Chicken wings, traditionally deep-fried, have been a part of Southern cuisine for much of their culinary history.
Wings are a classic bar food and can be seen on game days, late nights out or just when having lunch with friends. Clemson is chock-full of sports bars with menus offering wings, which raises the question: which spot has the best?
This year, The Esso Club won Clemson’s Best Wings, taking the title back from Backstreets Pub and securing its fourth win in the past five years.
Sitting just a stone’s throw away from Littlejohn Coliseum, The Esso Club is one of the oldest Clemson institutions, having opened its doors in 1933 as a gas station and bar. Since then, the bar has undergone numerous remodels, expansions and renovations that have updated it to the Clemson classic that it is today.
Those 92 years of history are apparent just from looking at the walls of the storied establishment, covered in everything from decades-old beer advertisements to photos of numerous Clemson athletic teams, including football, basketball, baseball and everything in between.
Like the bar, its wings are a Clemson staple and hit every note of what a chicken wing should be.
The modern chicken wing craze originally began in 1964. Teressa Bellissimo at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, fried up a batch, tossed the wings in hot sauce and served them to her son and his friends. They were an instant hit, and Teressa put them on the restaurant’s menu the next day. The phenomenon spread across the United States in the following decades, and just like that, the Buffalo chicken wing was born.
Fast forward 20 years, and the 1980s low-fat craze caused the price of the relatively high-fat chicken wing to drop. Sports bars began to realize that chicken wings pair well with beer and that serving them together boosts both items’ sales. From this, one of the most iconic American culinary combinations — beer and wings — was cemented as a classic.
At The Esso Club, no matter which one of its twelve sauces and/or seasonings you order, you’re in for some of the best chicken wings of your life.
For sauces, choices range wildly. Both a hot and mild Buffalo and two different barbecue sauces, a “Jerry’s” red and a Zesty gold, are offered. Alongside these classics are other options, such as mango habañero, spicy honey, garlic parmesan and Ranchagotcha. Finally, Esso’s red dry rub, Yegge ranch and lemon pepper round out its flavor selections for those not wanting a sauce.
On top of that, The Esso Club offers four different ways to have your wings prepared, serving them up classically deep fried, grilled, breaded and smoked.
From the first bite, the skin is perfectly crispy, and the meat is so tender that it threatens to fall off the bone every time you reach for another. Paired with the classics — celery sticks and either blue cheese or ranch — Esso epitomizes an excellent chicken wing dish.
Even if you’re not in the mood for wings, The Esso Club has a wide-ranging menu, and the extensive selection of classic bar fare means you’ll find something you’ll love. The menu offers burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads and its house-classic Bird Dog, a chicken tender-stuffed French roll topped with shredded cheese, honey mustard and bacon.
The Esso Club is more than deserving of its spot in this year’s Best of Clemson. One thing’s for sure: the Clemson favorite has stuck around because the staff truly knows what they’re doing in all fields, especially chicken wings.
Hours:
Mon-Sat: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Sun: 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Address:
129 Old Greenville Hwy No. 1
Clemson, SC 29631
Phone: (864) 654-5120
www.theessoclub.com // @the.esso.club (Instagram) // TheEssoClub (X) // The Esso Club (Facebook)
