From hot Cajun garlic to sweet chili blue cheese and a more traditional medium, restaurants throughout the region will sell thousands of wings on Super Bowl Sunday.
Karen Snyder, co-owner of Kelly’s Pub & Eatery on Cedar Avenue in Scranton, noted the eatery typically cooks 20,000 to 25,000 wings for the gridiron clash each year.
“We start first thing in the morning and we have the times spread out,” Snyder said. “We’ll have some people coming at 9 a.m. and some at 6 p.m. Everything is served in reheatable tins, so people can heat them up later.”
Co-owner Patricia Laboranti preps wings at Kelly’s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026.(REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wings in the fryer at Kelly’s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
(Left to right) Owners and sisters Kelly Hamm, Patricia Laboranti, Joni Boino, and Karen Snyder at their business, Kelly’s Pub and Eatery, on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wings come out of the fryer at Kelly’s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wings in the kitchen of Kelly’s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Sauce bins at Kelly’s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026.REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Co-owner Patricia Laboranti preps wings at Kelly’s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026.(REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Americans will eat 1.48 billion chicken wings while watching the New England Patriots battle the Seattle Seahawks — about 10 million more than last year, according to the National Chicken Council.
Kelly’s offers special deals for the big game — 50 wings for $58 and 100 for $98 — but customers can cater their order to their needs.
“We have orders for 25, and there is one for 175, 100, 50, and two orders of 10,” Snyder said. “You can really get whatever you want.”
While some places thrive on unique flavors, Kelly’s keeps it simple.
“The medium is probably our most popular,” Snyder said. “It’s not so hot and it has a little bit more flavor rather than heat, where the mild is pretty mild.”
Snyder doesn’t expect the absence of a Pennsylvania team to hamper sales on Sunday.
“I think the Super Bowl is just a time for people to get together and something to do to break up this winter and this cold,” she said. “I think people will still get together. Last year it was the Eagles and it was very busy, but I really think we’re going to be just as busy this year.”
Lauren Maga, co-owner of the R Bar on East Kirman Avenue in Nanticoke, went through 18 cases of chicken for the Super Bowl last year — about 5,000 wings.
Maga expects strong sales again as the restaurant will offer specials of 30 wings for $30 and 50 for $50.
“It’s one of the bigger days on the takeout side,” she said. “A lot of buckets for the Super Bowl, rather than dozens.”
Preparations started earlier in the week in order to keep up with the high demand, Maga added.
“My guys have been making sauces for three days, because we make a lot of ours in-house, and cupping blue cheese and celery,” she said. “Other than that, everything else is pretty much done on Sunday.”
Among the most popular sauces are the Classic Pub (a traditional Buffalo), sweet chili blue cheese and island ranch — which has a hint of mango habanero — Maga said.
Papa sauce — a smoky blue cheese blend and one of the original flavors — also remains a customer favorite, she added.
Nina’s Wing Bites & Pizza in Dunmore and South Abington Twp. serves only boneless wings — no bone-in — on Super Bowl Sunday, owner Maria McLaine said.
“It’s our busiest day of the year,” she said. “We sold more than 600 orders of bites last year. We started prepping basically all our sauces and our chicken Monday.”
Many customers prefer the mild sauce, with Buffalo garlic parm also in demand, McLaine said.
Despite the hectic schedule, McLaine stressed that staff members enjoy serving droves of customers.
“It’s one of their favorite days of the year,” she said. “It’s an exciting day because you feel like you’re involved in the whole scheme of it.”
Jayme Wilkinson, a bartender at Bunker’s Sports Bar & Restaurant on South Poplar Street in Hazleton, expects a good atmosphere for the game and solid takeout sales, with most customers gravitating toward the hot Cajun garlic flavor.
“We’re just a small bar, but we’re going to put out something small for the Super Bowl,” Wilkinson said. “We’ll probably do a wing special — our wings are normally $13, we might put them down to like $10.Just talking to my normal Sunday Funday patrons, I think it should be a decent crowd.”
Maga believes the tradition of camaraderie around football will outweigh a potential lack of interest associated with the teams participating in the game.
“I’m not a fan of either, but I feel like people will watch the game regardless, and get food, because it’s just the thing to do,” she said. “The Super Bowl is the Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter who is in it. Everybody wants a reason to drink and eat, right?”