Ah, Wingstop. Truly the pinnacle of specialized chain restaurants. If you want cheap and delicious chicken, this is certainly a great place to go. Wingstop is a wildly popular chain of chicken-vending restaurants, with 1,843 locations across the United States. With such a large and widespread presence, the sheer amount of wings released onto society at large are surely epic figures.
Now, considering just how many people have consumed these wings, it’s about time somebody came around and told them which are the best. Granted, many people have already done this. Our colleagues, we shall call them. However, none of these like-minded wing-rating geniuses wrote for our very own Locomag. Breaking down barriers? Pushing the boundaries? I dare say we might be.
In this article, we extensively review not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR different Wingstop sauce flavors out of the eight different options offered on the menu (discounting any limited-time flavors). Now, why only four? Because that is what the meal deal offers, so naturally these are the only four that will ever be relevant to your order! The four flavors were chosen after reviewing our colleagues’ opinions and collectively tallying up the scores. Overall, the top four Wingstop sauces are Mango Habeñero, Spicy Korean Q, Cajun, and Hickory Smoked BBQ.
Mango Haberñero – 4 on the Wingstop heat meter
At first taste, the mango hits immediately. It’s a sweet but quickly spicy sauce as the habeñero hits and then begins to take over. The mango is quickly lost as the spice engulfs the mouth in heat, but remains as a counterbalancing undertone. The pairing with the chicken and breading itself is excellent, as the salty flavors and juicy texture mingle with the habeñero’s heat. The aftertaste of this wing is less good, as it remains primarily as spice and heat without residual flavor. If spicy wings are your thing, this is probably the best one on the menu as the mango provides a very nice base for the habeñero to come forth.
As for the presentation of this wing, it comes dripping and oozing in its gooey sauces. The orange coloration (presumably from the mango, or at least to give it that appearance) makes this wing very inviting. Truly, a wing to behold.
Personally, we felt that this wing was not our favorite from the bunch. The habeñero, while good at first, became too much of a present flavor, and overpowered both the mango and the chicken. This wing has a 10/10 first-bite presence but progressively falls off as consumption is continued.
Overall, we gave this wing a 6/10. Not our favorite, but it definitely could be yours if you really like habeñero.
Spicy Korean Q – 3 on the Wingstop heat meter
Sweet, tangy, all the flavor you want from a wing. This Korean-inspired BBQ sauce is truly excellent. The first bite fills your mouth with both sauce and rich flavor. This wing has a deeper flavor palette than some of the others we have reviewed in this article for certain. It feels as though the recipe is more diverse, and the ingredients are more synergetic than some of the other sauces. Unlike some of the others, this wing has no single standout flavor, in the best way possible. The blend is immaculate and feels as though it is a perfect reflection of the yin-yang image placed next to the name of it on the Wingstop website. Perfectly balanced, as all wings should be. However, the only criticism that can be found for this delectable wing, is that it has “spicy” in the name. It is not this. If you are looking for spicy, this wing is not packing the heat you want in your mouth. It is not spiceless, but it does not kindle flame. Compared to even the Mango habeñero, it’s a Bic lighter vs. St. Elmo’s fire. This is not a bad thing, per se.
The appearance of this wing is lovely. The dark, syrupy brown sauce coating it seeps into its every crevice, catching the light beautifully. If this wing were a person, it would win Miss Universe. God, the things I would do to this wing.
We gave this one a 9.5/10 because it was delicious. Our only qualm was the false advertising. This boy is not a-spicy.
Cajun – 4 on the Wingstop spice meter
Don’t get us wrong, it’s a decent wing. However, clocking in at the same heat rating as mango habeñero is crazy, ludicrous even. While it was not, not spicy, it was far from as impactful on the taste buds as the habeñero. The underwhelming spice, mixed with the non-Cajun flavor (like, this just tasted like buffalo sauce), led to a disappointing bite. The bulk of the spice did not manifest until the later stages of the wing, to the point where it really was not even spicy until it was finished. This wing tastes pretty much just like a very generic buffalo wing, which it technically is, just with Cajun seasoning, yet the Cajun seasoning flavor was not present enough to even warrant this wing existing as a separate option from the original flavor. We were hood-winged, bamboozled, led astray, run amuck, and flat-out deceived.
The appearance, strangely enough, looked as though the wings were dry, This could be an employee error, as it did appear as though there was simply less sauce, but we cannot afford another order to test this theory. The red color, reminiscent of the mesa desert, felt appropriate for the flavor, though the flavor itself fell short.
This wing gets a 4/10 from us. It was okay, but in all regards below average and underwhelming.
Hickory Smoked BBQ – 2 on the Wingstop spice meter
Okay, so, it is barbeque sauce. Wingstop really did not try to reinvent the wheel on this one. If you like BBQ sauce, yeah this is a good wing. It is not a special or unique flavor or a new take on the classic sauce, but that is not inherently a bad thing. We are rating flavor, not ingenuity. There is actually so little to say about this wing, that this is really it. If you have somehow spent your life without ever tasting any generic brand BBQ sauce, you can get the exact same experience this wing provides at your local grocery store.
The presentation was quite similar to the Korean Q, yet it didn’t have the same ephemeral glow. This wing did not beckon. Brown. Viscous. Bearing likeness to a crude oil deposit. Mhmm…
We can’t hate on BBQ. It’s an OG. But this wing is just so mid. It’s not bad at all, but it doesn’t make it into our next order for sure. It’s a 5/10.
Parting Thoughts
Now we’ve reached the conclusion. Our stomachs are full of shitty wings and some pretty good sauces. Do we wish we only got Korean Q? Yes. Do we think that Cajun should be kicked off the menu? Maybe. Not sure how that one even made it into a general top 4, but if the voters in the U.S. say anything about widely held opinions in this country, it’s not a stretch to think they might have less refined wing-tasting opinions.
If there’s one thing to take away from this article, it’s that the spicy Korean Q is pretty good. Mango habeñero is alright, and you might like it if that’s your jam. Scrap the rest, and spend your money on the garlic parm dry rub, it’s objectively better than anything else on the menu anyway.
Image Credit: Ivan Babydov
