When Guy Fieri rolls into a town, you can bet he’s not leaving without tracking down its crispiest, sauciest claim to fame. Over years of crisscrossing the country on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, the flame-shirted host has sampled more chicken wings than most people eat in a lifetime, always chasing that perfect balance of crunch, heat, and flavor. A certified chicken obsessive, he’s even built his own empire around it, from his restaurant Chicken Guy! to his Flavortown Wings venture—complete with the rallying cry, “PSA: You can’t serve boring wings!”
Fieri’s standards are clear: fried, never baked, and packed with flavor rather than heat for heat’s sake. So when the self-proclaimed Mayor of Flavortown gives a wing joint his stamp of approval, it’s worth paying attention. From old-school Buffalo institutions to unexpected hole-in-the-wall standouts, these are five of the best wing shops in America, according to Fieri.
- Señor Sisig – San Francisco, CA
- OB Noodle House – San Diego, CA
- Smokey D’s BBQ
- Carolina Kitchen & Barbeque Co. – Sparks, NV
- Opal Thai Food – Honolulu, HI
Señor Sisig – San Francisco, CA
Fieri may be a purist when it comes to cooking chicken wings, but when it comes to sauce, he’s all for experimentation. Enter Señor Sisig, the Filipino fusion favorite known for serving up adobo-glazed buffalo wings on the daily. The Mayor of Flavortown tried them for himself on an episode of Triple D, and they later earned a spot in his “Most-Insane Chicken Wings” roundup for good reason.
While the pork sisig tacos initially caught his attention, it was the wings that sealed the deal. After a moment spent trying to pin down their flavor, Fieri summed them up best: “not too sweet, not too spicy, not Asian, not Mexican, just…Señor Sisig.”
Curious what gives them that edge? The wings are marinated in soy sauce before being baked, fried, and coated in the restaurant’s signature adobo glaze: a bold mix of soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, garlic, honey, Worcestershire, and chipotle peppers.
OB Noodle House – San Diego, CA
With Asian flavors ranking among Fieri’s favorites, it’s no surprise that more than one globally inspired wing makes the cut. At OB Noodle House in San Diego, the spicy garlic wings are the kind he still dreams about: glossy, fiery red, and packing serious flavor thanks to a 24-hour marinade of garlic, ginger, onions, lemongrass, Thai chiles, habaneros, peanut butter, and hoisin sauce.
The verdict? Fieri called them “the bomb,” praising their “little bit of heat, not too much.” A peek inside the kitchen on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives reveals why: after marinating, the wings are deep-fried, then wok-fried with green onions, garlic, chiles, and a touch of sugar before being served over lettuce—for a little balance with all that bold flavor.
Smokey D’s BBQ
Baked wings may not be up the Mayor of Flavortown’s alley, but Guy Fieri has plenty of love for other methods—namely, smoking and deep-frying. That’s exactly why the saucy, slow-smoked wings at Smokey D’s BBQ have earned not only countless awards, but also Fieri’s stamp of approval—and not one, not two, but three features on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Owned by Darren Warth and Shad Curtain, the renowned spot helps make Des Moines a sleeper destination for BBQ, serving up everything from brisket and ribs to apple dumplings. Still, the wings are the main event: smoked, flash-fried, then tossed in a signature rub with an optional glaze. Fieri leaned into that flavor fusion with the Asian-glazed version, calling them “dynamite … great spice, nice balance, subtle, not overdone.”
Carolina Kitchen & Barbeque Co. – Sparks, NV
You should never have to choose between wings or nachos—and at Carolina Kitchen & Barbeque, you don’t have to. The Nevada BBQ hotspot’s smoked chicken wing nachos are just as inventive as they sound, and according to Guy Fieri, they’re “one of the most unique dishes I’ve seen” on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
But this isn’t just a pile of chips topped with chicken and cheese. Here, the house-smoked wings are the base, standing in for tortilla chips and piled high with cheddar, bacon, tomatoes, green onions, ranch, and sour cream. The result is an over-the-top, fully loaded take on nachos—minus the usual carb-heavy chips.
Opal Thai Food – Honolulu, HI
You might not expect to find mouth-tingling wings at a Thai restaurant, but the Thai hot wings at Opal Thai Food more than deliver. Off the mainland, Guy Fieri stumbled into this Honolulu spot, run by Bangkok native Chef Opel, which serves everything from classic dishes like pad thai and pork larb to garlic-glazed wings that quickly became his standout favorite.
These wings skip the batter entirely—fried plain, without breading or seasoning—but the signature sauce more than makes up for it. It’s a bold mix of garlic, chile paste, and rice wine, finished with a garnish of crispy deep-fried basil for extra aroma and crunch.
After biting into one on an episode of Triple D, Fieri couldn’t help himself: “Holy moley! That’s the most garlic I’ve had on anything.” Still, he notes that the garlic is so well-cooked it blends seamlessly into the sauce rather than overpowering it. It’s a dish that takes familiar wing territory and gives it a distinctly Thai twist—proof that great wings can show up in the most unexpected places.