WingStop Wings Are the New Big Thing in Boone

The Wingstop official logo can be seen on all of their official stores and sites. Photo creds: Wingstop

Roz Rabinowitz, Junior Editor of The Powderhorn, and Carrie Bradbury, Review Desk Lead

Boone, North Carolina, commonly known for its scenic trails and outdoor recreation, was the home of another sight this past weekend. Students, families, and community members flocked to the infamous Walmart parking lot, which is newly home to the alluring green glow of the WingStop sign. Patrons waited anxiously for hours to finally lay their hands on the delectable wings and ranch that WingStop is known for. 

While WingStop is a new phenomenon in the small town of Boone, it has been a world success since 1994. WingStop first opened in Garland, Texas, as a small buffalo chicken wing restaurant but has since blown up on all social media platforms, with muckbangers being the frontrunners in their success. Muckbangers are social media creators who film themself eating and reviewing foods. WingStop frequents the restaurant lineup of these creators and entices viewers to try their food. Like these muckbangers, we tried the popular wing flavors and sides to determine if they truly live up to the hype. 

We began our WingStop experience by walking into the close quarters of the location and choosing two wing flavors and sides from the overwhelming menu. The personable employees created a welcoming atmosphere and aided in our decision of food items and flavors. Ultimately, we decided to try the classic garlic parmesan wings and the hickory smoke barbeque wings. We also got a side of their fries and their corn, which came highly recommended by the employee helping us. 

The Hickory smoked barbeque wing was a saucy wing with an intense barbeque flavor accompanied by a small spicy spike. Doused in sauce, the wing’s flavor was mild compared to the intense flavor we expected. This wing was good, but it was underwhelming compared to the immense hype surrounding this company and wing. It would definitely be a good one to try if you are looking for basic barbecue wings. The same could be said of the garlic parmesan wing.

The garlic parm wing was more of a dry rub wing, with butter melted on top as a sort of sauce. This wing tasted exactly as it sounds, with a buttery and crispy outside, accompanied by a garlic parmesan taste. Roz felt that this wing was slightly better than the hickory-smoked barbecue, but still thought it was underwhelming compared to the wings that can be acquired at local restaurants in Boone. 

Carrie had never tried a dry rub wing before, but found the garlic parm wing to be perfectly acceptable. She found the flavor to be enjoyable, but the amount of butter on the outside was somewhat overwhelming. While the dry rub wing was not a bad experience, she will stick to the barbecue or other saucy wings the next time that she goes.

Moving onto the sides, we dived into the fries, dipping them in the delectable ranch. The fries were seasoned with both salt and sugar, allowing for a unique taste that, when mixed with the ranch, was close to heaven. The long, rectangular shape of the fries allowed for a well-textured, fluffy fry that is unlike any other. Ultimately, Roz believed that the fries were the best part of the WingStop experience, while Carrie found the barbecue to be the best.

While the fries and ranch were the highlight of this experience, the corn was definitely the low. The corn was probably the same amount as two cobs, but was cut into five, three-inch-long pieces with Old Bay and butter loaded on top. Despite coming highly recommended by the employees, the corn was slightly mushy and extremely spicy. While this could be our low spice tolerance speaking, we didn't find it enjoyable. The spices cooked into and added on top of the corn were also not particularly enjoyable and overpowered the sweet flavoring that makes corn so tasty. If you are a fan of strong flavors and spice, this could be a good side, but if you are in any way sensitive to spice, we would not recommend it.

Overall, we thought the WingStop experience was decent at best. Though there were some highs, the service and products provided could not closely compare to the multitude of amazing local wing shops that already exist in Boone. Some of these include Howards Station, Peddlin Pig, and Town Tavern. The disillusioned obsession with the new chain restaurants that have recently come into Boone takes away from the local places that are equally as good, or better. While it is exciting to receive something new in a town so small, our town thrives on the tourism industry that is supported by many small businesses in Boone. WingStop was ultimately a good experience with good food, but next time we would choose to support our local businesses.