Wing Week 2022

Click for my Portland Wing Week photos

For those unfamiliar with Portland, OR, it’s known for many things, but the three things I tell people it’s most known for outside of general politics and the ‘Keep Portland Weird’ & ‘Rose City’ mantra is:

1. The most churches per capita

2. The most strip clubs per capita aka “Strip Club Capital of the U.S.”

3. Food — a shit ton of it

With many making their way to Portland to test their luck at the food scene with hundreds of food pods (some may call it food trucks or carts) all over the city, dozens of fusion restaurants of food you didn’t know needed fusing, or even Top Chef celebrities and fan favorite Gregory Gourdet opening his first restaurant, a wood-fired Haitian spot called “kann”. Portland has also recently been featured on many Netflix food shows from street food to Chef’s Table: Pizza, and many spotlight pieces on Vice’s Munchies series. However, one thing that had made me really appreciate Portland when I had moved to the area in 2018 was this little inconspicuous time in August called “Burger Week”. Except in 2018, burgers were only $5, but has been marked up to $8 in 2022.

Along with Burger Week, there is also Pizza Week, Dumpling Week, and my favorite, Wings Week. This year’s Wing Week had 27 restaurants in Portland Metro serving specialty flavors unique to the restaurant for 6 pieces for $6. This is a great way for chicken wing lovers to not only eat to their heart’s content, but also an opportunity for people to discover new restaurants, food items, and neighborhoods that I would probably never had gone to randomly. However, due to this week, I had the chance to go to 13 different locations (over 4 days) all over Portland Metro and walk around neighborhoods I usually wouldn’t have traveled to. Here is my list of worst to best wings from the ones I’ve tried, this list is solely based off tastes and not factoring in wait time, area, and service… though I will comment about it. SO HERE WE GO, my four days and 71 wings later blog:

*Reverend’s BBQ: “Smoked Wings with Mango BBQ Sauce”

Quick and simple, they were sold out on Saturday at 4pm when we went. Disappointed, but I’ve also heard a lot about Reverend’s and couldn’t leave empty handed. Luckily their happy hour is 3-6pm daily so we got a rib and half a pound of their brisket. Holy smokes the brisket was delicious, I would drive all the way back out to properly eat here again.

12. Fire on the Mountain: “Red Peanut Mole”

Now, this was very conflicting as I’ve gotten the same reaction from anyone I’ve told that FOTM was on the bottom of my list. It would typically proceed with, “Wait really? FOTM is my favorite spot for wings.” And that, I do not disagree. Fire on the Mountain will continue to be my go-to place for buffalo wings if I was in Portland, but unfortunately their Wing Week special was a bit lacking. FOTM was the VERY first place I ate at when I moved to Portland and was looking for something that was open. It has a special place in my heart.

For Wing Week, It was the very first stop and I was excited since I love FOTM. Simply, the flavor wasn’t really there, you could taste the actual peanuts, but in terms of flavor, we didn’t get much of it if any. The wings were cooked well and the ranch was on-point, but besides that, it was a disappointing start. Also, they only gave me five wings, but everyone else got the six. Petty voting perhaps.

My friend who’s practicing vegetarianism commented how the soy wings were really good. They shredded the soy to simulate chicken, and used sugar canes as the “bone”. So to recap, FOTM = good, FOTM Wing Week = not good.

11. Ex Novo Brewing: “Lime Cilantro”

Now taste wise, these wings had a lot more flavor than FOTM, but the texture of the wings were not great. It was chewy and was a tad cold, which made the actual chicken a tad dry. The flavor was there with exactly as advertise, lime and cilantro was definitely on my palette. The issue is that this is not really my preferred taste, but that was my personal preference as I get some people may like it a lot.

A side thing was that it took about 15 minutes to sit because we got here at rush hour. Then another 15 to get our food, and another 10 to get the check. Those are all very nit-picky things as this was our third spot on the list. I would have been happy to share this than get our own. Overall though, Ex Novo is well known in Portland and they’ve opened locations in Beaverton & Hillsboro with a great beer selection.

10. Duke’s Public House: “Elote Wings”

This was the only spot we tried in Lake Oswego, OR. There were two places in town, but the other spot’s flavor didn’t intrigue me. Elote wings though? I’m there. The bar was on a corner of a main street and a quiet neighborhood, food comments aside, this block had nothing but dream homes for me. It was beautiful. The public house had outdoor games and seemed very kid and family friendly. We sat at the huge outdoor patio area and had great and attentive service near closing time.

For the wings, I was disappointed by the texture, but I think I set myself up with high expectations. The chicken tasted like it was baked and just tossed with line juice, cojita cheese, and canned corn. The chicken was juicy, but the lime was overpowering on some of the wings that my eyes winced. Overall, the wings just tasted like banked wings with cheese and sour lime juice on it. The dip was the saving grace.

9. Big’s Chicken: “Smoked & Fried Wings”

There are two Big’s locations, the original in downtown Beaverton, and the other one is in Portland. Unfortunately for me, only the Portland location had the special, and from where I live, it was a helluv a drive. I’ve had the usual items at Big’s Chicken before, which is their signature smoked wings and jojos on the side. This was exactly that, but with a bunch of chili pepper tossed with it.

Generally, their smoked wings are delicious with the smoky flavor and moist chicken. Unfortunately for their special, it was overpowered by the chili pepper flakes all over, it tasted like they tossed the wings in “Lao Gan Ma Chili Oil”, even seeing the peanuts in there. It wasn’t too spicy, but it did bring up some warmth. The “saving grace” for me was their house ranch with pesto mixed in. It helped temper the overpowering chili oil flavor and brought a cool ranch taste with a slight kick of the pesto. I could dip the jojos in that all day.

8. Moreland Ale: “Pineapple Habanero”

This was the last spot we went to for Wing Week, we were going to go to one or two more, but became too full. This “dive bar” was packed on a Saturday with people watching the Oregon Ducks play on one side of the bar, and Alabama playing on the other. We went in not knowing anything about the special, but just that there are three spots in the Sellwood district of Portland participating in Wing Week. We waited in line for the bar to order, got the special and a glass of a cherry cider, then found a seat.

The wings itself were standard chicken wings I’d expect at a bar, a tad dry, but well coated with their pineapple habanero sauce. It was more on the sweet side than the spicy and had a nice aftertaste. Overall, not bad, but not my flavor. I typically order spicier wings than sweet ones. Because of that, it wasn’t memorable for me.

7. Prime Taphouse: “Spicy Lemongrass”

I admit that I have a soft spot for Prime Taphouse. An Asian-American owner with a newly expanded location in Beaverton. I got to witness the different stages of Prime Taphouse in Beaverton, and something they are known for, are their Asian inspired flavors of wings. From Thai peanut to Hong Kong inspired salt & pepper wings, to fish sauce and chili crisp. Prime Taphouse is my go to spot.

For Wing Week, we decided to try out the Beaverton location for the first time, opened in May 2022 in a condo/apartment complex at West End, it’s a nice addition to the food surrounding. We got pineapple cider and their spicy lemongrass special. Though it didn’t look like the photos, the lemongrass taste came through strong. It definitely had a lingering kick and the chicken was cooked well per usual. I’m a fan of lemongrass chicken, and this was just another twist to the typical dish of Vietnam.

6. Migration Brewing: “Wave it Like a Helicopta”

Migration was the first spontaneous solo visit for Wing Week, and the furtest away. I got there at 1pm, so the place had a small lunch crowd, but was relatively empty. I’ve heard of Migration Brewing, but have never been. For Wing Week, Migration had two different flavors for their two locations. I didn’t get a chance to go to the other. I went straight to the bar to put in an order of their wings and their sour on tap. I went to the outside patio to wait, but the food came out in a few minutes.

Carolina BBQ sauce, pickles, and cornbread. I love red onion, so I was excited for this one. It was sweet, tangy, with the smallest bit of heat. The pickles were a nice salty balance to the sweetness. The cornbread, however, was dry, but I appreciated the add-on. I had my meal interrupted by a gang of bees that flew all over the wings and sour, that I had to move inside. From my experience and seeing the décor, I would definitely make my way there again if I was in the neighborhood. It’s a great local spot for sure.

5. Ecliptic Brewing: “Smoky Hot Honey”

Prime Taphouse is my soft-spot in Beaverton, but Ecliptic is my overall soft-spot in Portland. I used to come to Ecliptic for their Tuesday Burger specials, their burger week, and their large selection of in-house beer. One of my favorite beers of all time was made at Ecliptic, unfortunately it was a seasonal flavor.

For the wings, they were done well and were extremely juicy. The honey was evident and had a light kick. I know I’ve mentioned that I’m not a sweet chicken guy, but combined with the heat, this place had it. It was the second spot on the list, so I feel like it had a slight boost from the disappointment of FOTM. Combined with their Carina Peach Sour, it was a nice combination to wash it all down. My friend Lauren, who is vegetarian, said that if they had this flavor with the soy “chicken wing” from FOTM, it would be a winning combo.

4. La Jarana: “Akishisho Wings”

This one is slightly controversial because we originally came here on Wednesday, but it was sold out by 7pm even though they open at 4pm. With disappointment, we left for our next spot. Two days later on my solo trip, I decided to give this place another shot, not because of their wings, but because I really wanted to try their Berry Pisco cocktail. I had gotten there 30 minutes early from opening, and walked around the block a bit to find a beer hall. I was feeling a bit tired from the drinks I had prior so I went back to the car to nap. Waking up in sweat and humidity, I made my block-long trek back to La Jarana which is inside Lulu bar.

I put an order for the wing special and the berry pisco cocktail and waited. To my surprise, an old co-worker surprised me and we got to catch-up. With great conversation and a beautifully decorated date spot, I already knew my senses were elevated. What brought it up to the next level was the friendly bartenders who made the berry pisco, and boy, even though that drink cost $15, it was one of the best cocktails I’ve ever had. With egg whites shaken together, it had a frothy and refreshing taste of summer.

As for the wings, it was a Japanese & Peruvian fusion of flavor. Great texture, a little sweet heat that worked. The wings were a bit on the smaller side, so we ran through them in a few minutes. The drink, wings, company, ambience was a great combo to end my Friday.

3. Holler: “Sweet Holler BBQ Wings”

The first spot on our Saturday wing hunt, and second to last spot of the week. A fun sports bar in the Sellwood neighborhood, Holler literally owned the block from their bar and restaurant on one corner, transitioning with an arcade with brand new games in the middle, and end up on the other corner with Holler Treats which is their dessert spot selling cake and ice cream. On top of Holler are what looked to be apartment buildings, so whoever is living up top, has a great place to go hangout at downstairs. The whole neighborhood looked like a nice walking area.

This was my surprise of the week, as I didn’t expect the wings to come out breaded and crispy like this. We did order a sour beer and fried pickles on the side. Fried pickles were disappointing, so I was a tad worried about the wings. The wings were GREAT. A sweet tang with a hearty crunch and a moist inside (that’s what she said). Again, not a huge BBQ sauce or sweet chicken guy, but this worked really well for me. This is something that I hope ends up on the menu so I can order again in the future. If I wasn’t full, I would have ordered a second plate.

2. ChiMcking: “Fried Wing”

There are three ChiMcking locations in Portland metro, but my go-to one is in Beaverton due to distance from my house. The area is typically busy since it’s right next to Trader Joe’s, but we got there for lunch at 1pm and there was plenty of parking and no wait. Known for their Korean wings, I was pleasantly surprised to see it came with six wings and “three” flavors. The first pair were their classic naked wings, the second pair was their sweet wings, and their last pair was a Korean spice wings which is a mix of spice and sweetness. What’s special about Korean wings is that it was twice fried, so you can definitely taste the crunch and flavor come through. I feel the chicken was brined, because you can really taste seasoning past the outer layer. You could tell they have chicken wing experience.

My friend Issac agreed that this was one of the top ones we’ve had tried, he said this would be his #1. After we ate, we walked around the plaza and was sad to see my favorite hot chocolate spot closed down, but was happy to see they had opened a NOLA Doughnuts which served beignets. Great overall taste and experience.

1. Todo: “Atotolin Wings”

Finally, the grand finale. Another huge surprised. This was the last place we went to on Wednesday, we foolishly thought we could hit up 6-7 places on the first day, this was spot number four and the last for the evening. Prior, we were disappointed to find out La Jarana was sold out, and made our way here. A 20-minute wait, which we debated about ditching halfway through, but damn glad we didn’t. Matter of fact, it was a blessing that La Jarana sold out, because after we got our wings here, we heard them telling guests they had just ran out too.

Mixed wit a pisco sour, these wings came out hot. It was out first “non-traditional” wing, and I didn’t even think that Wing Week could do such a thing, to have breaded chicken (I say chicken, since I got mostly thighs and not wings). Wow. What a fucking kick to my face. Not only with flavor, but the spice got Issac and I sweating like no other. However, it was a good spice, and the chicken had to be brined, because the flavor from the salsa verda creama down to the bone had flavor. I dreamed about this the next few nights and would 100% drive back into Portland just for this and pay non-Wing Week prices for it. If the salsa verde crema was a dipping sauce, I could imagine the flavor level to blow the roof off. I’m in love with Todo now, they’ve made a fan of me for life.

Click for my Portland Wing Week photos