When the doors opened Sunday morning, the orders piled in for the Wing Stop on Flower Hill Way in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Super Bowl weekend is the busiest time of the year for restaurants who specialize in the finger-licking good watch-party staple.
“It’s just insane every year; it never ceases to amaze us,” said Dan Remaklus, who, along with his wife, Wendy, owns five Wing Stop franchises in Montgomery County.
Remaklus said his locations sold 45,000 wings last year — that’s three tons of chicken. This year, he said, he ordered more chicken than last year in preparation for this busy weekend.
The National Chicken Council said Americans are expected to eat 1.4 billion chicken wings this weekend; that’s up 27 million wings from last year.
There are many flavors to choose from, but Remaklus said there are clear best-sellers.
“We do a lot of lemon pepper. Of course, original hot is a big seller, because a lot of people just think of hot wings,” he said.
With business expected to be up by almost 50%, Remaklus said it is all hands on deck for his staff.
He said pressure on to get all the orders in, and the staff also knows Super Bowl Sunday is their chance to win over new customers.
“We get a lot of people that we’ve never seen before, so we have to do it right, or we may never see them again,” Remaklus said.
He said they do their best to fill all the requests for wings, but those who order after 5 p.m. may leave disappointed.
Shamia Brown, one of the many keeping the orders coming from the kitchen, has a pro tip for those eating wings while watching the game.
“You’re gonna get saucy, so get plenty of wet-naps,” Brown said.
