Top 5 Twin Cities Chicken Wings

Chicken wings are the perfect food to argue about. Pizza is too factional; people are set on their preferences, and little can be done to shake them. Sandwiches are too subjective, and some clever fool will say, “Well, is a taco a sandwich?” and then I have to get into a physical fight, which is always rough. But a chicken wing is not easily categorized, and a good one can win you over even if you didn’t expect to like it. For instance, I’m generally iffy on dry rub wings. I like a saucy wing. But I have to admit that after years of cajoling from my friend Martin, I loved the Burger Dive dry rub, and I wish I had tried it earlier. Similarly, I generally don’t like the full wing; I like the flats and the wings to be separated. But the full wing treatment from Ray-J’s in Northeast and Woodbury is a celebrated wing for good reason. So, there’s room for everybody in a chicken wing discussion. The five chicken wings I recommend are top-tier options, but there are always more to recommend. I still haven’t tried the wings at Soul Lao, I can tell you the pickle wings at Bunny’s are worth a visit, and D Spot is the wing-lovers capital of the Twin Cities, but I didn’t personally find a flavor that landed in my top five. With those caveats out of the way, I present to you the Top 5 Chicken Wings in the Twin Cities according to my chicken-wing-loving self.

5 - The Nook - Spicy Honey BBQ Wings

The very wings you are now looking at were delivered to my bowling lane at the Nook during the stress that is a multi-family bowling affair in the cramped basement of the Nook. Is bowling at the Nook a must-do Twin Cities activity? Yes. Is bowling at the Nook on a weekend a guaranteed Code Red shit show? Double yes. But these wings are an oasis of saucy delight between your spares and gutterballs. These wings aren’t actually spicy, but the honey does talk to the barbecue sauce in a way that just brims with flavor. My biggest gripe with most barbecue wings is that the flavor doesn’t meld. You’ve got tasty barbecue sauce, and you have chicken, but they don’t unite. Not a problem here. The honey does some of the binding work, and the chicken is always crisped enough to create some ridges that hold onto the sauce. Also, roll your eyes if you want to, but I still enjoy a little ranch on these bad boys. I usually go half Spicy Honey BBQ and half Buffalo when I visit. Strike!

4 - La Doña Cervecería - Buffalo Wings

I didn’t come to La Doña looking for chicken wings. They have spectacular tacos, burritos, and unique llapingachos, which are Ecuadorian potato pies. But I was ordering for a big table, so I grabbed two orders of buffalo wings on a whim and OH MY GOD. The wings came out dressed in a buffalo sauce that carried a pinch more tang than usual. The chicken also had that hard-to-find quality of possessing crispy-ness and tenderness within in a single bite. The wings tasted so good that I had to pause for a moment and make sure that I wasn’t just overwhelmed with hunger. But the minute my friend Chuck took a bite, he exclaimed, “These wings are really good.” Pairing these wings with one of La Doña’s iconic beers took my weekend to another level, and I owe a lot of that to these world-class wings, which I think are hiding in plain sight, as I’ve read no reviews that mention them.

3 - Tommie’s Pizza - Jerk Chicken Wings

The pizza shop chicken wing is a risky proposition. Generally, pizza shop wings are passed through the oven and then haphazardly covered in sauce. Sometimes the oven is the perfect temperature, and it works great … sometimes you wish they had made room for a deep fryer in the floor plan. During the pandemic, the family and I started getting Tommie’s Pizza on Selby pretty frequently. After a while, I wanted something other than pizza on a Tommie’s night. I grabbed their jerk chicken wings out of desperation, but the minute I had a bite, I was hooked. These blackened chicken wings create a caramelized spice layer of strong char on top of a perfectly prepared chicken wing. I also give Tommie’s points for serving the wings piping hot. In fact, even though Tommie’s is mainly a take-out spot, I’m so partial to the way the wings taste right when they come out of the oven that I tend to eat these right in the shop.

2 - Kong’s Kitchen - Oyster Chicken Wings

I have been hearing about Kong’s oyster chicken wings for years now, and in September of 2025, they won the first Frogtown Arts Festival chicken wing contest. In the promo video, I saw community pillars such as T. Mychael Rambo and Adrian Perryman approving of the taste, and I knew I had to try for myself. Wowza. Oyster wings are distinguished for their umami punch that emanates from the oyster sauce in the recipe. It’s a spectacular style of wing. I’ve rarely had bad oyster wings … but the Kong’s wings are inspiring. The chicken is uniformly crispy, and it is economically dressed in the sauce. Sure, you’ll need plenty of napkins, but this is not the drippy mess that oyster wings can be. The crispy skin provides an incredible bite, and the chicken inside tastes downright buttery. I predict that Kong’s will keep on racking up the awards all across town from their perch on Arcade on the East side of St. Paul.

1 - Runyon’s - Buffalo Chicken Wings

My obsession with chicken wings started back in 2003, and I spent most of the year asking everyone in listening range what kind of chicken wings they liked. At the time, my default was the happy hour wings specials at the Uptown Green Mill (RIP). My good friend Joe said I should really shut my mouth about great chicken wings until I make my way down to Runyon’s in downtown. Joe said Runyon’s had the best chicken wings in Minnesota, and there was barely any disagreement about it. We got down there and tried them, and it was immediately clear to me that I was having the highest quality chicken wing. The buffalo sauce tastes so sharp and focused. They are thankfully not quite as salty as the purported original chicken wings of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York. I find these Runyon’s wings to be the clearest representation of perfect buffalo chicken wings – a steaming pile of chicken wings delivered straight to your seat at the bar with a copious ramekin of high-quality bleu cheese dressing and a side of celery. When the chicken wings are just a touch too hot, but you let the bleu cheese cool it off, and then you take a bite, you are heading into the iconic, crispy, spicy, and legendary bite of the best chicken wings in Minnesota.