Poutine and Cajun Wings at Duff's Famous Wings from New York

Southlake, Texas. It’s a place where the skies are bluer, the people are nicer, there is never any trash on the ground, the birds sing a little louder and everyone is a Dragon. We weren’t in town long enough to confirm or deny any of these perceptions, but we did discover a surprising truth — the chicken wings taste better here. There are a lot of strong opinions when it comes to wings, and we're ready to fight about it if necessary.

The reason chicken wings taste better in Southlake is because it's the site of Duff’s Famous Wings. The history of the Buffalo wing can be a matter of debate. Most chicken historians will tell you that the Buffalo wing, as we know it today, started some time in the mid-'60s in Buffalo, New York. Duff’s was definitely in on the early part of the trend, serving its first batches of wings in 1969.
Duff’s became well-known in wing circles and opened a few more locations in New York and in Toronto. Ron Peddicord was a frequent visitor to one of the Toronto locations. When he and his family moved to Texas they had trouble finding wings the way that Duff’s did them, so he applied for a franchise. He's been operating the only Duff’s in the U.S. outside of New York for the last 11 years. These days, the restaurant serves upwards of 40,000 wings every week.

We caught up with managing partner Victor Nguyen, who gave us a few reasons for the frequent lines out the door. The main reason (obviously) is the chicken. Duff's uses only jumbo, fresh, never-frozen wings. The double-frying technique keeps the skin crispy and the chicken juicy. A close second to the food is the staff.

“We take care of our people," Nguyen says. "We want them to feel like part of the family because they do their best work that way."

We visited for lunch on a rainy Saturday. The dining room was fairly full with a lively crowd that included a baseball team that appeared to be going for a wing-eating record. The attached covered patio, which holds a good number of tables to handle overflow diners, was a bit quieter.
We narrowly picked poutine as our appetizer over the pizza logs. The pizza appetizer sounded great but we find it hard to get excited for any food that is called a log. The poutine ($8.99) came in a good sharing portion. The fries were crispy and the gravy was tasty. After a few minutes, the cheese melted, which rendered the whole messy pile even tastier.

Next, we were on to the wings. The prices are a little better when ordering larger platters, so we decided on two orders of 20 wings ($30.99). You can split up the flavors in batches of five. The Buffalo sauce comes in 10 different levels of heat;  the highest level requires the signing of a release before it can be consumed. We settled on several levels, including the medium-hot, which had plenty of spice without the risk of injury. The wings were crispy, tasty and a good size. We ended up with enough to take home, even with two teenage boys in our party of four.
The parmesan-garlic flavor is tasty but not overpowered with garlic. The Charbq was smoky and a little spicy, and the Honey BBQ was spicy and sweet. Our favorite flavor of the day was the parmesan-garlic finished on the grill with Cajun rub. Our server told us this idea came from a customer and was so good it was added to the menu. The kitchen is ready and willing to make any custom flavor you can come up with, so don’t be afraid to ask.

The menu also offers sandwiches and salads for the wing-averse. On our next trip we will give the boneless wings (OK chicken nuggets) a try. Nguyen described how each one is hand-trimmed and battered before being tossed in the same sauces available for the regular wings. After his description, we will be looking for a reason to head to the land of the Dragons again soon.

Duff's Famous Wings, 2878 E. Southlake Blvd., Southlake. Sunday – Monday, 11 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.; Tuesday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.