Hampton Roads, VAChicken Wings

Lendy's Cafe & Raw Bar has been frying wings in Virginia Beach since 1987, and Coastal Virginia Magazine's wings roundup put its long sauce list front and center. The kitchen runs sixteen sauces, from mild to the notorious Suicide, over crisp bar-style wings. Order a dozen split between a middle-heat sauce and the Suicide if you want to test it, with a raw-bar starter on the side. The General Booth spot is the original.

The Dirty Buffalo won Overall Gold for wings in Coastal Virginia Magazine's roundup, and its Virginia Beach location on South Independence carries the same forty-plus sauces and rubs. The build is classic Buffalo done at volume, with house sauces that range well past the usual. Order a dozen with the New Age Outlaws sauce or an Old Bay dry rub, add fries, and pace yourself through the heat levels.

My Mama's Kitchen in Norfolk fries its wings crisp, then tosses them in a wok with one of nearly twenty homemade sauces, a method Coastal Virginia Magazine highlighted. Chef Moe Stevenson learned the recipe from his mother, and the shop wears that home-kitchen feel. Order a dozen in the Drip, the sweet-tangy-spicy sauce regulars reach for, and get extra napkins. A small operation worth the short wait.

Crave Wings in Newport News gives the wing a Korean-inflected turn, and Coastal Virginia Magazine's roundup named owner Andrew Lee's sauces. The wings come double-fried and glazed, with heat that climbs to the aptly named Nuclear. Order a mix of honey garlic pepper and something hotter, and settle in on the Peninsula side of the metro. A newer name that earns its place among the region's wing shops.

Wing King fries Buffalo-style wings in Virginia Beach, and Coastal Virginia Magazine's roundup called out its house sauces. The Rosemont-area shop keeps the lineup broad, from garlic parmesan to a hot-Q and a hickory-smoke rub. Order a dozen in the garlic parm and a dozen in the hot-Q, add a side of fries, and eat in the no-frills dining room. A straightforward wing stop that leans on the sauces.