St Louis Trashed Chicken Wings

When Bill Gianino Sr made the decision to put his fully cooked and sauced chicken wings back in the fryer for a second time, he had no delusions of etching his name into the history books next to the likes of Meriwether Lewis & Willam Clark who coincidentally set out on their transcontinental expedition just a few miles away. But intended or not, his quirky cooking technique which resulted in an extra crispy exterior and moist succulent meat did make the culinary books, well at least a pretty dope regional food blog.

Buffalo wings were invented in 1964, so chances are Bill wasn’t the first person to double fry a wing when he started making them in the late 1980's, BUT he was definitely the first to call them trashed wings when he put them on his Frankie G’s Bar & Grill in Oakville menu in 1991.

According to Billy Gianino jr., his father called them "trashed" because that's what they did to the fryer after every order, but that never deterred the Gianino family from making them in most of their 8 St Louis area restaurants- ironically, they are not on the menu at the oldest restaurant and namesake Bill Gianino's.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

You know you made something good when others copy it, and boy did they. While the St Louis trashed wing has yet to infiltrate the national chains like Wing Stop or Buffalo Wild Wings the same way Atlanta's Lemon Pepper wings have, they are everywhere throughout the metro St Louis Area. Salt + Smoke BBQ not only makes wings, but they also offer a trashed rib option. Syberg's, a popular local chain known for their own style of wing sauce and St Louis Style pizza, are widely regarded as one of The Lou's best options. Remember trashed is the cooking style, not the flavor so be on the lookout for Thai chili lime, parmesan garlic and of course Buffalo.

And for those of you that follow me on the reg, you know how much I enjoy a good food debate, but unfortunately there's not much drama in the Midwest when it comes to blue cheese vs ranch - It seems to be a pretty even split down the middle.

It's a bit tragic that in a town known for losing its NFL Team (still a lot of anger between St Louis and The Rams), St Louis might just have the best assortment of foodigneous appetizers (pizza, wings and toasted ravioli) around which makes it an interesting spot to host a future Superbowl in my opinion.