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I ordered the same meal from Hooters and Buffalo Wild Wings, clear winner

I compared the Hooters and Buffalo Wild Wings chicken wing chains to find my favorite.
Terri Peters

  • I ordered the same meal at Hooters and Wild buffalo wings to see which restaurant chain was the best.
  • Hooters served delicious mozzarella sticks and boneless wings.
  • Buffalo Wild Wings had better bone-in wings and sauces, but Hooters was still my winner.

As fast food prices rise, more customers are turning to chain restaurants for a solid price.

But not all channels are created equal. For months, I’ve been trying chain restaurants looking for the best meals and deals for my family. Recently, I tried two of the most famous chicken wing chains: Hooters and Buffalo Wild Wings.

I ordered the same meal at both chains to see which one served the tastiest wings, entrees, and sides. Here’s how they ranked.

I started at Hooters and ordered cheese sticks as an appetizer.

Hooters served me deliciously crunchy mozzarella sticks.
Terri Peters

HAS Mermaids, I started my meal with the cheese sticks as a starter. It came with six fries mozzarella sticks and a side of marinara dip for $8.79.

The Hooters mozzarella sticks were perfectly browned and the cheese inside was melty and provided the type of cheese that foodies dream of.

I wasn’t a big fan of the marinara dip because it was thicker than what I’ve had at other restaurants. I prefer my marinara a little more flavorful, and the large chunks of tomato made it difficult for me to absorb the sauce on each mozzarella stick.

Still, the cheese sticks themselves were perfect and I had no ratings.

Next, I ordered six original style wings.

The traditional Hooters wings were tasty but I wasn’t in love with them.
Terri Peters

Traditional Hooters wings are hand breaded and tossed in your choice of sauce. Six original style wings at Hooters cost $12.25.

I chose the “Traditional Buffalo” hot sauce, but then asked to try Hooters’ 3 Mile Island Sauce, which the menu describes as “Buffalo for Stupid.”

I actually felt smart asking to try it, since it was my favorite spice level for hot wings. If I went again, I would choose the slightly spicier 3 Mile Island over the regular hot dish, as it had the kick I was looking for when the hot sauce fell flat.

The breading didn’t seem quite ideal for the wings, as it soaked up a lot of the sauce and made me feel full much quicker. In fact, the restaurant’s naked wings seem more like traditional wings to me and that’s what I would order if I went back.

The boneless wings were my favorite at Hooters.

The Hooters had delicious boneless wings.
Terri Peters

I also ordered 10 boneless wings with Hooters Samurai Teriyaki Sauce for $13.49.

The Hooters menu describes Samurai Teriyaki Sauce as “zesty teriyaki with an Asian twist” and I agree. The sauce gave the same vibe as the sauced and breaded chicken dishes I have ordered from Chinese restaurants in the past and I loved it.

The boneless wings, also hand breaded, were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. And the combination of the lightly spicy Samurai Teriyaki sauce and the blue cheese dipping sauce was incredibly flavorful.

Boneless wings were a highlight of my meal at Hooters.

Hooters serves curly fries, so I ordered some

The curly fries at Hooters were pretty tasty.
Terri Peters

Curly fries are a rare item to find on any menu, so I had to try Hooters’ version.

Because my kids were with me for dinner, our server only charged us $1.49 for the fries, entering them as an upgrade from the burger my son ordered. Normally, a side of curly fries costs $4.99.

The Hooters curly fries were very good – well cooked and crispy. I found them to be a great addition to the meal, especially for giving my taste buds a reprieve from the spice and flavor of the two wing sauces.

At Buffalo Wild Wings I also started with mozzarella sticks

My Buffalo Wild Wings mozzarella sticks weren’t as golden as I hoped.
Terri Peters

I also ordered mozzarella sticks from Buffalo Wild Wings. The appetizer cost $8.49 and included six sticks.

I Was taken aback by the color of the sticks when they were brought to our table. These were the least crispy beige mozzarella sticks I have ever eaten and they had no cheese when I bit into them.

Unfortunately, they seemed a little undercooked, so other than trying them, I didn’t eat many of them. Buffalo Wild Wings’ marinara dip was much tastier than Hooters’, so I’ll give them that.

If I could dip Hooters cheese sticks in Buffalo Wild Wings marinara, I’d be a happy girl.

Next, I ordered traditional wings.

The traditional wings at Buffalo Wild Wings were not breaded.
Terri Peters

At Buffalo Wild Wings, six traditional wings cost $9.99. I liked the style of Buffalo Wild Wings’ traditional wings more: since they weren’t breaded, they were much tastier.

THE hot sauce at Buffalo Wild Wings was also much spicier than the sauce at Hooters. At Buffalo Wild Wings, I’ll stick with the hot sauce without needing to change to one that claims to have a higher spiciness level to achieve the spice level I prefer.

In short, the hot sauce was exactly as hot as a good Buffalo wing hot sauce should be.

The Asian style wing sauce at Buffalo Wild Wings was my favorite of the two.

Buffalo Wild Wings had an excellent Asian Zing sauce.
Terri Peters

I also ordered 10 boneless wings from Buffalo Wild Wings for $12.49. I had them tossed with Zing Asian Sauce, which the menu describes as “sweet meets heat: a chili, soy, and ginger sauce.”

I found the Asian Zing sauce even tastier than the Samurai Teriyaki sauce at Hooters, although both were really nice.

I think Buffalo Wild Wings’ Asian Zing sauce was a little spicier, which is probably why I was so drawn to it.

There are no curly fries at Buffalo Wild Wings, so I opted for standard fries.

The fries at Buffalo Wild Wings were simple and thin.
Terri Peters

I found my $3.99 order of fries at Buffalo Wild Wings to be quite delicious. Buffalo Wild Wings fries are matchstick shaped, cut very thin and seasoned with lots of salt and pepper.

I enjoyed eating them to cool my mouth while I ate so many different types of spicy wings.

Although there were things I enjoyed about both chain restaurants, if I had to repeat the meal, I would go to Hooters.

Hooters particularly impressed me with their boneless wings.
Terri Peters

There were things I liked about Hooters and Buffalo Wild Wings, but if I were to order the same meal again, I would return to Hooters with a slight change: I would order the naked wings instead of the breaded ones.

Overall, my pick for the best hot wings at Hooters would be naked wings with 3 Mile Island sauce all the way through.

Both restaurants served bone-in and boneless wings that were perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside. And both had incredibly flavorful wing sauces.

Still, there were places where Buffalo Wild Wings fell flat – it was hard to ignore those disappointing mozzarella sticks.

I would, however, return to both restaurants. Both meals were really good, my servers at each location were wonderful, and the sports bar atmosphere at both restaurants was relaxing.