A local reveals his picks for the best wings in Pigeon Forge, TN
I’ve dined in Pigeon Forge eateries for nearly 40 years. I certainly know the nature of the beast. Change is the buzzword in the mountains. Except for the rare few, popular restaurants come and go. One day, a restaurant can be in high demand, it’s impossible to get a reservation, and the populace has moved on six months later. Competition is fierce. And so, staying atop the mountain is nigh impossible. Therefore, when we talk about the best, be it the best burger, best steak or best BBQ, it’s a fleeting snapshot of a moment in time.
This is especially the case when talking about chicken wings, a bar staple that’s cost-effective to produce and easy to hype. In this article, we will try to cut through the – ahem – buffalo feathers and get to the heart of the matter.
Chicken wings are a fairly easy to prepare and cost-effective to produce menu item. A staple of bars and breweries around the country, chicken wings may be among the most competitive food categories in the Smoky Mountains – second to pancakes. If you just like wings, there are dozens of places you can go and be satisfied. But if you’re a connoisseur, these are the places you must go: Blue Moose Burgers & Wings, The Local Goat and Smoky Mountain Brewery.
1. Blue Moose Burgers & Wings
Look, I like a place that plants its flag in the ground and tells you what it’s about. Burgers. Wings. Got it. At Blue Moose, there are 22 varieties of wings from which to choose. And as someone who burned the protective lining of his stomach out years ago over-indulging in spicy hot foods, I can tell you, that choices that include flavor but not too much heat are welcome.
That being said. I am a sucker for the Garlic Sriracha and Cajun Dry Rub. Can I tell you if the Atomic is better than the Flame Thrower? Reader, I cannot. Those days have long since passed. But I can vouch for the Lemon Pepper and the Mesquite BBQ Dry Rub. Blue Moose is located at 2430 Teaster Ln, Ste 108 in Pigeon Forge.
2. Local Goat
To be clear, this is a discussion of chicken wings in the larger form. Therefore, if you’re looking for the subcategory of Buffalo Wings, that’s a different conversation. At the Local Goat, the eight-piece jumbo wings are a star on a menu laden with heavy hitters. If you’re looking for that sports bar feel, you can go to Billy’s Bar order from various flavors and get an IPA while you watch the game.
Wing varieties include mild, hot and honey BBQ or the Sriracha Honey or the TN Whiskey Glazed. Because, however, I’m a sucker for Cajun flavors, the Cajun Dry Rub is the choice for me. The nice thing about the Goat is that if someone in your party isn’t in the mood for wings, the full menu also has a variety of gourmet choices. Quality there is across the board. Local Goat is located at 2167 Parkway in Pigeon Forge.
3. Smoky Mountain Brewery
My grandmother – bless her soul – never drank beer. It wasn’t a moral thing. She just didn’t care for it. Though I suppose it didn’t help that Papaw tried his hand at brewing and had a batch explode making the most god-awful mess you ever saw. Still, there was an exception. Pizza. Nanny liked a beer with her pizza. Something in the chemistry between pizza and beer just hit right with her. And so it is for a lot of people with craft beer and chicken wings. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Like peanut butter and chocolate, beer and wings are two great things that taste great together.
That surely makes Smoky Mountain Brewery something of a holy place for those who worship at the altar of craft beer and brewery wings. At SMB, you get a couple of choices when it comes to wings. The Wet wings come breaded in seasoned flour, fried crisp and tossed in a sweet and spicy Thunder Road Sauce. The Naked Wings are seasoned, fried crisp and served with an original sauce for dipping. Nothing too avant-garde, nothing too elaborate. Just a well-prepared wing and dipping sauce. Smoky Mountain Brewery is located at 2530 Parkway in Pigeon Forge and 1004 Parkway in Gatlinburg.
There is a never-ending battle to reign supreme on the chicken wing mountain in Pigeon Forge. Each month, seemingly, there is a new contender for the crown. While there are several worthy contenders, these are the three that are all but guaranteed not to let you down.
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