Super Bowl XLVII may have been a dud of a game, but it was a hot night on the chicken-wing front. As Wingo’s owner Mike Arthur says, “Super Bowl is Christmas for the wings business.” For spots such as Bonchon in Arlington, the night brought record sales around 10,000. Want more proof that Washingtonians are obsessed with the crunchy snack? We break down the numbers.
10,000
Number of soy-garlic and hot wings sold by the Arlington branch of Bonchon, which started accepting orders two weeks prior. (Hey, there’s a reason it’s on our latest 100 Very Best Restaurants list.)
6,100
Number of wings sold at Arlington’s First Down Sports Bar & Grill. Of the 40 sauce options, the medium-spicy Madness version took the lead.
5,100
Number of wings cooked up at Metro City Wings in Temple Hills, Maryland.
100s
Estimated number of vegan wings ordered at Smoke & Barrel, which reports almost even numbers of dine-in sales for the meat and meatless versions.
7
The number of hours some customers had to wait for same-day carryout orders from Bonchon Arlington. Call in advance, people!
7:30
The hour Wingo’s Mike Arthur says calls “died” due to the lackluster game. The Georgetown spot quoted lower-than-average sales of around 2,500.
2
Number of days in advance guests had to place an order for takeout wings from Duffy’s, which has won national acclaim for its Old Bay-rubbed version.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
