![]() A basket of lemon pepper wings | |
Course | Appetizer or main course |
---|---|
Place of origin | Atlanta, Georgia |
Associated cuisine | Cuisine of the Southern United States |
Main ingredients | Chicken, lemon pepper |
Lemon pepper wings are unbreaded chicken wings coated in lemon pepper seasoning. The dish was invented in Atlanta, Georgia, and is considered to be emblematic of the cuisine of Atlanta.
Lemon pepper wings were invented in Atlanta, Georgia, where people began adding lemon pepper to buffalo wings to reduce their spiciness. [1] [2] [3] The popularity of lemon pepper wings in the mid-2000s has been attributed to their being less likely to dirty clothes than buffalo wings, making them preferred by rappers who commonly wore white t-shirts at the time. [4]
The dish is strongly associated with Atlanta cuisine. [5] [6] Future Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms commented that "Lemon pepper wings are Atlanta" in 2017. [7] In 2022, Eric Kim of The New York Times wrote that "in Atlanta, lemon pepper is queen" and described the wings as "central to [the city's] social fabric." [8]
The wings have inspired various items such as lemon pepper tacos, [9] loaded fries, pierogies, [10] pizza, [11] beer, [12] and soda. [13]
Lemon pepper wings are frequently served in the city's strip clubs. [7] [8] [14] Chris Kirschner of The Athletic observed that high-quality food was often a hallmark of Atlanta strip clubs, particularly wings, and their food was known to draw celebrity guests. [15] The dish is also served throughout the United States by chain restaurants. [16] [17]
The dish is prepared by roasting unbreaded chicken wings. After cooking, they are tossed in lemon pepper, a seasoning made with lemon zest and black pepper as well as other ingredients such as sugar. [18] [8] Many recipes use premade lemon pepper. [19]
"Lemon pepper wet" is a variation in which the wings are coated in a sauce. They may be tossed in a lemon sauce instead of a dry rub. This version of the dish was invented at the American Deli in Atlanta. [19] [20] Other versions of this dish involve coating the wings with butter or buffalo sauce and tossing them in dry lemon pepper seasoning. [21] [22]
Lemon pepper wings are commonly referenced in music and television related to Atlanta. [23] The 2 Chainz song "Hot Wings" (2018) includes the verse "She just want her 20-piece/ All flats with the lemon pepper". [24] They are mentioned in the Drake song "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" (2021) featuring Rick Ross. Ross, who owns several Wingstop locations, has mentioned them in numerous other songs including "Buy Back the Block", "Dope Dick", "U.O.E.N.O." and "Thug Cry". [25] They have also been mentioned in songs by rappers like Gucci Mane and the group Migos. [26]
They appeared in the second episode of the television series Atlanta, [27] in which a character receives "lemon pepper wet" wings from the real life restaurant J.R. Crickets. [22] The scene went viral on social media and popularized the dish online. [28] At the time, "lemon pepper wet" wings were not on the restaurant's menu although they had a similar dish called "Fester" wings which customers frequently referred to as "lemon pepper wet". The "lemon pepper wet" depicted in the show was actually inspired by a dish served at the American Deli, a different restaurant in Atlanta. [22] Writer Stephen Glover explained that he wanted the character to be "hooked up" by receiving an item that was not on the menu at J.R. Crickets. In 2017, J.R. Crickets added "lemon pepper wet" to the menu in honor of the show. [29] Mike Jordan of Eater Atlanta claimed that the episode had popularized the dish. [27]
In 2020, Lou Williams of the Los Angeles Clippers was nicknamed "Lemon Pepper Lou" on social media when it was reported that he ordered lemon pepper wings with Jack Harlow at the Magic City strip club during a trip outside the NBA Bubble. [30] [31] Williams was previously known for frequenting the club to purchase its wings, [4] where the dish "Louwill Lemon Pepper BBQ Wings" was named after him. [32] [33] He objected to the nickname but later trademarked it. [34]
Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, and/or salts, intended to enhance a particular flavour.
A Buffalo wing in American cuisine is an unbreaded chicken wing section that is generally deep-fried, then coated or dipped in a sauce consisting of a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and melted butter prior to serving. They are traditionally served hot, along with celery sticks and carrot sticks, and a dip of blue cheese dressing or, primarily outside of New York, ranch dressing. Buffalo wings are named after Buffalo, New York, where they were invented, and have no relation to the animal. They are often called simply chickenwings, hot wings, or just wings.
Satay, or sate in Indonesia, is a Javanese dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. Satay originated in Java, but has spread throughout Indonesia, into Southeast Asia, Europe, America, and beyond.
Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica, in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet-marinated with a hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice.
Chicken Marengo is a French dish consisting of a chicken sautéed in oil with garlic and tomato, garnished with fried eggs and crayfish. The dish is similar to chicken à la Provençale, but with the addition of egg and crayfish, which are traditional to chicken Marengo but are now often omitted. The original dish was named to celebrate the Battle of Marengo, a Napoleonic victory of June 1800.
Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Levant, in the sense of the rough area of former Ottoman Syria. The cuisine has similarities with Egyptian cuisine, North African cuisine and Ottoman cuisine. It is particularly known for its meze spreads of hot and cold dishes, most notably among them ful medames, hummus, tabbouleh and baba ghanoush, accompanied by bread.
Fried chicken, also called Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior of the chicken while retaining juices in the meat. Broiler chickens are most commonly used.
Hot chicken is a type of fried chicken that is a local specialty of Nashville, Tennessee, in the United States. In its typical preparation, it is a portion of breast, thigh or wing that has been marinated in a water-based blend of seasoning, floured, fried and finally covered in a paste or sauce that has been spiced with cayenne pepper. This method of preparation originates within African American communities in the Southern United States. A richly pigmented seasoning paste gives the fried chicken its reddish hue. Spice blends, preparation methods and heat intensity vary from recipe to recipe or depending on the chef.
Manchurian is a class of Indian Chinese dishes made by roughly chopping and deep-frying ingredients such as chicken, cauliflower (gobi), prawns, fish, mutton, and paneer, and then sautéeing them in a sauce flavored with soy sauce. Manchurian is the result of the adaptation of Chinese cooking and seasoning techniques, specifically aimed to suit Indian tastes. It has become a staple of Indian-Chinese cuisine and whilst largely unknown in China, it has become popular in India.
Magic City is a prominent strip club in Atlanta, founded in 1985 and currently owned by Michael “Magic” Barney.
Double Dragon is a restaurant and bar in Portland, Oregon, United States. Chef and owner Rob Walls opened the bánh mì sandwich shop in 2011, which was later expanded to include more food and drink options.
Chicken and Guns is a restaurant with two locations in the U.S. state of Oregon. The restaurant operates a food cart in Portland, and the brick-and-mortar Smokehouse Chicken and Guns opened in Gales Creek in 2023.
Erica's Soul Food is a restaurant in Portland, Oregon.
Zach's Shack is a dive bar and hot dog restaurant in Portland, Oregon.
Franks-A-Lot, or Franks A Lot, is a hot dog restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Previously, the business operated as The Dog House.
Ristorante Machiavelli is an Italian restaurant in Edmonds, Washington, in the United States. The original location operated on Seattle's Capitol Hill from 1988 to 2024. It was housed in the historic Booker Building (1912), and the restaurant had billed itself as "a Capitol Hill tradition since 1988". The Edmonds location, originally an outpost, opened in December 2023.
The Original Philly's is a restaurant in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Metrovino was a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It opened in northwest Portland's Pearl District in 2009, with Greg Denton as executive chef. Todd Steele and his mother were co-owners. Other chefs included Denton's wife Gabrielle Quiñonez Denton and later Victor Deras and Dustin See, after the Dentons left in 2012. In 2011, Metrovino was used as a filming location for the television series Leverage. The restaurant closed in September 2013 and was replaced by The Fields Bar and Grill.