Score Stellar Wings, PB&J Chicken Sandwiches and Margaritas at Bad Chicken

With the Stars and Mavs in the midst of deep postseason runs, you’re going to require some key, essential survival items to be at your best. Like chicken wings. Good wings, too. Not those third-rate, bargain-basement wings. This is the playoffs we’re talking about. Oh, and booze. You’re definitely going to need a drink or three to shake those pregame jitters.

Bad Chicken, just a wing’s throw from Lower Greenville (at the intersection of Ross and Bennett avenues), is just what the doctor ordered. Here, they emphasize supreme quality. But who doesn’t? Every restaurant claims that. Even Burger King claims it. But there’s a stark difference between truly living by that and just saying it.

Bad Chicken insists on only the freshest birds, hand-trimmed, hand-battered and never frozen. Then, the wings are smoked and fried. All 20-plus of their sauces are made in-house.

You won’t find any shortcuts used at Bad Chicken.

Try the Habanero Honey Sauce

And speaking of the Mavs and Stars, when we visited Bad Chicken, both had critical playoff tilts looming that evening. Tip-off for the Mavs game was T-minus 60 minutes, so we took that as the perfect opportunity to hit up Bad Chicken’s drive-thru feature. Super convenient, especially considering it’s the first wing joint we’ve ever been to with a drive-thru.

We ordered 20 wings, which allows for two wing flavors of your choice. This order carries a stout $31 price tag, which seems high on the surface. But when you consider Buffalo Wild Wings charges $27 for 20 wings, for a far lesser product, you realize this price tag isn’t as bad as it appears (there’s definitely some sticker shock, though).

And the sauces – sheesh. Among the choices are traditional Buffalo, honey mustard, hot honey, Sriracha mayo, sweet pepper jelly, Texas dust dry rub and Bad Chicken’s signature Bang Bang sauce.

Our first flavor selection was Bad Chicken’s white BBQ sauce wings. The sauce itself underwhelmed and was light on flavor, so we’d go with another sauce next time. But the wings were perfectly cooked and had such a nice subtle smokiness that one could argue these didn’t even need the sauce.

The other sauce pick, though, was on the money. The hot honey habanero (made with fresh habaneros and locally sourced Texas wildflower honey) wings were a lot like Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving’s floor game: oh so smooth yet dangerously potent. These were so good that we may just go all honey habanero sauce next time.

In addition to Bad Chicken’s uber-stacked chicken wings lineup, you can choose nuggets, “bomb” bowls of sauced nuggets, sides (like curly fries, elote and mac and cheese) and a deep roster of chicken sandwiches (and a smash burger).

Bad Chicken’s bacon PB&J sandwich ($9.50) was something we just had to try. It’s fried chicken tossed in sweet pepper jelly, topped with peanut butter and thick-cut bacon on toasted brioche buns from an undisclosed local bakery. This creation may not be for everyone, but if you like chicken sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we bet you’ll love this.

Margaritas are served inside and to-go via the drive-thru. The patio has outside games, and the arcade has inside games and TVs if you’d prefer to dine in and watch the games. And don’t sleep on Bad Chicken’s standout desserts: cheesecake egg rolls, churro doughnut holes, chocolate mousse cups (layered with crumbled Oreos), crème brûlée and lemon icebox pie are all here for the taking.

Bad Chicken, 5014 Ross Ave. Sunday – Thursday, 10 a.m. – midnight; Friday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 2 a.m.