet fuel (again, huh?), and finally Afterburner. I knew better than to ask a cashier jockey to tell me how hot, Red alert was, which was my choice. Later, on their website I found Red alert described as "Red Alert - Hotter than most hots." Obviously they haven't tried as many different places as I have. At first I would describe it more like a mild heat, but I realized that was due to the breading. Breading like this doesn't absorb the sauce very well. the sauce I found on the bottom of the order was closer to a hot, but not quite what many would call hot. The queen was dissapointed with the celery as it was sitting in the wings and was soggy by the time I got them home.
Hooter's
When people learn of my wing expertise they ask about Hooters. Hooters wings have been heavily breaded and they usually don't do a good job on the different heat levels. If you order anything less than hot, they will be way too mild to be enjoyable. (even wimps will find their medium too mild. Their breaded wings, which are usually greasier than other similar wings should be reviewed in the section below, but I didn't feel like listing them twice. Now, you can get unbreaded wings here. They call them "Naked". It might feel a little strange saying the word "naked" to a Hooter's waitress. The 2 star rating applies to their "naked wings". When I have had them, they aren't especially hot in a temperature or spice sense. Most people like Hooters for other reasons. I will say, that the Hooter's burger is really good, but I don't claim to be the Burger King :)
Cheesecake factory
There is a lot of good food at the Cheesecake factory located in the Easton area. On the menu they are called Buffalo wings, but the flavor is somewhat of a bbq taste with just a touch of heat. They are obviously baked, not deep fried. On the good side, the wings are a good value, which is odd considering other items on the menu are on the expensive side.
Easy Street 
Recently I tried the wings at Easy Street on Thurman Ave in German Village. They were pretty good. They only come in HOT and BBQ. The hot was what I would call a good tasting medium heat. The only negative is they don't cut off the wing tip, which can make getting the meat off the wing a messy proposition. Not bad if you are in the German Village area. - Still your too close to BWW on High St. Go there for the best wings in German Village as well as some of the best in the rest of Columbus.
O'Charleys 
This place recently opened up on Cleveland Ave near I-270 on the NE side of town. There are a lot of good things to say about this restaurant, but their chicken isn't one of them. Based on only one visit, they must use low grade chicken. The wings were really small and didn't have hardly any meat on the drumstick portion. My daughter had chicken tenders and they were very dry. Seems like a nice place, just avoid the chicken.
Ruby Tuesday
Ruby Tuesday's is a national chain, that I am quite fond of. They have great ribs and a great salad bar and one of the best baked potatoes around. However, on their menu, they specifically say they have Spicy Buffalo Wings. This statement opens them up to fair criticism. . Once again real buffalo wings don't have breading. This breading had too much taste of its own that severely detracted from the sauce, which was a real disservice as the sauce was pretty good. We visited both Ruby Tuesday's in town and found the wings equally bad. Its rare I can't finish an order of wings, but we left 8 out of 10 of these on the plate. I left a comment card about these wings and was contacted, I gave them my opinion and haven't heard back. If you have tried these wings, let me know what you think. If I gave an annual award for the City's worst wings, this place would win every year. It would take a fully stocked limo, luxury box seats for a BlueJackets game, and a good massage before I would even consider trying their wings again. However, if you try them, let me know.
HOT WING SECTION
After much thought and opinion from many of you, I decided to add a section specifically for wings that don't quite match the authentic category.(Usually with breading) Under my own rating scheme, these wings, no matter how good, couldn't go above 3 stars, and that isn't fair to some of the better "hot wings" around town.
Brown Dog's Sports Grill
We have one other place on our site that is not in Franklin County, but in Centerberg, Ohio this place isn't even in an adjacent county! That said, it is only a 20 mile trip north on Rt 3 from I-270 on the City's Northeast side. Three factors were important in my deciding to include Brown Dog.
1. They won the people's choice award at the 2003 Wing Zing in Columbus
2. They definitely feel they are a part of Columbus with lots of Blue Jacket paraphenalia on the walls, along with lots of Ohio State Buckeye stuff,.
3. They are really good, worth a trip if you think you have tried all the great wings in the area.
The wing has a very light coating that barely noticable with an excellent sauce. We tried the "hot" as usual and loved its great taste and perfect heat level. The meat was a great piece of chicken and absolutely fresh not frozen. It is definitely one of the top 3 wings in Columbus.
Side notes regarding Brown Dog's: When I first mentioned them in my Wing Zing coverage, they emailed me to let me know that the name was not Brown Dog's Bar and Grill. They like to de-emphasize the bar. Yes, they have a bar, and it is a good one, but their dining room is very separate from the bar area and most people will feel perfectly comfortable bringing their families (non-smoking area available) Their kitchen area is huge, and appears to be real clean by the way, so there is plenty of good food besides wings. We got great service and the wait staff seeemed genuinely happy you are there.
If you find yourself traveling on I-71 from Cleveland to Columbus on a holiday weekend when traffic is a nightmare, get off any exit, work your way east to route 3, come south to Centerberg and stop in here an relax. It beats the hell out of sitting on I-71 for hours.
To avoid a huge disapointment, please note that Brown Dog's, like the entire city of Centerburg, is closed on Sundays
Arlington Cafe
I debated for awhile whether to list this as a Buffalo wing and give it three stars or list it as a hot wing and give it 4 stars. Obviously, you see what I chose. The deciding factor was they list it on their menu as a chicken wing. They are not pretending it is an authentic Buffalo wing. It is close however. It's a better wing that many that claim to be Buffalo wings. They served us an excellent plate of perfectly prepared wings. The wings were a perfect size, tasted fresh not frozen and was a nice crispness. Their wing is served in BBQ and Hot flavors. The "hot" was plenty hot for most people, but medium by most wing standards. The only negative trait was a slight taste of barbeque flavor in the sauce. It tasted pretty good mind you, excellent probably, but if I wanted bbq,I would order it. That said, this is one of the best quality wings in town. We went on a happy hour Friday and got half price wings and a half price pizza that was better than any other bar pizza I have had. GOOD FOOD!
Fitzgerald's Sports bar
Fitgerald's is located in the Carridge Place shopping center near the NE corner of Sawmill and Bethel Road. I stopped in here to try the wings one day at lunch and relented to the tempation of the all you can eat lunch buffet which is a pretty good value. On our second visit the queen and I had the wings. We had a slight disagreement. The menu offers the wings in BBQ and hot. The wings were plump, well cooked and very tasty. My dissapointment comes from the fact that the hot still has a bbq taste to it. I was expecting a more conventional hot "Buffalo style" wing. The queen is a big fan of hot bbq wings such as those of BWW and QSL. She loved them! They were indeed good, but I decided to place them in the hot wing category instead of the Buffalo wing category. On both visits we were happy with the other food items and the service. Fitz's is a sports bar type atmosphere and features two pool tables and NTN trivia. The place is definitely worth checking out.
Gibby's Bar and Grill - Grandview
I tried this place out for lunch. They have a few locations. Parking is minimal at the downtown location, but in Grandview it is managable at lunch. The wings were breaded and they leave the tips on so they score low for authenticity as a Buffalo Wing. They do a pretty good job of different heat levels and the wings were pretty meaty. Good wings, but they aren't Buffalo wings. I wouldn't make a special trip just for their wings. I expected more as much as they advertise them.
Bellacino's Pizza
I visited the store in New Albany on Morse Road just east of Hamilton Road. This place was recommended for my trial by a viewer. Like most pizza shops its a baked wing, not deep fried and that just can't be an authentic Buffalo Wing. That said, while being a baked wing, this seemed like good fresh chicken with a pleasant sauce. (We loved the pizza) They could have done a better job coating the wings as the sauce was a bit sporadic on the wings. I found the place to be very clean with lots of good food and good service. If your here anyway, try the wings. Real Wing fans don't make a special trip.
Wendell's Alumni Grill
This place is located on Lane Ave just accross from St John Arena on the OSU campus. They do have their own parking lot, which helps for a restaurant in this area. They do clearly state in their menu that this is a batter coated wing. What came reminded me of wings you might get off a buffet in many restaurants. It looks like a wing you might get from KFC from the extra crispy menu. They were however, a large well cooked wing. Our order hardly had any sauce on it at all. It looked like someone shook the last 3 drops out of a hot sauce bottle and served it. We were there on a nice summer evening eating on the patio. They apparently didn't see the wingmobile clearly parked in front or they wouldn't have served us these wings. I guess they weren't bad as far as wings go, but for hot wings, they were pathetic. Had things ended there, this would be a two star rating. But we where there with friends for a happy hour and stayed for about 4 hours.
The wings got better as the night went on and they probably deserve 3 stars as a hot wing. I guess they must have changed cooks and the one on duty Friday 6/30 before 5pm, had no pride in his work
All of the other food was good. Don't go for the wings.
Whiskey Dick
I had high hopes for this one as they did a great job at the 2004 Wing Zing. Again, I will remind you that the judging for WingZing is done ahead of time and under ideal conditions. We visited Whiskey Dick's for an official review in Jan of 2005. We got big meaty wings and a nice tasting hot sauce, but the wings had a batter coating that tasted bad. It was my opinion that this was due to old grease in the deep fryer and that will kill a coated wing. I might have given them two stars, but this was only one visit. We came at an off time, but it didn't seem that the kitchen was high priority for this place. Has their enthusiam come down from their high placement at Wing Zing? 9/2- Again they did really well at Wingzing (2005) Maybe I need to stop back and see if I hit them on a bad night. Not a priority though, but if you try them, let me know.
Lucky's grill and billiards
This place is located on Roberts Road about 1 mile west of I-270 near a Big Bear Grocery Store. On the menu, they offer their original sauce, Their "hot Sauce" and their "insane sauce" As a default, I always try the hot sauce to provide comparisons. It seems to me that wings are not the priority here that they once were and the quality has suffered a small bit. The "Hot" sauce was a pleasant heat level. I would describe it as a medium to hot by most standards. But it was very tasty. The wings are breaded. With their other food, great pool tables, this is a nice place to go for lunch or dinner. Note: Try the Buffalo Chicken sandwich, with their peppered bacon, it is excellent.
Max and Ermas 
Many years ago, Max and Ermas served a Buffalo wing, but it was in name only. What they once passed off as a Buffalo wing is now known on their menu as a Sesame wing. Max and Erma's does have some of the best appetizers in town, so it is suprising they don't offer a Buffalo wing. However, there are a couple of items of interest to wing fans on their menu. First of all, as an appetizer, their "Buffalo Chicken Tenders" are really good. They are breaded and they are breast meat, not wings. The tenders, while a little hotter than a medium heat have a taste that only be described as "Hot and Tangy". They also serve an excellent Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, which has a similar taste.
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The Royal family of Wings would like to thank Forgotten4-paws for the newest member of our family
