Wingstop vs. Wings Over

Columnist compares two popular wing spots.

BY ALI ABUBAKR ’24

One wing to rule them all, one wing to find them. Wingstop versus Wings Over Columbus. Also, traditional or boneless wings? These regularly debated issues will be settled here and now. Who will win?

Contrary to popular belief, and my belief until very recently, Wings Over is not exclusive to Columbus. It wasn’t even founded in Ohio. I thought that the full official name was Wings Over Columbus and that there were only locations in this city, but it was actually founded in 1999 in Massachusetts and now has locations all over eastern USA. The closest location to the high school is on 1315 W Lane Ave. Wingstop is a much bigger franchise. Founded in 1994 in northern Texas, it now has locations all over the world. In the UK, Spain, France, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and more. Famous rapper Rick Ross even owns around 30 Wingstop franchises across the US. (His music sucks, though.) The closest location to us is at 3006 Olentangy River Rd.

Now, if I were going out to eat with friends or family, and I had to choose between these two places, I would choose Wingstop. Completely disregarding flavor, the reason that I would choose Wingstop is because Wings Over locations rarely ever have seating. If there is seating, it’s, like, three stools at most. The location on Lane has two high stools and the place is roughly the size of my bedroom, and that’s not a flex. So because of this, Wings Over gets a lot of orders online and through DoorDash. But Wings Over is beautifully scrumptious. I got the six piece traditional wings with Golden BBQ sauce and waffle fries (which are their only fries). The fries were soft and crispy at the same time, and the wings were nicely drenched with sauce. I even ate a bit of ranch. I always thought that people who loved ranch were a bit weird, and I still stand by that, but it was good. Also, traditional wings are far superior to boneless wings. If you’re eating boneless wings, you’re basically eating chicken nuggets and those are for children. If you like boneless wings, then consider that deep down you might be immature. No offense. But Wings Over was an easy 9/10 and could’ve been 10 if not for the amount of sauce. It was a messy meal, but delicious.

To be honest, I was expecting better from Wingstop. Like I said, in a group setting, I would go to Wingstop just because of the seating, but if I’m ordering delivery, Wings Over is what I’m picking. At Wingstop, I ordered the six piece traditional wings with lemon pepper flavoring and fries, of course. But the fries were trash. Soggy, too thick and weirdly sweet. The wings were good, though. The lemon pepper seasoning was nice and had a cool tang of spice, but the chicken was a little dry. No problem, just a little dry. Wingstop is an average 6/10. Not bad, but not a very memorable meal.

Overall, based on the goodness of the food itself, Wings Over takes the top spot. Maybe I didn’t get the right things from Wingstop, but I’ve heard a lot about the lemon pepper flavoring and the fries, and they were average at best. Traditional wings, of course, also come out on top. Boneless wing lovers complain about how hard it is to eat traditional wings, but it’s that tough journey that makes the destination that much better. Maybe boneless wing enthusiasts are used to having everything in life handed to them. In the end: Wingstop misses out on my approval, and Wings Over is Ali Approved.