Chicken Wing Hunting is serious finger licking business. The cult of chicken wing fanatics has been a phenomenon for decades dating back to the foodie favorite menu item's inception in Buffalo, NY in 1964. Now the creators of the NY Best Wings Festival, a long time running chicken wing tasting event and championship, have brought an "AmazeWing" experience to Queens, NY and it's "HappenWing" right now.
"Since 2011 we have been going on wing crawls to find and rate the best wings," says The Great Queens Chicken Wing Hunt organizer Matt Kourie. "It was a chicken wing fanatic's dream but it was the fun we had and the memories we made along the way that made it "great". All the wings and beer at each stop didn't hurt either! Wing Hunting is what led us to throwing wing festivals in the first place. We were invited three times to be official Judges at the National Buffalo Wing Festival by "The Wing King" himself, Drew Cerza. So we are going back to our origins and letting the wing fans experience what it's like to be a real Wing Hunter with the Great Queens Chicken Wing Hunt Nov 8, 2020 - Feb 8, 2021. Everyone likes to think they know where to get the best wings and now everyone on the hunt gets to be the Judge of that!"
Queens Wing Hunt Founder Matt Kourie (Right) with The Wing King Drew Cerza (Middle) & NY Best Wings Festival Co-Founder Rob Wittman (left).
Season Wing Pass holders dubbed "Wing Hunters" will receive 4 jumbo wings from each restaurant competing for "Best Wings in Queens" like Acey Ducey's & Tap House in Forest Hills. VIP Extended Season Wing Passes are good for an extra month of wing munching and some exclusive VIP wing flavors at select locations like Blackbird's Bar & Restaurant in Astoria.
Delicious Saucy Wings at Acey Ducey's!
An industry Judges panel of influencers like David "Rev" Ciancio and Stephanie Perez of @yeahfoodbeer, will decide official Best Wings awards while People's Choice Award will have wing hunting pass holders posting their wing pics on Instagram along their hunt. Voting for the restaurants with the hashtag #queenswinghunt , tagging each restaurant and @nybestwingsfestival.
Official Judge for the Great Queens Wing Hunt, Stephanie Perez of @yeahfoodbeer
"It's a really interactive and fun, "engage-wing" adventure," clucks Kourie. There will be social media contests along the hunt to win prizes for "Best photo of wings and beer" and "Best saucy face selfie." Each post having a corresponding hashtag so the organizers can select and shout out the winners of prizes online like "Wing Man" T-shirts.
It's something new and fun and exciting for people to do while finding new restaurants. As well as an awesome way for foodies to support restaurants... what better way to warm up in the chillier months than with hot, crispy, juicy Buffalo Wings?! You can even get your wing crew together and save money with the Wing Entourage group discount pass. Epic wing crawls ahead!
"Wing Hunter Entourage" at Blackbird's Bar & Restaurant in Astoria. Who's in yours??
To join the Great Queens Chicken Wing Hunt and get season wing passes, head to Eventbrite and receive a special 30% off with our promo code "winghuntingseason." Restaurants can sign on to participate throughout the hunt, which means more wings for wing hunters! We wish you happy wing hunting. Grease out ✌️!
See Founder Matt Kourie in a classic video of "Wing Hunters."
See the Trailer for the "Great Chicken Wing Hunt" award winning film by Matt Reynolds
For more, follow @nybestwingsfestival on Instagram