The 10 best wings in Chicago

Chicago wings run from mild-sauce counters on the West Side to hickory-smoked bar wings in Old Town, with Korean-style lollipops on Lawrence Avenue in between. This ranked guide to the best wings in Chicago is for anyone in Chicago planning a game-day order, a late night out or a trip across town for one particular sauce.

The list favors kitchens where wings are the main event, and the ten picks mix counter shops, sports bars and sit-down restaurants on the North, West and South sides. National chains are left out, and local brands with several stores appear once. A six-wing order costs $14 at a West Town sports bar, a single order of smoked wings in Old Town costs $18.95, and party platters of 40 to 50 wings run about $90 to $95.

How we chose

Rank follows how many independent Chicago roundups name each kitchen’s wings: Time Out Chicago’s wing list from January 2021, InsideHook’s February 2023 picks and The Infatuation’s wing guide, last updated November 2, 2026. Places named by two of those sources rank ahead of places named by one. Inside each group, years in business and how much of the menu is built around wings set the order. The Uptown counter shop at No. 10 sits last because a new operator took over the address in December 2024, after most reviews of the shop ran. Every pick was checked against a 2025 or 2026 City of Chicago inspection or license record and, where one exists, the business’s own website.

Hours and prices below come from each business and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.

Great Sea Restaurant

On a stretch of Lawrence Avenue in Albany Park, Great Sea Restaurant runs a Chinese-Korean menu of noodles and other dishes, but the signature lollipop wings are the reason for the trip. Each wing is trimmed so the meat gathers at one end of the bone, then marinated, deep-fried and finished in a savory, spicy coating. The restaurant’s site says the wings come mild or blazing hot. Two of the city’s major wing roundups include these wings, and Great Sea topped one of them, which puts the restaurant first here. Plan around Tuesday, the one day the dining room is closed.

Hours: Mon and Wed-Sun 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Tue.

Address: 3253 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60625

Why they made the list

• Great Sea’s spicy lollipop wings ranked No. 1 in Time Out Chicago’s January 2021 guide to the city’s best wings.
• The Infatuation describes the wings as Korean-style lollipops in a guide updated November 2, 2026.
• Great Sea takes pickup orders through the restaurant’s own website.
• Pao Pao, Inc. holds the city food license for the restaurant, renewed in April 2025.

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Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken

Chicago mild sauce, the sweet and tangy red sauce poured over fried chicken across the South and West Sides, is the reason to visit Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken at Madison Street and Central Avenue in Austin. Wings are sold by the piece, double-battered and fried, then coated in the house sauce. The Madison store opened in August 1969 and is the oldest Uncle Remus still running, according to the company. That longevity, plus spots on two major wing guides, puts the shop second. Anyone who finds straight mild too sweet can ask for half hot and half mild.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 5611 W Madison St, Chicago, IL 60644

Why they made the list

• Gus and Mary Rickette, who moved to Chicago from Leland, Mississippi, opened G & G Chicken Shack in 1963 and launched the Uncle Remus brand in February 1969.
• Their daughter, Charmaine Rickette Alfred, has run the Black-owned, women-led company since August 1991.
• The Central and Madison store reopened in April 2022 after a renovation.
• Other Uncle Remus stores operate on East 47th Street in Bronzeville, in Broadview and at 26th Street and Wabash Avenue, the newest location.

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Bird’s Nest

The house slogan at Bird’s Nest says the staff take wings seriously and not much else, and the Southport Avenue tavern in Lincoln Park has served the neighborhood since 1995. Expect meaty wings with crunchy bits, tossed in any sauce. The Infatuation and InsideHook both point first-timers to the peppery house hot sauce. Two independent roundups and more than three decades in business put the bar third. Doors open at 4 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, so save a lunch visit for Wednesday through Sunday.

Hours: Mon-Tue 4 p.m. to midnight; Wed-Sun 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Address: 2500 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

Why they made the list

• Bird’s Nest made InsideHook’s February 2023 list of Chicago’s best wings, which also noted the patio and live music.
• A second Bird’s Nest is open at 11 W. Davis St. in Arlington Heights, and both bars work from the same food menu.
• The bar runs a food or drink special every day of the week, according to the bar’s website.

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Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap

Wings anchor the menu at Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap, a River North sports bar at Superior Street and Wabash Avenue. Jumbo wings come bone-in, boneless or as cauliflower in eight standing sauces, from original Buffalo and the grilled, garlicky Ponchos to the XXXX, a blend of habanero, ghost pepper, scorpion and reaper peppers. A rotating wing of the month adds one more. Time Out Chicago and The Infatuation both list the wings, which puts Jake’s fourth. Groups watching a game can split the Gameday Tower, 42 wings with any four sauces for $89.95.

Hours: Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Address: 41 E Superior St, Chicago, IL 60611

Why they made the list

• A single-sauce order of jumbo wings costs $18.95, and an eight-wing combo with two sauces costs $20.95.
• The lemon pepper flavor is a dry rub of citrus and black pepper rather than a wet sauce.
• Time Out Chicago lists the Red Line’s Chicago stop and the No. 3, 4 and 10 buses as the closest transit.
• Private parties and catering orders can be booked through the bar’s website.

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Output Lounge & Sports Bar

Since 2011, Output Lounge & Sports Bar has been a West Town wing stop on Grand Avenue, run by owner Eddie Gutierrez with executive chef Fidel Garcia in the kitchen. Wings come traditional or boneless, fried or grilled, and get bowl-spun in sauces that include lemon pepper, mango ghost pepper, scotch bonnet avocado and Jim Beam honey BBQ. The Infatuation singled out the lemon pepper, and Time Out Chicago listed the wings too, a pairing that puts Output fifth. Groups of five or more get an automatic gratuity during major sporting events, and peak hours carry a 90-minute table limit.

Hours: Mon-Wed noon to 10:30 p.m.; Thu 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to midnight; Sun 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Address: 1758 W Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Why they made the list

• Six wings with one sauce cost $14, and 10 wings with two sauces cost $20.
• The Crow Platter brings 50 wings in five sauces with garlic parm wedges and onion rings for $95.
• Every wing order comes with ranch or blue cheese, and extra cups cost 75 cents.
• Output caters events for up to 200 guests.

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Cleo’s Southern Cuisine

Cottage Grove Avenue in Bronzeville is home to the original Cleo’s Southern Cuisine, a 12-seat storefront where sauced wings share the menu with Southern standards such as fried catfish. The Infatuation’s pick is the sauced six, a six-wing dinner with three sauces (mango habanero, sweet red chili and spiced bourbon), two sides such as mac and cheese or greens, and a corn muffin. Wing coverage from two major guides puts Cleo’s sixth, just behind the wing-first bars. The Bronzeville flagship opens only Friday through Sunday, so weekday cravings go to the Lakeview location on Lincoln Avenue.

Hours: Fri-Sat noon to 8 p.m.; Sun noon to 6 p.m.; closed Mon-Thu.

Address: 4248 S Cottage Grove Ave, Chicago, IL 60653

Why they made the list

• Time Out Chicago included Cleo’s in a January 2021 roundup of the city’s best wings.
• All Cleo’s locations are cashless, and the Bronzeville storefront has no public restroom.
• The Bronzeville kitchen takes last orders 35 minutes before closing.
• The Lakeview location at 2826 N. Lincoln Ave. has 50 indoor seats and a 50-seat patio.

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Harold’s Chicken #71

Harold Pierce opened the first Harold’s Chicken in Chicago in 1950, and the franchise now counts more than 45 stores in eight states, according to the company. The store on The Infatuation’s wing guide is Harold’s Chicken #71 on Michigan Avenue in the South Loop. Order the wings, fried to a crisp brown coat and finished with Chicago mild sauce. One guide citation and the brand’s 76-year history put #71 seventh. For a ride home, ask for the sauce on the side so the crust holds up.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 2132 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60616

Why they made the list

• Harold’s corporate office keeps an online roster of authorized franchise stores, and #71 is on it.
• Percy, Inc. holds the store’s City of Chicago food license, renewed in June 2026.
• Most authorized stores on the company roster are in Illinois, with others as far away as Phoenix and Houston.

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Woodie’s Flat

Three floors and a patio on Wells Street make Woodie’s Flat a roomy Old Town game-day bar, and the wings are smoked in-house over hickory and applewood. The Infatuation adds that they are air-dried and double-fried, and they come regular, grilled or boneless. Sauces run from classic Buffalo and Nashville hot to sticky sesame, chimichurri and parmesan-garlic, with a new sauce of the month. A menu this focused on smoked wings, plus a spot on The Infatuation’s guide, puts Woodie’s eighth. Carryout wings leave the kitchen unsauced unless you ask, which keeps them crisp.

Hours: Mon-Thu 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Fri 3 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Sat 11 a.m. to 3 a.m.; Sun 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. The kitchen closes at 11 p.m.

Address: 1535 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60610

Why they made the list

• A single order of smoked wings costs $18.95, and a double order costs $33.95.
• Woodie’s Flat calls itself the Chicago bar for Ohio State Buckeyes and Cincinnati Bengals fans.
• Credit card payments carry a 3.99% surcharge, according to the menu.
• The bar is part of Big Onion Hospitality.

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The Aberdeen Tap

At the corner of Aberdeen and Hubbard streets in River West, The Aberdeen Tap is a neighborhood bar with a garage-door front that opens in summer and a shaded sidewalk patio. Try the wings naked first: The Infatuation found a smoky char on the unsauced wings, and the house Buffalo balances butter and vinegar with a little sweetness. Spicy jerk and BBQ are the other house-made sauces, so this is the list’s stop for jerk wings. One detailed review and a place on the current wing guide put the bar ninth. The kitchen serves until midnight every day, and tables are first come, first served.

Hours: Mon-Thu 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Fri 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Sat 11 a.m. to 3 a.m.; Sun 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Address: 440 N Aberdeen St, Chicago, IL 60642

Why they made the list

• The beer list averages about 65 brews from the U.S. and abroad and changes regularly.
• Private and semi-private spaces hold parties of 20 to 60 people.
• The Infatuation’s March 2023 review also points to the gator sausage and the duck sausage.
• Weekend brunch runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

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Badabing Wings Zone

Clark Street in Uptown has a small counter-service wing shop in Badabing Wings Zone, where wings marinate overnight in savory spices before frying. Each order gets one of 14 sauces, led by the sweet-and-spicy Al Capone sauce, with Buffalo and garlic parmesan among the others. InsideHook and The Infatuation both praised the wings, but a new operator took over the license in December 2024, after most of that coverage ran, so the shop sits tenth. The Infatuation files the shop under serious takeout operations, so plan on carrying the wings home.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 4754 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640

Why they made the list

• S & V Wings LLC received the city food license for 4754 N. Clark St. on December 16, 2024.
• The shop passed a City of Chicago canvass inspection, with conditions, on October 3, 2025.
• The Infatuation first reviewed the shop in October 2022 and kept the shop on the wing guide updated November 2, 2026.

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Also worth knowing

Farther up Southport Avenue in Lincoln Park, Broken Barrel Bar smokes wings over oak for about four hours before frying, according to InsideHook. Sauces run from a mild bourbon BBQ to a ghost pepper and habanero blend, and The Infatuation notes a grilled version finished with chipotle sauce.

Rogers Park’s Buffalo Joe’s on Howard is the Chicago store of an Evanston wing shop. Wings are tossed to order in Joe’s sauce (mild, spicy, suicide or BBQ) and come with celery and ranch. A single order costs $12.79, and party pans feed groups of six to eight or 16 to 24.

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