Buffalo’s mighty chicken wing reputation has been redeemed as the best around — even if Upstate New Yorkers already knew that.
TV personality and chef Alton Brown recently posted to social media in which he said, “I was wrong, the best wings are in Buffalo.”
This comes after some harsh criticism in a 2018 episode of First We Feast’s “Hot Ones.” In that episode, Brown said, “If you really want great Buffalo chicken wings...you don’t go to frickin’ Buffalo.”
That year his fans sent him to Bar-Bill Tavern in East Aurora when he visited the area for his show at UB Center for the Arts. Those wings earned serious scorn, even though NewYorkUPstate judges had just named them the best wings of Buffalo earlier that year.
Could Western New York come back from that dig?
The Queen City, the birthplace of the Buffalo wing craze, was not about to let the title of best wings go so easily.
When Brown was set to return to Buffalo to perform a show at Shea’s Performing Arts Center earlier this month, he reached out to locals yet again on Facebook, saying: “Dear Buffalonians, back in 2018, after eating at all the “famous” places, I complained that I had a very, very bad wing day. I’ve been told since that I just went to the wrong places. So I’m coming back to make amends by taking a whole day off to eat wings. You guys basically invented the global wing craze so please set me on the right path.”
This time, he also set out on the streets of Buffalo with two “wingmen”: WGR 550′s Nate Geary and Buffalo News Food Editor Andrew Galarneau.
With their help, Brown and his wife visited three spots eating wing after wing. They stopped at Grant Ferry’s La Nova, Elmo’s Bar and Restaurant near the University at Buffalo’s Campus, and a return to the scene of the crime — Bar-Bill Tavern in East Aurora.
Brown posted photos to social media of the saucy contenders for the day and said, “I got majorly schooled on #BuffaloWings today by local experts including Andrew Galarneau. I can say, I have had the best buffalo wing of my life and yes, it was in Buffalo. #NowIKnow.”
He also posted to Twitter, “I was wrong, the best wings are in Buffalo and thanks to @BuffaloFood and @NateGearySports I think I even know where to get them.”
According to the Buffalo News, out of the wings he tried, La Nova medium wings were his top choice.
La Nova was a contender for our 2016 Best Pizza of Upstate New York and we were glad to see Brown tried Buffalo’s signature cup-and-char pepperoni pizza style as well.
Want to try La Nova wings, but not in Upstate New York? La Nova now sells their wings, line of sauces, and frozen dough balls straight through their website, lanovawings.com.
READ MORE
Buffalo’s best wings: And the winners are...
Crafting drinks: Finger Lakes distillery takes creative approach to New York spirits (video)
Syracuse’s best-known vegan cafe to launch its first out-of-town location