The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals. Sign up today!
There are already so many important choices to make when it comes to wings: Flats or drums? Ranch or blue cheese? Regular or swimming? Bone-in or boneless? Where to score the crispiest, meatiest, sauciest wings shouldn’t be the difficult one.
Whether you’re craving a snack, a standalone meal, or heck, even a fiery digestif, these Denver metro restaurants have you covered for all your wing needs. Some will burn your face off (find the absolute hottest wings here), while others will simply satisfy your need for a high skin-to-meat ratio. Grab your wet wipes: Here are the 10 best wings in and around Denver.
King of Wings
Your order: Tangy Gold, with a craft brew to wash it down.
This Wheat Ridge chicken shack makes some of the most unique wings in town. The difference? They’re roasted and then flame-grilled to finish, lending an incredible smoky char you won’t find anywhere else. King of Wings’ 10 sauces range from Mild Buffalo to XXX Hot, with Thai BBQ and Pesto thrown in for good measure. While the heat levels on even the hottest sauces don’t reach that high, the meaty wings are simply the best. 7741 W. 44th Ave., Wheat Ridge
CD’s Wings
Your order: Anything but the face-melting No 1 Left Standing sauce.
To find some of the best (and spiciest) wings around town, you used to have to venture to a Westminster strip mall. But with CD’s Wings’ expansion to locations in Aurora and Parker this fall, it will be easier than ever to score the bone-in or boneless wings coated with your choice of 22 sauces. The long flavor lineup ensures everyone at your table hits their sweet (or spicy) spot, with no-spice options for tender palates going all the way up to the ghost-pepper-spiked No 1 Left Standing sauce, a Buffalo-style blend that could very well be the hottest in the state. 7685 W. 88th Ave., Westminster; coming soon to 6710 Cornerstar Way, Suite B, Aurora, and 11211 South Dransfeldt Drive, Unit 134, Parker
Woody’s Wings N Things
Your order: A pound of hot wings as soon as you sit down—you’ll need the sustenance to sort through the extensive menu, which is literally presented in a binder.
In spite of having wings in its name, Woody’s is better known for its 32-page menu of Asian offerings. (And deservingly so—the Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao, and Chinese entrées are top-notch.) Just make sure you precede your basil duck with the $8-a-pound Buffalo-style wings. The vinegary sauce is a lesson in textbook Buffalo sauce, proving that yes, Woody’s really can do it all. 6817 Lowell Blvd., Westminster
Fire on the Mountain
Your order: Put your trust in the chefs and go with the wing sauce of the month.
The wings at Fire on the Mountain are everything you’d expect from a taproom named after a jam band song. They’re antibiotic-, hormone-, and cage-free; they’re available in vegan seitan strips; and each of the 15 sauces, ranging from Bourbon Chipotle to Extra Hot Buffalo, is vegan and/or gluten-free. Fire seekers should consider the El Jefe challenge—eat 15 of the Mountain’s spiciest sauced wings without a dipping sauce in under three and a half minutes and get them free. 3801 W. 32nd Ave.; 300 S. Logan St., Suite 102
The Pork.Let
Your order: A small order of the jumbo wings followed by a Porklet sandwich with Porklet sauce.
While the Pork.Let offers a variety of Korean eats, they do two things particularly well: cutlets and wings. For those extra-crispy Korean-style wings, you have eight seasoning choices, including the mild Honey Butter and cheddar-based Cheesy Dust, but we’re partial to the slightly kicky Habanero Peach. Indulgently sticky and crunchy, these are also some of the best value wings around, where $12 scored us 10 meaty wings. 12201 E. Mississippi Ave., Aurora
Platte River Bar & Grill
Your order: The eight-piece Buffalo wing starter and a 32-ounce Platte margarita.
Four words: 50-cent wing Wednesdays. From 5 p.m. until close, you can go heavy on the wings and light on your wallet at this longtime Littleton happy hour destination known for its strong margaritas, plethora of TVs, and patio perched on the Platte River. The dry rubbed, deep-fried wings come in seven sauces, including a solid Buffalo and the sassier Nashville Hot. 5995 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton
GQue BBQ
Your order: While most of the line will be going for the barbecue, you’re ordering the sleeper-hit smoky wings.
GQue has won some pretty major awards for its barbecue, including a spot in the Rocky Mountain BBQ Association’s hall of fame, but when we stop in for brisket or ribs, we have to order a side of its wings. What makes them so good? They first spend time in the smoker, then they’re flash-fried before serving, giving them that snappy wing texture we know and crave with the additional perfume of hickory wood. Look for the Wing of the Week, which features rotating flavors such as Caribbean jerk and Thai chile basil. Multiple locations
Outlaw Wings
Your order: You can’t go wrong with any of their dozen-plus stellar sauces; it just depends on how many Pepcids you want to take.
This strip mall restaurant just might be the quintessential wing joint—there’s always a game on at least one of the TVs, you can order wings by the hundred (yes, hundred), and the fried offerings extend to pickles and Oreos. You’re there for the wings, though, and the finger-licking sauces do not disappoint. Our go-to is the sweet-spicy Mango Habanero, but the Inferno sauce will burn the cheeks off those wanting to really feel the heat. 12920 Lowell Blvd., Broomfield
Piper Inn
Your order: 10-piece orders of both the Buffalo-style and Chinese-style wings, please.
For 50-odd years this family-run dive has been acing the quirky combo of biker bar/Chinese restaurant/wing destination. So yeah, the clientele may be kind of eclectic, but what they all have in common is that they’re ordering the wings. Choose between the Buffalo style you already know and the Chinese style, a blend of oyster sauce, chile paste, and garlic. Or host your own taste test at the table and order both. 2251 S. Parker Road
Wing Hut
Your order: If you tried a different sauce or dry rub every week, it would take you the better part of a year to get through Wing Hut’s menu. That said, start with the Honey Garlic Pepper and work your way up to the Fire Ranch.
Wing Hut has been frying up Aurora’s favorite wings for more than 20 years, which has given them lots of time to create all sorts of sauces—30 of them, in fact, plus another dozen dry rubs. From incorporating ranch dressing into the sauces themselves to habanero jerk or Cajun dry rubs, there’s some serious innovation going on at the Hut. Order by the pound and make sure to ask for extra crispy. 15473 Hampden Ave., Aurora
