The All State

Media Credit: Mateen Sidiq Fall colors, football season, cold weather: It's time for wings. Yum. [Click to enlarge]

As a sports fan, at this time of year when I think of dining and entertainment, the first thing that jumps into my head is football and tailgating. Heaven is donning team colors, grabbing a grill and cooking steaks in a stadium parking lot.

Unfortunately, like most APSU students, after tuition, books, rent and supplies, my budget for "heaven" dwindles quickly. When the Govs are on the road, my favorite alternative is football on television and some good hot wings.

Good hot wings are a delicacy served in many ways. For the sake of my fellow sports fans, I made the sacrifice of traveling to different restaurants in search of the best hot wings available for APSU students.

I am a traditionalist when it comes to hot wings. If it doesn't have bones, it isn't a hot wing. It can have breading, but some form of hot sauce has to be involved. The color spectrum should range from earthy reds to neon orange.

The rest of my criteria for this comparison included distance from APSU, variety, taste, heat, price and access to televisions to watch games. With all of those factors, the choices narrowed down quickly.

After an exhaustive and tasty series of tests, the last two restaurants competing for hot wing supremacy were Hooters and Nothing But Wings (NBW). Both restaurants are less than five minutes from campus, have multiple televisions for game viewing and offer at least five different flavors of hot wings. In addition, they both offer specials and/or discounts.

Some people familiar with the Hooters franchise would point out an obvious difference in service which might sway an otherwise objective male journalist. For those conscientious objectors, I picked up my wings to go. The final winning choice was based on taste alone.

Overall, NBW offers the best hot wings. From the traditional hot wing to more exotic flavors like the Cajun seasoned, NBW had better taste across the board. Hooters offered the hottest wing with its nuclear 3-Mile Island flavor and the most interesting: Samurai.

However, NBW's honey series including the Honey Buffalo would please all hot wing connoisseurs and bears. I was not alone in my decision. Fellow staff members Devon Robinson and Dru Winn agreed with my decision.

When asked which hot wings they preferred and why, Robinson said, "I personally like these better than Hooter's wings. The texture, it didn't seem so mass-produced. It definitely has a more natural taste. I just wish it was cooked a little better."

Winn agreed for different reasons.

"I think they're good. I like the honey barbecue. I am a big honey barbecue fan," Winn said. "These are better because there are not women walking around in little shorts and tops."

People at APSU looking for good hot wings should go to NBW. Guys looking for trouble from girlfriends should go to Hooters. This test is further proof that when we say we eat there for the "almost world famous wings," women aren't buying it.

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