Chicken Wings at Dan & John's Chelsea: $9.99 for Five

Dan and John's Wings in Chelsea sells five fresh, never-frozen jumbo chicken wings for $9.99, ten for $19.49 and twenty for $37.99, and the doors open at 12 pm every day of the week. Dan and John's Wings, at 103 W 14th Street, New York, NY 10011, is the Chelsea branch of a Buffalo-style wing counter run by two friends from Buffalo. The kitchen fries each order to crisp, tosses it in one of more than a dozen flavors, and sends it out with celery, carrots and a cup of blue cheese or ranch.

The two names on the sign are real people. Dan and John are Buffalo natives who began making their hometown wings in Dan's Brooklyn apartment in 2013, then took them to Brooklyn's Smorgasburg food festival for their public debut that same year. Their East Village shop opened on October 23, 2015, and the official history page still shows a photo of the two of them on that first day of sales.

Partner Pat joined them along the way, and the trio now run locations in Chelsea, Murray Hill and Downtown Brooklyn, with two more counters tucked inside Brooklyn bars. The Chelsea shop took over the former Bareburger space in the ground floor of the Stonehenge Gardens building on West 14th Street. The company's own pitch is modest: crispy flats and drums, made the way two guys from Buffalo think wings should be made. The Infatuation's critic called them the NYC Kings of Wings, and the shop has shared a screen with Sean Evans of Hot Ones.

Traditional wings are the headline: five pieces for $9.99, ten for $19.49 and twenty for $37.99. They are jumbo wings that arrive fresh and are fried to order, served with celery, carrots and your choice of blue cheese or ranch. Boneless wings are cheaper, at $9.49 for five, $18.49 for ten and $36.49 for twenty, and they are buttermilk-fried breast pieces tossed in the same sauces.

Flavors are grouped on the menu board. The original Buffalo family runs Mild, Medium, Hot, Inferno and Insane, with flame icons climbing as the heat does. The savory-or-sweet group offers Garlic Parmesan, Lemon Pepper, Sweet Chili, Honey Mustard and Teriyaki, and the teriyaki carries sesame seeds. Sweet BBQ, Spicy BBQ and Hickory BBQ make up a third group, and four dry rubs finish the list: Buffalo Hot, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Parmesan and Zesty BBQ.

A word on the dry rubs, because they are the insider order. Dry-rub wings skip the wet sauce, so the skin stays as crunchy as it was in the fryer, which matters if your plan is to carry the box a few blocks. Extra dipping sauce costs $1.49 in blue cheese, ranch or any wing flavor, and a dry rub on a side of house-cut fries adds $1.49.

Beyond wings, the short menu covers chicken fingers at $10.99 for three, a buttermilk-fried chicken sandwich at $12.49 on a potato roll with pickles, and a $16.99 combo that pairs five traditional wings, five boneless, three fingers or the sandwich with fries and a soft drink. House-cut fries are $7.49, tater tots $7.99, fried pickle chips $9.49 and mozzarella sticks $9.49. The kid's meal is $9.99.

The Chelsea shop's hours are Sun–Wed 12 pm–10 pm and Thu–Sat 12 pm–11 pm. Doors open at 12 pm, which makes a weekday lunch an easy time to walk in, and the shop stays open an hour later from Thursday to Saturday. If you want to walk in and walk out, use the Order Now link on the website and pick up at the counter.

Dine-in, take-out and delivery are all offered. The website adds that some items may not be available at every location, so the Chelsea menu is the one to read before you decide on a combo. The phone number is (888) 977-9464, the same toll-free line for every shop in the group.

Here is an honest judgment call: skip the Insane Buffalo unless you are doing it on purpose. Inferno is already hot enough to change the rest of your night, and Insane is meant for the person who wants a story. If the table can't agree on heat, split a twenty-piece into two flavors, one Buffalo Hot and one Garlic Parmesan, and everybody eats something they like.

Wings and beer are the point of the room. Draft pints start at $7 for a Bud Light, with Labatt Blue and Sam Adams at $8, Allagash White and Goose Island IPA at $9 and Wrench IPA at $10. Pitchers run $26 for Bud Light and $30 for Labatt Blue. Canned options include Labatt Blue Light at $6 and Shacksbury Hard Cider at $8, and wine is $10 a glass.

The frozen slush is the odd item on the menu. It costs $7 and can be spiked for $15 if you ask for it, and you ask at the counter which flavors are on. Soft drinks are $2.49 each. The wings page of the website also advertises a trivia event it calls Jeopardy with an RSVP link, so regulars treat the room as a place to settle in, not only to grab and go.

West 14th Street is a long, busy crosstown block, and the shop sits a short walk west of Sixth Avenue. After a box of wings, the easy detour is west to Chelsea Market, where you can pick up something sweet, or north to the High Line for a stroll above the street grid. Both are free to enter, and both are within a comfortable walk.

If the wait or the weather puts you off, Dan and John's also operates in Murray Hill and Downtown Brooklyn. Murray Hill and Chelsea keep separate schedules, and each has its own listing on the website. For a later night, the Bushwick counter sits inside Echo Bravo Bar.

Hours: Sun–Wed 12 pm–10 pm, Thu–Sat 12 pm–11 pm. Phone: (888) 977-9464. Prices on the Chelsea take-out menu: five traditional wings $9.99, ten $19.49, twenty $37.99, boneless five $9.49, chicken sandwich $12.49, house-cut fries $7.49. The shop takes dine-in, take-out and delivery orders.

Who is it for? Anyone who wants Buffalo-style wings from people who grew up near Buffalo, a quick lunch in Chelsea, a group order for a game night or a late bite that is not pizza. Bring a few friends, order two flavors and a dry rub, split the fries and you will leave with change from a hundred dollars. Download the Karpo APP to keep Chelsea wing spots, hours and prices in one place for your next night out.