We had been hearing things about the wings at Jerry's Pizza in Middletown but weren't super motivated to try them out because the name sounded like your every-day pizza joint. Boy were we wrong about that! In addition to being THE restaurant responsible for actually bringing NY-style pizza to Connecticut, this family-run establishment serves up outstanding wings! Carmela Schiano and her son Antonio Lockwood have 30 flavors on their wing menu including some we promise you've never tried. We only managed to eat eight flavors in our visit and we are anxious to get back in there for more. We guarantee you'll love Jerry's.

If you're looking for wings in Meriden, this is the spot. John and Sandy Arnold's spot is a classic local dive bar with pool tables, dart boards, breakfast, lunch and dinner and 15 award-winning wings on the menu! It might be hard to resist that lobster roll, but we recommend the Sweet Chili Raspberry wings. After all, wings are the new caviar!

You might drive right past this classic local dive bar without even knowing. Heck, we were trying to get their multiple times and had to turn around every time. But it's worth it.  Sparrow's has an excellent menu, live music at night, Karaoke and Trivia, and puts out some of our favorite wings. Owners John and Tara Miller, as well as the patrons, will make you feel like a regular. Be sure to try the Jerk wings which are, by all accounts, the best we've had.

One of Hamden's finest dive bars, owned by Dave DiNicola, this place is almost a step back in time. You'll love the sports and music memorabilia all over the walls and you'll definitely love the award-winning wings. Though the half-dozen flavors on the menu are the basics, you won't be disappointed. The Screamin' Demon wings are some of the most-solid spicy wings around and you'll want one of the 16 beers on tap.

Ahh, the CT originator of the "Doob Style" wings! John Acanfora took over this North Haven watering hole and turned it into a legendary local destination. The wings at Hard Hat are "to LIVE for" and you'll need to order more than just one flavor. The Doob Style Buffalo is other worldy and the Lemon Pepper is one of the best we've encountered. Hard Hat has a second location in Wallingford (Hard Hat 2), and is opening a third in Durham in Spring 2023. Get you some! This is a Hall of Fame spot.

What can you say about Archie Moore's. Owner Bob Fuchs took over this hundred-year-old bar in New Haven and turned it into Connecticut's first-ever restaurant to serve our beloved chicken wings. In other words, Archie's is CT's version of Anchor Bar. You can't go wrong with the traditional Buffalo Wings at Archies, but we suggest you venture into a few of the other flavors as well. You won't find dozens of flavors here, but they instead choose to do a few flavors extremely well. There are also Archie Moore's locations in Wallingford, Milford, Fairfield and Branford. Another Hall of Famer.

With four Connecticut locations (New Haven, Hartford, Windsor and South Windsor) and three in North Carolina as well, this place - owned by Jamie McDonald - is an all out barbecue smokehouse paradise. Everything about this place is awesome. The wings are wood smoked, slow and low, Kansas City style and come in six mouth-watering flavors which include Bear's three bottled BBQ sauces like KC Sweet BBQ, Texas Pepper and Grizzly Ghost Pepper BBQ (all available to go)! We ate them all.

Right on the Post Road in Orange, this place is one of the area's most fun party bars. With TV's, live music, and electric nightlife, OAH has an extensive menu of all the pub-fare you'd expect. Owner Jim Hassenmayer also has 15 wing flavors on the menu including one of our favorite Cajun Dry Rubs.

Different than any other spot on the trail, Papa's is a Southern/Caribbean fusion takeout restaurant in East Haven. The wings are floured and breaded in owner James Green's proprietary mixture and deep fried to perfection (naked "non-breaded" also available) in 24 different flavors. This comfort food-lover's dream also has insane Hush Puppies, Jamaican Beef Patties and other amazing side items. We do promise that you've never had wings like these anywhere. Not anywhere.

Of all the spots on the wing trail, GG's in Milford is an outlier. Why? Because the food in this Italian pizza restaurant - run by the Pastorok brothers, George & Greg - is so ridiculously good that no normal person would ever think of ordering wings here. Thank God we don't have any "normal" people reading this. GG's has five delicious flavors that you can ask for cooked the traditional way (oil fried) or cooked in the wood-fired pizza oven. We loved every one of them but the Garlic Herb was simply not from this world. (PS, take home a pizza).