For Jeff Lewis, it’s all about the sauce on a chicken wing.
“I would put our sauces against any town in America,” he said.
Matt Lynch looks for texture.
“It’s finding that fine balance between a nice meaty wing and a crispy wing,” he said.
Northeast Pennsylvania food is known to have European influence, but the region’s take on an American classic proves to be another cultural pillar. Today, Monday, July 29, is National Chicken Wing Day.
Lewis and his partner run the NEPA Chicken Wing Bulletin Facebook page while Lynch is one half of the NEPA Wing Men. Both are online resources that review the region’s wings.
Buffalo wings were invented in Buffalo, New York in the 1960’s, according to the National Chicken Council. Popularity soared near the 1980’s and local bars started serving chicken wings with their own variation of buffalo sauce. Many chefs in the region are now deviating from the typical hot sauce and butter combination.
Lewis is well connected in the local chicken wing universe as a moderator of the NEPA Chicken Wing Bulletin Facebook page. He and his friend Matt Centak started it in 2019.
The Chicken Wing Bulletin founders organize the annual Swoyersville Chicken Wing Fling. The second festival was held on Saturday, July 27, and Sunday, July 28, at Roosevelt Park.
“Just here [in Swoyersville], there's six bars within a mile. They're all competing,” Centak said. “So if they don't do a good sauce, they're not going to get business.”
Take for example, R Bar in Nanticoke. They have a total of 87 sauces on the menu including exotic flavors like Cajun bacon bleu cheese, sriracha basil, and fire in the hole.
Spreading the word about wings
In the NEPA Chicken Wing Bulletin Facebook page, users share honest reviews and talk sauce. It has more than 15,000 members.
“Every couple hours I'm on it. It's a full time job,” Centak said. “Probably every hour somebody's posting chicken wings, reviews, asking questions. 'Where do I go next?' 'Where's the best hot sauce?' 'Where's the best mild sauce?' 'Where's the best garlic sauce?' I get questions for everything.”
Centak, who goes out for wings twice a week, keeps a list of wing nights and prices up to date on the Facebook page.
“Business owners reach out to me if they change their prices,” he said. “There's probably 100 different bars and restaurants on that list now.”
It’s become a valuable resource for other NEPA foodies.
Lewis said the page took off and his wife had the idea to start a chicken wing festival, to allow consumers to try multiple varieties at the same place. Vendors sold wings in orders of 1, 3, or 6.
A panel of judges picked winners in categories including traditional mild, traditional hot, most unique sauce, boneless bites and dry rub.
“The one we entered today in most unique is called steak and potato,” said Lauren Maga, co-owner of the R Bar. “It’s an A1 base and then the potato is like a sour cream mixture that we put over the top of them."
Money raised through sponsorships and vendor fees goes back into Swoyersville parks.
“We’re doing a lot of things for the community,” said Lewis, who is on the Swoyersville Parks and Recreation Board. “We’re going to be buying new equipment for all the parks, we’re putting in a pickleball court, and we’re talking about a disc golf course.”
NEPA Wing Men
The NEPA Wing Men are two Lackawanna County men with the same passion.
Like the other pair, Matt Lynch and Matt Serniak are buddies who like going out to local bars and checking out their selection of wing sauces. So much so, they decided to write detailed reviews after each visit and post them on their website.
Nearly 200 reviews are organized on the website, which allows users to search based on wing night and view their favorites on a map.
“We have four criteria,” Serniak said. “Environment/service, wing size/price, wing sauce, and then taste, which is double weighted.”
A few of the highest ranked by the NEPA Wing Men include R Bar (95), Diskin’s (88), Breaker Brewing Outpost (84) and Happy Valley Sports Bar (86).
“No one has ever got to 100 before,” Lynch said.
Lost in the sauces
Over a few orders of wings at Happy Valley Sports Bar in Dickson City, the wing men shared their expertise.
Serniak has a strategy when trying a new place. He orders the traditional hot wings.
“I always want to start with what wings began with,” he said. “Not porketta wings, not ranch wings, not teriyaki wings.”
Happy Valley Sports Bar has dry rubs like jalapeno popper and cool ranch on the menu with bourbon, garlic caesar, sweet hot and more sauces.
Kelly McNulty, a cook and bartender at Happy Valley, says porketta is one of the most popular varieties.
“I feel like we have a very niche community of foods, we’re very specific,” she said. “There’s only really a select few places where I choose to go and get my wings from.”
“That crisp is there,” Serniak said, biting into a chicken wing. “You don’t even have to ask for it.”
Ask the other wing guys, Centak and Lewis, about crisp, and they’ll point you to Elmer Sudd’s in Wilkes-Barre.
“A lot of sauce, I like a lot of sauce,” Centak said. “And the crispiest wings.”
The options can be overwhelming, but luckily the conversation has been started. Visit NEPA Wing Men and the NEPA Chicken Wing Bulletin if you’re curious to learn more.
