You named them best chicken wings in Charlotte. One Panthers player wanted to see for himself.
Editor’s note: National Wings Day is on July 29, and we thought, what better way to celebrate than with a full celebration of chicken wings in the Charlotte area?
Chicken wings are a game day staple, a solid side order to pair with your pizza and, overall, a main dish with pretty wide appeal to make most meat-eaters a happy camper. So when Wing King Cafe was named CharlotteFive’s Best Chicken Wings spot, I was quietly pretty thrilled.
You see, I’m lucky enough to live smack in the middle of Wing King’s two locations — near Carowinds in South Charlotte and along Doby’s Bridge Road in Fort Mill. Pretty ideal, you might say, for someone who once scrapped the idea of cooking a Thanksgiving turkey and ordered 40 wings from Wing King instead. (We ate leftover wings for days — it was a dream. Five stars. I highly recommend.)
[HUNGRY? 50 best restaurants for chicken wings in the Charlotte region — a searchable guide.]
Now that the secret is out and everyone else knows that Wing King has the best chicken wings in the Charlotte area, let’s take another look at this must-try restaurant.
[RELATED: The votes are in. Here are the best chicken wings in Charlotte, according to you.]
About Wing King
“We’ve been here a long time. We’re a little hole in the wall, but once you find us, you’re going to come back,” Wing King Cafe’s McKenna Murr told CharlotteFive. She’s worked there for 10 years.
The restaurant’s prices make it one of the more reasonable spots around with costs at $7 for 5 wings, $14 for 10 wings, $20 for 15 wings, $26 for 20 wings, $38 for 30 wings, $50 for 40 wings, $60 for 50 wings, $115 for 100 wings.
There’s 38 flavors on the menu for fried wings, and 13 more for grilled wings. If you can’t decide which one to order — and let’s face it, the sauces are why we get wings in the first place — then you can go for the King Sampler, with five sets of five flavors with three dressings for $33.
Options for dressings include ranch (and yes, it’s the good ranch), blue cheese, onion ring sauce, horsey sauce, sweet chili, honey mustard and marinara.
“Their sauces and their spices are so much different than what anybody else has. It’s just the place to be,” customer Rick Norris said.
And bonus: You can also get loaded tots, fried pickles and a Drunken Burger, drenched in beer cheese. Salads and lighter options are also on the menu, such as grilled shrimp or a grilled chicken Philly bowl.
I’m not alone
After Wing King was named the winner of our Readers’ Choice contest, we sent a few friends to check the place out.
Former Charlotte Observer reporter Jonathan Alexander and Panthers center Bradley Bozeman visited Wing King to chow down and report back. CharlotteFive videographer Alex Cason was there to capture their reactions and officially crown the restaurant a winner of CharlotteFive’s 2022 Reader Choice Awards.
Here are a few snippets of what they had to say (and you can find their full report in the video above):
- On Wing King’s Ming Wing flavor: “OK, this is fire,” Alexander said. I’m not even lying.” Bozeman agreed: “Perfect size, perfect crisp, perfect taste. This is really good.”
- “These are some quality wings,” Alexander added later.
Wing King Cafe
Location: 13209 Carowinds Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28273
Neighborhood: South Charlotte
Location: 200 N Dobys Bridge Rd #164, Fort Mill, SC 29715
Neighborhood: Fort Mill
Instagram: @wingking_cafe
This story was originally published July 28, 2022 at 6:10 AM.
