Bite Club: Big Sauce serves wings with a big taste
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A delivery of wings from Big Sauce. Photo: Justin Kaufmann/Axios
As the weather turns cold and football blares from our televisions 24/7, it's officially wings season in Chicago.
State of play: We all have our local favorites, but the sad reality is that wings are not always made to travel. Until now.
What's happening: Enter Big Sauce, a new carryout-only spot serving Buffalo wings out of an Avondale cloud kitchen. You can order for pickup or delivery online.
What they're saying: "In most restaurants, wings is a secondary item," owner Peter Naughton tells Axios. "When I set out to make it my main item, I researched who's doing the best wings in the world."
His taste buds led him to Buffalo, where he consulted with chefs at several restaurants.
- "They taught me how to mass-cook wings, how to make sauces right and how to treat the chicken right."
The result: Champion wings, doused with original, spicy or Creole sauce. The original comes with the traditional Buffalo sauce that wings aficionados crave, along with an extra hint of sugar that brings you back for more.
- The menu isn't cheap, it'll cost you $35 for 20 jumbo wings. But in 2023, that's in line with other chicken wing spots in town.
What's next: Naughton can serve only surrounding neighborhoods, but he is setting up a plan to branch out to cloud kitchens in the South Loop to serve the South Side in 2024.
- "Right now, I'm selling about 1,000 pounds of chicken wings every weekend."