Where to Find the Best Chicken Wings in Raleigh (and The Triangle)

I feel like chicken tonight…chicken wings, that is! Wings are one of the nation’s favorite snacks, and sometimes you just feel like winging it. If you’re wondering where to get the best chicken wings in Raleigh and the Greater Triangle area, then the locals have come to your aid.

We reached out to our community of Raleigh locals and asked them where you can find the best chicken wings. Of course, the best wings come down to how you like your wings, but we’ve listed 27 options that the locals love so you’re bound to find a place that gets your tastebuds salivating on this list.

26 Restaurants Serving Great Chicken Wings in Raleigh

Woody’s Sports Tavern

Woody’s is a popular sports bar with three locations in the Triangle; Raleigh, Cary, and Morrisville. However, the one that does the best wings is the branch in Cary! Woody’s specializes in lighter-bite, bar food cuisine, and is the perfect place to pick up some wings as a side snack whilst enjoying a beer with friends or watching the latest Wolfpack game on the screen.

Their wings are all made to order, and come in servings of 6, 12, or 24. You also have a choice of sauces which are served on the side for dipping (if you order 24 you can choose two sauces); the options are ranch, bleu cheese, or dill sauce. However, we recommend getting the extra habanero mango sauce; which is insanely hot, but tasty if you love spicy food.

• Address: 8322 Chapel Hill Rd, Cary
• Website: WoodysSportsTavern.com

The Raleigh Times

The Raleigh Times is a historic family-friendly restaurant nestled inside the former printing house of the local paper. The Times Peruvian Grilled Wings are a popular item on the menu and come with a really yummy cilantro sauce. These are char-grilled wings and drumettes seasoned in Peruvian spices and come with the sauce on the side for dipping, making them gluten-free. It’s my usual order when eating at Raleigh Times. The outdoor seating area or rooftop patio is great for a warm summer’s day.

• Address: 14 E Hargett Street, Raleigh, NC 27601
• Website: https://www.raleightimesbar.com

V Pizza (Cary)

V Pizza is one of our favorite restaurants in Cary, and their wood-fired roasted wings are some of Caroline’s favorites because all of their wings are gluten-free! The V Signature Wings in particular are cooked to perfection and expertly seasoned, with fresh lemon, rosemary, garlic, EVOO and V spice mix and then topped with caramelized onions – yum!

The Calabrian Wings are also highly rated and come with a nice char-grilled finish thanks to the wood-fire cooking technique. There are only four options to choose from, but four options are all you need when every option is a crowd-pleaser!

• Address: 1389 Kildaire Farm Rd, Cary
• Website: vpizza.com

Boatman Spirits

Tucked down the alley in Seaboard Station, Boatman Spirits is one of the city’s most stylish new distillery-restaurants — all glowing copper stills, moody lighting, and polished industrial design. It’s the kind of place you walk into and instantly think: We’re staying awhile. Their grilled za’atar wings quickly earned a spot on our Best Wings in Raleigh list. They’re cooked over flame, rubbed in a bold Mediterranean herb blend, and finished with a bright, tangy sumac ranch that takes the flavor to a whole new level. Smoky, citrusy, herby — truly unlike any other wing in Raleigh.

📌 Don’t miss:

• Half-price appetizers every Third Thursday (a great reason to make this your new Thursday night hangout)
• $10 craft cocktails every Thursday— we’ve raved about these before in our reel; they’re creative, beautifully balanced, and a steal for the quality. The Old Vogue is a standout and makes my top 3 best old fashions in Raleigh
• A warm, social atmosphere perfect for date nights or catch-ups with friends

If you want wings with personality — and a space that feels equal parts elevated and inviting — Boatman Spirits is a must. Their fries cooked in beef tallow and elevated with the sumac ranch helped land it a place in our best fries in Raleigh list. They’re also on our list for best places to eat Mediterranean food in Raleigh

• Address: Seaboard Station Drive, Raleigh
• Website:

State of Beer at The Bend

One of my favorite new wings in Raleigh can be found at the brand-new State of Beer at The Bend on W. Morgan Street — Downtown Raleigh’s newest destination for gourmet sandwiches, hearty salads, and an impressive lineup of beer, wine, liquor, and non-alcoholic bevvies. Inside, you’ll find a relaxed, modern dining room; outside, there’s no shortage of patio seating and sunny spots to linger.

Their harissa dry-rub wings are absolutely sensational — bold, spicy, fragrant, and so craveable I’m already plotting my return. And if you show up on a busy night and they’re sold out (like they were on my last visit), don’t stress. The SOB buffalo wings are not a consolation prize. They’re melt-in-your-mouth delicious, perfectly sauced, and just as worthy of a spot on this list.

Pair your wings with a beer or wine from the State of Beer taproom, or grab a cocktail from The Bend Bar next door. Bonus tip:
You can order food from State of Beer and enjoy it over on The Bend’s gorgeous outdoor patio and beer garden — think twinkle lights, trees, cozy firepits, and a true neighborhood hangout vibe.

• Address: 851 West Morgan Street
• Website:

Parkside Restaurant

Parkside Restaurant is a retro-industrial style restaurant in Raleigh’s trendy warehouse district, known for serving up comfortable South American cuisine. We personally love their biscuits and chicken and waffles, but they also have fantastic wings! They have a variety of sauces to choose from; BBQ, honey buffalo, peach habanero, gochujang spicy Asian, or six chili.

The honey buffalo wings are a popular favorite, which are fat and meaty, flavourful, and cooked to perfection. It’s an A++ from us. It’s also one of our favorite brunch spots in Raleigh. Parkside also has a location at Wendell Falls.

• Address: 301 West Martin Street
• Website: raleigh.parksiderestaurant.com

Buffalo Brothers Pizza & Wing Co.

Buffalo Brothers is a laid-back, all-American restaurant serving up hearty meals like pizza, burgers, and fries. What drives the local community here though, are the authentic Buffalo wings, which are cooked to perfection every time! Choose between grilled or fried or go boneless by the pound!

The wings at Buffalo Brothers are designed for sharing, choose between 10, 20, or 40 wings plus a sauce of your choice. The blue cheese sauce is a particular favorite, but we found their hot wings aren’t too spicy. If you want spice, go for the Habanero lime or higher heat levels. As proud partners of the Carolina Hurricanes, you can expect them to be busy during game days, so expect loud noises and lots of buzz if you choose to dine in! They also have locations near Lake Boone Trail, Cary, and Garner.

• Address: 3111 Capital Blvd, Raleigh
• Website: buffbrothers.com 

Wings Over Raleigh 

Wings Over Raleigh has been serving chicken wings for over two decades and they specialize in making delicious and messy wings that get your tastebuds singing to their bold flavors. Winsg Over Raleigh delivers solid wings with just the right level of crispiness! It’s recommended to get the sauce on the side otherwise they come drenched (unless you like that, of course!). 

They have three styles to choose from; crispy tenders, grilled or classic wings, with a range of different sauces and rubs. They might even have the biggest selection of flavors to choose from in the Raleigh area! From Honey BBQ to Cajun BBQ to Teriyaki, Jamaican Jerk, Mustang Ranch, and Sweet and Sour, there’s a flavor for everyone. They don’t have a huge amount of seating inside, but they have a lovely patio outside, and since it’s onHillsborough Street, it’s a prime spot for college students!

• Address: 2900 Hillsborough St, Raleigh
• Website: wingsover.com

My Way Tavern (Raleigh) 

My Way Tavern is a sports bar known for playing English Premier League games on TV, and they also serve 22 beers on draft (15 of which are local). The menu is mainly made up of appetizers and small bar food plates, but the wings are what people come here for! They come by weight (1LB), rather than the number of wings, and come with several types of rubs and dipping sauce!

Choose between medium, hot, raspberry chipotle, spicy Asian, spicy garlic, My Way, Carolina Gold, dry rub jerk, spicy dry rub with honey, pineapple reaper XX hot, or El Jefe XXX hot. It has a relaxed atmosphere that’s perfect for meeting up with friends and sharing a bucket of wings! My Way Tavern makes our list of best bar food in Raleigh.

• Address: 522 St Marys St, Raleigh
• Website: MyWayTavern.com

Sharky’s Place Sports Bar & Grill 

Sharky’s is a long-standing sports bar with a casual setting, pool hall, and large outdoor seating area. Their menu is inspired by Cajun cuisine because the co-owners were born in the Big Easy. Their wings are slow-cooked on a pig cooker and then flash-fried to add some crispness. You can also choose whether you want to add a rub or a sauce, but even the bare-smoked wings are delicious on their own.

The choice of rubs includes Salt & Pepper, Lemon Pepper, Cajun, Old Bay Butter or Garlic Butter, and the sauce options are BBQ, Amanda Hot–Fried, Angry Asian, Buffalo, Honey Hot, Teriyaki, Spicy BBQ, Garlic Parmesan, Mild, Hot or Randy Hot, or Sharky’s Sauce. Servings come with 10 wings and are all fried unless you opt for grilled which takes an additional 15 minutes.

• Address: 5800 Duraleigh Rd, Raleigh
• Website: sharkysnc.com 

Sam Jones BBQ 

Sam Jones BBQ was founded in early 2021 and is run by a family of NC BBQ enthusiasts whose love of the BBQ goes back three generations. They are known for their whole hog which is smoked on site every day, but their wings have received glowing praise from the Raleigh community. Choose between a serving of 6 or 12, and decide whether you have it served straight up or tossed in a buffalo, BBQ, or Alabama white sauce. All wings are smoked to perfection!

• Address: 502 W Lenoir St, Raleigh
• Website: SamJonesBBQ.com/raleigh

Smokestacks Cafe, Raleigh

With name like Smokestacks, you can feel confident that you’re going to get some delicious food comprised of house-smoked meats.
Located in Historic Oakwood, SmokeStacks is intimate and elevated without being pretentious. You’ll feel like you’re sitting in someone’s front garden and can relax into with your best Southern afternoon pose. You’ll be stunned with the deliciousness on their menu, which changes DAILY, to ensure everything is always fresh and house made.

A staple on the menu though is their signature smoked wings, which I found to be smoky, spicy and creamy. Fan favorites for house-made wing sauce are the Bourbon BBQ, Garlic Buffalo, and Parmesan Lemon pepper. Why not go wild with the truffle honey mustard curry sauce or spicey peach and pineapple!

• Address: 701 East Lane Street, Raleigh
• Website: smokestackscaferaleigh.com

Sammy’s Tap & Grill

We’d be remiss if we did not include one of our long-time favorite places to get wings in Raleigh. When we first moved to Raleigh in 2004, this was our local as we lived nearby on Lake Johnson and have fond memories of watching college and pro games with friends over a pitcher of Yuengling and serving of wings – and cheap wings at that. We were on a big-time budget and Sammy’s with their $1 wing specials was a treat.

They have jumbo buffalo wings tossed in your sauce of choice ranging from extra hot, Sammy’s Signature sauce, Wolfie’s BBQ, Teriyaki and more. If you like more of a boneless buffalo bite, they have them too! We also rate Sammy’s as one of the best sports bars in Raleigh (I mean it’s close to NC State) especially if you are a Pittsburg Steelers or Alabama Crimson Tide fan as they have a home base here! Carolina Hurricanes fans also like to chow down on wings here on match day.

• Address: 2235 Avent Ferry Rd, Raleigh
• Website: SammysTapGrill.com

The CASSO Hotel

During our staycation at the Casso Hotel we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at their onsite Good Day, Good Night restaurant and a highlight of our meal was the Good Night Wings. I’ve never had wings like these before – 8 Crispy Wings tossed in a Spiced Maple Glaze. They smelt like pancakes and tasted fantastic!

• Address: 603 W Morgan St, Raleigh (inside CASSO Hotel)
• Website: www.gdgnraleigh.com

Flippin Wings (Clayton)

Looking for the best budget chicken wings? Then you’ll want to head over to Clayton for $1 wings at Flippin Wings. Flippin Wings specializes in chicken wings and every order is made fresh, which does incur a bit of a wait time, but it’s definitely worth it. The wings are large, juicy, and packed with flavor!  You can choose between boneless wings, hand-breaded tenders, or go traditional, and if you order 6 wings or more, you can choose a sauce on the side. The Garlic Parm and Honey Q sauce are two of the most popular sauces. All sides and sauces are sold separately. 

• Address: 11466 US-70 BUS, Clayton
• Website: flippinwings.com 

Upper Deck Sports Pub (Cary) 

Upper Deck is a dive bar in Cary that has a no-fuss atmosphere, great service, and delicious food! It’s the place to go hang out with friends, shoot some darts (they have 17 boards!), play pool, watch a sporting event on the screens, or share a bucket of wings!

The Upper Deck has giant wings that are wet on the inside and crispy on the outside. They pride themselves on having the best wings in the Triangle, and they score a home run every time! Choose between traditional wings or boneless wings, from small portions of 6 all the way up to party-size buckets of 100! The choices of flavors are classic buffalo, Rochersy, Kevin’s cajun dry rub, honey BBQ, Teriyaki, Garlic Parmesan, Hotyaki, Nashville hot, “wheels up” BBQ and Upper Deck style. Come on Thursdays, when they have 50% of boneless wings on special.

• Address: 329 N Harrison Ave, Cary
• Website: upperdecksportspub.com 

JD’s Tavern (Apex) 

JD’s Tavern is another sports bar serving up non-fuss American fare with craft brews on tap. Their slow-roasted grilled wings are the reason to come to JD’s – it’s the only place where you can get your wings seasoned, and then slow-roasted, and finally grilled for crispiness. They come with lots of meat and don’t skimp out on the sauces and flavorings. They are also so tender they fall off the bone!

All wings are served with celery and carrots, and you can choose between 5, 10 and 20 wings per serving with a choice of sauce – wings come tossed in sauce, not on the side. They also have grilled boneless wings and crispy buffalo wings and come with either ranch or bleu cheese sauce on the side. 

• Address: 800 W Williams St Suite #100, Apex 
• Website: jdstavernapex.com 

Read more: Apex Restaurants The Locals Love!

Aversboro Restaurant (Garner) 

Aversboro is a casual pub-grub restaurant with an amazing outdoor seating area in the heart of Garner. They are noted for serving excellent New York-style buffalo wings, which come with a selection of two sauces. Choose between portions of 10 or 20, in either classic wing style or boneless. All wings come with celery and carrot sticks and a choice of ranch or bleu cheese dressing.

• Address: 1411 Aversboro Rd, Garner 

Soo Cafe 

Looking for some Korean fried chicken wings? Then Soo Cafe is the place to go, especially for the SOGA flavor. They’re a no-frills restaurant located inside a shopping center and their wings are known to be the crispiest in Raleigh! All their dishes are made from scratch, so allow about 15 minutes for your order to cook. You can choose between portions of 6 or 10, and come with up to two sauces. Though if you choose two sauces they will come on one plate and you won’t know which is which!

• Address: 2815 Brentwood Rd, Raleigh
• Website: facebook.com/pages/Soo-Cafe/

RallyPoint Sports Grill (Cary) 

RallyPoint in Cary is known for being a “chill bar” with classic American pub fare. It has a welcoming, pub atmosphere with sports playing on the TVs, poker nights and live music in the evenings. They serve both traditional on-the-bone wings and boneless, in sizes of 8, 16 or 32. There are also several choices of sauce and rubs, but the sweet Thai chili comes highly recommended. The signature Sweet Caroline sauce is also a winner.

• Address: 837 Bass Pro Ln, Cary
• Website: rallypointsportgrill.com 

Locked & Loaded (Garner) 

Locked & Loaded is a trucker-style restaurant with a lovely, casual outdoor seating area and a simply all-American tavern-style diner inside. You’ll be as surprised as we were with the quality of their food! They are known for their Jumbo Traditional Wings which all come with the usual bleu cheese or ranch dressing with celery on the side. You can choose between 5, 8, 14, 25, or 40 pieces of wings. With every 10 wings, you get a choice of sauce and can pay an additional $1.50 for all drums of flats. Raleigh locals love Locked & Loaded because they are consistent with what they serve. Every time you visit, you’ll have wings cooked to perfection. 

• Address: 305 McCormick St, Garner
• Website: llgrill.com

Kickback Jack’s (Garner) 

Kickback Jack’s claims to have “award-winning wings,” though which award is unknown, however, they are a crowd pleaser amongst the Raleigh community. Choose between fried, grilled, or dry rub wings, and your choice of sauce in varying levels of heat, from Lemon Pepper on the mild end to Hot Buffalo in the fire pit!

The grilled wings are particularly well-rated amongst the locals. You can choose between a portion of 10 or 20, and for an additional charge, you can choose to have all flats or drumettes. Kickback Jack’s is a casual, trucker-stop style restaurant with high tables and bar stools, with sports games on the TV screens.

• Address: 1405 Garner Station Blvd, Raleigh
• Website: kbjacks.com/raleigh-nc-garner 

Tantra Indian Grill (Selma)

Yes, these wings are technically in Selma in Johnston County… and yes, they’re absolutely worth a visit. We discovered Tantra Indian Grill when we caught the train to Selma for a day trip and wandered into the lot behind Quantum Toad, where this humble food truck was parked. One bite in and we looked at each other like: Did we just find some of the best Indian food in the Triangle?

Their tandoori chicken wings are fall-off-the-bone tender, deeply marinated, and kissed with smoky, clay-oven flavor. They’d easily take the number-one spot on this entire list — they’re that good. And if you go (and you should), take home the butter chicken. It was rich, creamy, velvety perfection… so good it became both dinner and lunch the next day. Tantra may be small, but the flavor is enormous — and if you’re a wing lover, it deserves a top spot on your must-try list.

• Address: 116 S Raiford St, Selma
• Website

Map of these Chicken Wing Restaurants

Disappointed your favorite wings in Raleigh is not on the list? We certainly can’t taste all the wings in Raleigh (although we’d like to try!) so now is your chance to share new ones for us, and all the readers of this post to try. We’ll keep adding to the list. Tell us in the comments where to get the best wings in Raleigh and why!