Riley’s East Review: Are These the Best Dry Rub Wings on Long Island?
Updated: 4 days ago
By Matthew Kourie — Long Island’s Original Wing Hunter
Founder, Best Wings LI (est. 2011) • Founder, New York Best Wings Festival •
3X U.S. National Buffalo Wing Championship Judge
Looking for the Best Wings in East Northport?
If you’re looking for some of the best wings in East Northport, Riley’s East deserves your attention.
But this review became about more than wings.
A reunion with a chef I already knew could cook them.
And somehow, after all those wings, I left thinking just as much about the Chicken Parmesan.
That’s Riley’s East.
Familiar food.
Taken more seriously than you expect.
💡 TIP: Food & drink pairings included. Bring this guide to Riley’s and try them together.
First Impressions: A Neighborhood Tavern With a Chef-Driven Kitchen
Riley’s feels immediately comfortable.
Exposed brick.
Dark wood.
Bottles glowing behind the bar.
Beer taps lined up waiting.
Warm lighting.
It’s casual enough for wings and a beer.
Polished enough for cocktails and dinner.
The owners explained the concept to me simply: create a place where one person can watch the game while their partner still gets a very good meal.
No compromise.
Come because it’s a good restaurant. The game just happens to be on.
Then I Recognized a Familiar Name From Long Island’s Wing Competition Past
Then I realized who was in the kitchen.
Chef Ian Russo.
"The Dirty Chef."
If that name sounds familiar, Ian was previously of the highly acclaimed Dirty Burger in Plainview.
That name goes back to the earlier days of Best Wings LI and the Long Island wing competition scene, when Ian was already earning recognition for his wings.
Seeing him again felt like opening an old chapter of my wing hunt.
These weren’t going to be accidental wings.
Ian’s whole “Dirty Style” is built around layering seasoning, heat and finishing techniques to create deeper flavor and a stronger crust.
NOW…
The Wings.
Because wings are the gateway.
If a kitchen cares this much about crust, seasoning, sauce and balance on its wings, I start looking for that same attention everywhere else.
At Riley’s, that rule held up.
Medium Buffalo: The First Bite Made Me Hungrier
Bright orange-red Buffalo sauce.
Fresh parsley.
A crust you can actually see underneath the sauce.
My first bite went straight into the blue cheese.
Crunch.
Tang.
Buffalo heat.
Creamy blue cheese.
And instead of making me feel full?
I immediately got hungrier.
That’s always a good sign.
If you’re going to build a crust on a chicken wing, there has to be a reason for it.
And it has to survive.
The Dirty Chef's does.
Even after these wings sat, that texture was still there.
🍺 The Pairing: Medium Buffalo × Blue Moon Belgian White
Soft wheat, citrus and carbonation cool the Buffalo heat, cut through the blue cheese and reset the palate.
Could These Be Some of Long Island’s Best Dry Rub Wings?
Dry-rub people.
You know who you are.
Riley’s might become your headquarters.
Dry rub can go wrong fast.
Too salty.
Too dusty.
Too aggressive.
Not here.
The Dirty Chef's Cajun Dry Rub wings are coated head to toe with seasoning, but the balance is the whole point.
The crust is already doing the heavy lifting.
Plenty of seasoning.
No need for sauce.
Still juicy underneath.
Then I dipped one into the blue cheese.
The dry rub didn’t disappear.
That matters.
A great dry-rub wing should still taste like itself after the dip.
These do.
For me, this becomes what I call a control wing for dry rubs on Long Island.
A benchmark I can mentally compare others against.
Crisp.
Balanced.
Seasoned end to end.
No salt bomb.
No gimmick.
And yes — I would put these in the conversation for some of the best dry rub wings on Long Island.
🍺 The Pairing: Cajun Dry Rub × Modelo Especial
Clean carbonation refreshes the palate without fighting the Cajun spice.
Szechuan Soy: Sweet, Savory and Still Crunchy
Dark.
Glossy.
Caramelized sweetness.
And underneath all of that glaze?
The crust was still there.
Ten minutes later, these wings had not surrendered.
Riley’s serves this one with ranch, and that makes sense.
The ranch cools the glaze without burying the soy.
🍺 The Pairing: Szechuan Soy × Allagash White
Citrus, soft wheat and gentle spice bridge the savory-sweet soy while the carbonation clears the palate.
Dirty Honey: The One My Palate Kept Trying to Figure Out
This has its own thumbprint.
Savory.
Sweet.
Glazed.
At moments I picked up impressions that reminded me of Parmesan, maybe tomato, maybe an herbaceous basil-like note.
Those are not claimed ingredients..
They’re simply where my senses kept wandering.
Whatever The Dirty Chef is doing, it tastes like its own thing.
🍺 The Pairing: Dirty Honey × Six Harbors Seasonal
Approachable malt and carbonation give the smoky-sweet glaze room to work.
Best Wings LI Rate-Wing
Wing Size: 2.5pts (1-3)
Texture, Crispy? Juicy?: 4.5pts (1-5)
Overall Flavor: 4pts (1-5)
TOTAL: 11 — "FANTASTWING"
On the Best Wings LI scale, that lands these wings at "FantastWing."
I let wings sit.
Real people talk.
Drink.
Watch the game.
A wing that collapses five minutes later loses something.
These held up.
Wings Are the Gateway
Once the wings showed me the kitchen cared about crust, seasoning and balance, I started looking for it everywhere else.
I found it.
The Dish I Kept Thinking About: Vodka Chicken Parmesan & Pesto Paccheri “Dirty Style”
This was the sneak-attack favorite.
Cheese-stuffed chicken.
Melted mozzarella.
Creamy vodka sauce.
Parmesan.
A crust that somehow still had bite underneath all that richness.
And then on the other side of the plate, paccheri pasta — large, wide tubes that give the pesto and Parmesan plenty of surface to cling to.
It’s a smart pasta choice here. Paccheri has enough size and structure to stand beside a heavy Chicken Parmesan without disappearing underneath it, while those big tubes carry the basil pesto into every bite.
The pasta kept me going back to the Parm.
The Parm kept me going back to the pasta.
I was already getting full.
I still wanted another bite.
That is the eyes-roll-back-for-a-second kind of food.
And after I left?
This was the dish I kept thinking about.
🍸 The Pairing: Vodka Chicken Parmesan & Pesto Paccheri × Negroni
Bitter orange and botanicals cut through the cheese and vodka sauce while bridging naturally into the basil pesto.
French Onion Soup… As a Burger
Swiss.
Provolone.
Caramelized onion jam.
Soft bun.
Then you dip it.
That changes everything.
This is the bite you’ve got to have.
And those onion rings?
Ridiculously crisp. Loved it!
🥃 The Pairing: French Onion Soup Burger × Riley’s Old Fashioned Geluso
Woodford Reserve, bitters and orange meet the browned onions and beef while balancing the cheese and au jus.
Twisted Cow Burger
Eight ounces of beef.
Aged white cheddar.
Bourbon bacon jam.
Beefsteak tomato.
Thin red onion.
Arugula.
Toasted brioche.
But that creamy, zesty “Don’t Call It A Comeback” sauce is the clutch move.
That’s where the burger gets its personality.
Gastropub burger meets childhood special-sauce nostalgia.
Riley's is also a burger lovers destination. No question.
🍺 The Pairing: Twisted Cow Burger × Paper Plane Cocktail
The bourbon plays directly into the bourbon bacon jam, while Aperol, amaro and fresh lemon cut through the cheddar and creamy sauce with bitter citrus and acidity.
Steak Sandwich
Crusty ciabatta outside.
Warm and chewy inside.
Tender medium-rare steak.
Portobello mushrooms, onions, provolone, horseradish aioli and au jus.
I took two bites immediately.
Sometimes that tells you more than analysis.
🍺 The Pairing: Marinated Skirt Steak Sandwich × Guinness
Roasted malt mirrors the steak and mushrooms while the dry finish cuts through the provolone and au jus.
Watch the Game
This might be Riley’s smartest lane.
You want the game.
Your partner wants dinner.
Nobody loses.
Riley’s gives you a place in East Northport to watch the game, eat serious wings, order a real entrée and have a properly made cocktail.
Come because it’s a good restaurant.
The game just happens to be on.
The Takeout Test
The next day, I put the leftovers through the air fryer.
The wings came back to life.
The food held up.
For takeout or game day, that's perfect.
Happy Hour at Riley’s East
Riley’s current happy hour runs Tuesday through Friday, 4–6 PM at the bar.
You’ll find:
8 Crispy Chicken Wings — $12
with happy-hour flavors including Medium, Hot, Mild, Chipotle BBQ, Hot Honey Butter, Cajun Dry Rub, Szechuan Soy, Tate’s Sweet & Spicy, Lemon Pepper, Scout Sauce & Anchor Bar Buffalo.
Plus:
$12 Signature Cocktails
$6 Select Draft Beers
$8 Select Wines
The Verdict
I went to Riley’s looking for wings.
I found a familiar name from Long Island’s wing competition past.
I found a dry rub I’ll now use as a benchmark.
And somehow I left still thinking about the Chicken Parmesan.
The Dirty Chef still knows how to build a serious wing.
And the restaurant understands that casual food does not have to mean careless food.
And if you’re coming from Northport, Greenlawn, Commack, Kings Park or elsewhere around Huntington, the dry-rub wings alone give you a reason to point the car toward East Northport.
Come for wings.
Stay for dinner.
Have a cocktail.
Watch the game.
Go hungry.
📍 SAVE THIS FOR YOUR NEXT WING RUN
Riley’s East
200 Larkfield Road,
East Northport, NY 11731
Instagram: @rileys.east
Going for the wings?
Start with the Cajun Dry Rub.
Going with someone who wants more than wings?
Remember that Vodka Chicken Parmesan & Pesto Paccheri “Dirty Style.”
Screenshot this.
Send it to your wing crew.
✍️ About the Author
Matthew Kourie, Founder, Best Wings LI (est. 2011) Founder, New York Best Wings Festival 3X U.S. National Buffalo Wing Championship Judge
Helping Long Islanders discover exceptional wings and unforgettable hospitality experiences since 2011.
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