Winners of the 5th Annual Kickin' Chicken Wingfest!
Who has the Best Chicken Wings in Dayton in 2015?
Fraze Pavilion was jam-packed with thousands of wing loving fans eager to get a taste and enjoy the beautiful day for the 5th Annual Kickin’ Chicken Wingfest! Nine restaurants were on hand and competed for best wing, sauce, boneless, and side, hottest wing, best decorated booth, and a people’s choice award.
Joining me at the judges table were John “Bman” Beaulieu from WTUE, Jordan, Blake, and 3 year veteran Dave Ball (he brings the milk)! If I had a dollar for every time I was asked how I got “this sweet gig” I would have definitely paid someone else to judge the hottest wing portion of the contest.
The hardest part of judging isn’t offering an opinion; it’s not eating the whole wing when you’re hungry and love them. More than 30 food items have to be tasted, so saving room for the next bite is the biggest challenge. The taste tests are blind, so we don’t know who submitted each item(s) until after the votes have been tallied.
The 2015 winners are:
Best Wing - Pies & Pints - Their grilled wings earned top honors for the second straight year (photo above left, team pictured right).
Best Sauce - The Amber Rose - Their Sweet and Spicy Thai sauce was a tasty change of pace (photo above middle).
Best Boneless - Romer’s - Their Asian style sweet and sour sauce was a lock. (Think the judges had a sweet tooth?)
Best Side - Nick’s Fried Green Tomatoes - Fried to golden perfection and served with a delicious dipping sauce on the side.
Best Decorated Booth - The Dock - They bring their A game annually and have taken this prize home two years in a row.
People’s Choice for Best Damn Wing - Nick’s (for 5 straight years) & Romer’s tied as “fan favorites”.
Hottest Wing - Romer’s (photo above right) - I have an EXTREMELY high tolerance for spicy hot food, but this wing was WICKED. I inhaled as I took a bite; the fumes took my breath away and caused a coughing fit, teary eyes, and runny nose. After the numbness wore off, the fire on my tongue and lips took half an hour to subside, though the gastronomical distress lasted longer.
