Dan and John's Chicken Wings, Chelsea: Tuesday Trivia Picks

Dan and John's Wings, at 103 W 14th Street, is the Manhattan wing counter run by two men from Buffalo, and its Chelsea room opens at 12pm every day of the week. Ten Traditional Wings cost $19.49, five cost $9.99, and every order comes with celery, carrots and a choice of blue cheese or ranch. Closing is 10pm Sunday through Wednesday and 11pm Thursday through Saturday, and there is no reservation book, so the seats go to whoever walks in first.

The company tells its own origin story in a few lines. Dan and John grew up in Buffalo, and in 2013 they started making wings in Dan's Brooklyn apartment from recipes they brought from home. They debuted the result at Smorgasburg, the Brooklyn food market, and the About page credits a third partner named Pat. A 2021 report from WhatNow gave their full names as Dan Borowski and John Henninger.

Their first storefront opened on October 23, 2015, a date the founders still mark with a photo on the website. That original East Village shop has since closed, so 14th Street is now the Manhattan address most people mean. WhatNow reported that the Chelsea space covers about 1,600 square feet in the Stonehenge Gardens building, taking over a former Bareburger, which explains why it feels more like a neighborhood bar than a takeout window.

The menu splits flavors into two lanes. The original Buffalo sauces climb from Mild to Medium to Hot, then to Inferno and finally Insane, and the exclamation mark the menu puts after that last one is a fair warning. The dry rubs sit alongside: Buffalo Hot, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Parmesan and Zesty BBQ. Wings are described as fresh, never frozen jumbo wings, fried crisp and tossed in your flavor of choice before they hit the basket.

For a first visit, order Medium. It sits in the middle of the ladder and lets you judge the fry and the sauce before you climb. Hot is the right step for anyone who eats spicy food often. Save Insane for a dare, not a dinner. If you want a contrast plate, the Lemon Pepper rub is the cleanest counterpoint to the sauced wings and keeps the skin crunchy longer.

Traditional Wings run in three sizes: 5 pieces for $9.99, 10 for $19.49 and 20 for $37.99. Boneless Wings are slightly cheaper at $9.49, $18.49 and $36.49 for the same counts. Chicken Fingers come 3 for $10.99 or 6 for $20.99. House Cut Fries are $7.49, and Pizza Logs, a Western New York bar snack of rolled dough stuffed with cheese and pepperoni, are $10.49 for four. Those prices appear on both the Chelsea takeout menu and the restaurant's Square ordering page.

A fair verdict on value: the 20-piece order is the smarter buy for two hungry people, because it costs less than two 10-piece orders and still splits into two flavors. Skip the boneless wings unless someone at the table avoids bones. They are battered chicken pieces rather than true wings, and at only a dollar or so less, the classic bone-in order is the reason to come here in the first place.

Tuesday is the busiest night that is not a football Sunday. The bar's trivia page announces that questions start at 7pm every Tuesday at the Chelsea location, and the event is 21 and over. Its own advice is to come early, grab a good seat and use happy hour. In practice that means sitting down around 6:15pm if you want a table for four, because teams claim space well before the first round of questions.

Game days follow the same logic. A bar built on Buffalo wings is a natural magnet on football weekends, so expect the same early-seat scramble whenever a big game is on. If you just want to eat, aim for a weekday between 12pm and 5pm, when the room is calmer. If the dining room is packed, takeout is the backup plan: order at the counter or through the Square site and carry the box a few blocks west.

The Chelsea shop sits on 14th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, a block from the 14 St station on the 1, 2 and 3 lines and a short walk from the F, M and L stops at Sixth Avenue. Walk west along 14th Street and you reach the edge of the Meatpacking District in about ten minutes, which makes the wings a natural first or last stop on a West Side afternoon.

Chelsea Market, at 75 Ninth Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets, is the obvious detour if you arrive too early for trivia or want something sweet afterward. It is a covered food hall in the old Nabisco factory complex, and wandering its corridor is a good way to burn time while a friend runs late. Come back east on 15th or 16th Street and you will pass quieter brownstone blocks that are easy to miss from the avenues.

Pizza Logs are the side worth trying even if you have never been to Buffalo. They are a regional bar snack you rarely see on Manhattan menus, and ordering them is the quickest way to taste the Western New York side of the founders' story. The House Cut Fries are thick and plain, which is exactly right next to a hot wing. Dip them in the extra blue cheese rather than ketchup.

Groups should order by count rather than by dish. Five pieces per person makes a light meal, ten makes a full dinner, and the 20-piece order is easiest to split two ways across two flavors. Ask for extra celery if you are going above Hot. Carrots and celery come with every wing order, but on Inferno you will want more of both.

Address: Dan and John's Wings, 103 W 14th Street, New York, NY 10011, in Chelsea. Hours: Sunday to Wednesday 12pm to 10pm, Thursday to Saturday 12pm to 11pm. Service: dine in, take out and delivery. No reservations. Tuesday trivia starts at 7pm, 21 and over.

Prices on the Chelsea menu: Traditional Wings 5 for $9.99, 10 for $19.49, 20 for $37.99. Boneless Wings 5 for $9.49, 10 for $18.49, 20 for $36.49. Chicken Fingers 3 for $10.99. House Cut Fries $7.49. Pizza Logs $10.49 for four. Buffalo flavors run Mild, Medium, Hot, Inferno and Insane, with four dry rubs. For more West Side food ideas nearby, ask Karpo in the Karpo APP.