A few months ago, I published rankings of the best places to get hot wings downtown. At that time the Flying Saucer came out on top. And apparently people take this blog seriously – I’ve heard that people visiting here from Nashville have made a special trip to the Saucer to try their wings.
But now, there’s a new contender on the block. Last night, after a visit to the Tap Room for Pint Night (Stella Artois for $2.50! Not bad!), I decided I was hungry. Now, usually Huey’s is where I make my drunken stop for wings, but this time I decided to try something new – Big Foot Lodge, on Second across from the Peabody Hotel.
They had several varieties of wings, including medium, hot and HOLY SMOKES! Big Foot is not famous for its wings like Buffalo Wild Wings and Hooters, I reasoned – how hot could the hottest be? So I ordered 12 HOLY SMOKES! wings to go.
That turned out to be a mistake. When I got home and took a bite of the first wing, it felt like my lips were on fire! I had to run to the kitchen and get a big glass of ice water. I could only make it through 6 of them before I gave up, putting the other 6 in the refrigerator for today.
However, I would still rate them highly. First of all, they were big, meaty wings, bigger than any others I’ve found downtown. And they’re an excellent value – for $5.99 you get 12 wing pieces (equivalent to 6 whole wings), celery, carrots, and fries. At the Saucer you pay almost 8 bucks for 10 wing pieces and no fries. Big Foot’s dill ranch dipping sauce is very good too. Service was quick and very friendly, and if you eat in you can complement your wings with a 34-ounce beer for $3.99.
I’m gonna go back and get the regular hot wings before reaching a final verdict, but there’s a very good possibility that I may award Big Foot the title for best wings downtown.