{"id":107250,"date":"2026-02-06T20:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/107250\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T20:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:00:10","slug":"chicken-wings-remain-a-super-bowl-staple-in-nepa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/107250\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicken wings remain a Super Bowl staple in NEPA"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

Karen Snyder, co-owner of Kelly\u2019s Pub & Eatery on Cedar Avenue in Scranton, noted the eatery typically cooks 20,000 to 25,000 wings for the gridiron clash each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe start first thing in the morning and we have the times spread out,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cWe\u2019ll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Co-owner<\/p>\n

Co-owner Patricia Laboranti preps wings at Kelly\u2019s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026.(REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Wings<\/p>\n

Wings in the fryer at Kelly\u2019s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"(Left<\/p>\n

(Left to right) Owners and sisters Kelly Hamm, Patricia Laboranti, Joni Boino, and Karen Snyder at their business, Kelly\u2019s Pub and Eatery, on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Wings<\/p>\n

Wings come out of the fryer at Kelly\u2019s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Wings<\/p>\n

Wings in the kitchen of Kelly\u2019s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Sauce<\/p>\n

Sauce bins at Kelly\u2019s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026.REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Co-owner Patricia Laboranti preps wings at Kelly\u2019s Pub and Eatery on Cedar Ave. in Scranton on Thursday, Feb. 05, 2026.(REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Americans will eat 1.48 billion chicken wings while watching the New England Patriots battle the Seattle Seahawks \u2014 about 10 million more than last year, according to the National Chicken Council.<\/p>\n

Kelly\u2019s offers special deals for the big game \u2014 50 wings for $58 and 100 for $98 \u2014 but customers can cater their order to their needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have orders for 25, and there is one for 175, 100, 50, and two orders of 10,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cYou can really get whatever you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some places thrive on unique flavors, Kelly\u2019s keeps it simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe medium is probably our most popular,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cIt\u2019s not so hot and it has a little bit more flavor rather than heat, where the mild is pretty mild.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snyder doesn\u2019t expect the absence of a Pennsylvania team to hamper sales on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d she said. \u201cI think people will still get together. Last year it was the Eagles and it was very busy, but I really think we\u2019re going to be just as busy this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 about 5,000 wings.<\/p>\n

Maga expects strong sales again as the restaurant will offer specials of 30 wings for $30 and 50 for $50.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the bigger days on the takeout side,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of buckets for the Super Bowl, rather than dozens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preparations started earlier in the week in order to keep up with the high demand, Maga added.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy guys have been making sauces for three days, because we make a lot of ours in-house, and cupping blue cheese and celery,\u201d she said. \u201cOther than that, everything else is pretty much done on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the most popular sauces are the Classic Pub (a traditional Buffalo), sweet chili blue cheese and island ranch \u2014 which has a hint of mango habanero \u2014 Maga said.<\/p>\n

Papa sauce \u2014 a smoky blue cheese blend and one of the original flavors \u2014 also remains a customer favorite, she added.<\/p>\n

Nina\u2019s Wing Bites & Pizza in Dunmore and South Abington Twp. serves only boneless wings \u2014 no bone-in \u2014 on Super Bowl Sunday, owner Maria McLaine said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our busiest day of the year,\u201d she said. \u201cWe sold more than 600 orders of bites last year. We started prepping basically all our sauces and our chicken Monday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many customers prefer the mild sauce, with Buffalo garlic parm also in demand, McLaine said.<\/p>\n

Despite the hectic schedule, McLaine stressed that staff members enjoy serving droves of customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of their favorite days of the year,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s an exciting day because you feel like you\u2019re involved in the whole scheme of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jayme Wilkinson, a bartender at Bunker\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just a small bar, but we\u2019re going to put out something small for the Super Bowl,\u201d Wilkinson said. \u201cWe\u2019ll probably do a wing special \u2014 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maga believes the tradition of camaraderie around football will outweigh a potential lack of interest associated with the teams participating in the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a fan of either, but I feel like people will watch the game regardless, and get food, because it\u2019s just the thing to do,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Super Bowl is the Super Bowl. It doesn\u2019t matter who is in it. Everybody wants a reason to drink and eat, right?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From hot Cajun garlic to sweet chili blue cheese and a more traditional medium, restaurants throughout the region…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[60,2136,201,182,803,41220,28,178,180,179,6799,181],"class_list":{"0":"post-107250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-dunmore","10":"tag-lackawanna-county","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-luzerne-county","13":"tag-nanticoke","14":"tag-pennsylvania","15":"tag-scranton","16":"tag-scranton-headlines","17":"tag-scranton-news","18":"tag-south-abington-township","19":"tag-top-stories-stt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}