Wings, Etc., BuffaLouie’s (since closed), Buffalo Wild Wings… for a town of 30,000 people, Valparaiso, Indiana certainly had more than its share of wing places while I attended college there from 2006-2010.

And I ate more than my share of wings during those four years. I probably had wings at least once a week, and even wrote a piece during my tenure as The Torch’s Features Editor attempting to rank the city’s wing establishments. (Link to that coming later, if it can be found.)

That article is irrelevant however, because the best wings in Valparaiso, IN can not be found at a wing place. I believed at the time and confirmed during a trip this last weekend that the best wings are found at Duffy’s Place (Facebook link). They also have a Twitter page, but not a website at the moment.

Duffy’s is a bar in my favorite sense. The drinks are cheap, it is often loud, and smoking is still permitted. I am not a smoker myself, but thanks to my loving parents (also non-smokers) I did spend a good chunk of time in smoky bars growing up. Smoky bars trigger positive childhood memories to me the way that many people might feel about “grandma’s apple pie” or something wholesome like that. Smoking is now banned in most St. Louis bars and while a part of me misses it, a large and growing part of me understands that this is for the best.

These types of bars are often the ones that surprise you with the quality of food that comes out of the kitchen, and that is certainly the case with Duffy’s.

According to this slightly out-of-date and incredibly small image of a menu on Urbanspoon, Duffy’s serves a reasonably sized menu of pub grub, and the first thing featured on the menu is wings. “Voted Best Wings In Town”, it says. Based on my previous experience, these types of claims are often dubious and very rarely a real indicator of quality.

But I have long been a proponent of Duffy’s wings even though all of my previous research had been conducted after having at least a few of the aforementioned cheap drinks. I was never 100% sure that my memories reflected reality but here are the two things I remembered: They were delicious, and the hot wings are really hot.

When I found myself in Valparaiso, IN this weekend I decided to stop in and see if I was right. I had built up a hazy legend in my head over the last 4+ years and was nervous about how it might differ from reality. But I ordered 12 hot wings anyway, and hoped for the best.

I was not disappointed and in fact the wings may have been even better than I remembered them. Not only were they as delicious and hot (very!) as I remembered, but they are unique from any other wings I’ve eaten.

Duffy’s wings, which come in hot, medium, mild, garlic, honey bbq, cajun-garlic and sesame teriyaki, are served in the second best wing-container: a red plastic basket with wax paper.

The first thing that one might notice looking at these wings is that there’s a lot of char on the outside of the wings. I don’t know how these wings are cooked (and I never ask, because I’m lazy and don’t like being a bother) but I have some guesses. They may be fried at some point, but they are definitely (probably) finished on a grill before being sauced.

However they are cooked, the results are wonderful. The wings feature the perfect diversity in texture, being crisp and a bit crunchy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside.

When you bite into the wings, regardless of the flavors that I tried (other people at my table ordered cajun-garlic and medium), there’s a surprising sweetness. I suspect that these wings are rubbed in something before they are grilled, and that this rub might contain some brown sugar. This would account for the black spots and the sweet flavor. This slight sweetness stands up and is noticeable even in the hot wings, but is not overwhelming even in the more mild flavors.

What about this hot sauce? While some menus treat you like a child with their descriptions and put things like “WARNING! THIS HOT SAUCE IS CRAAAAZZZZY HOT! USE CAUTION!!!!”, Duffy’s treats you like the 21+ adult you must be to enter. “Hot” should be enough to mean hot and Duffy’s means it. These wings are delicious, but they are at the high end of my spice tolerance. Even the medium wings have a good kick to them. The sauce is packed with flavor and there seem to be a lot of different things that go into it. There are red-pepper flakes visible in the sauce but other than that it’s a mystery to me.

All of these factors (the crispiness, the tenderness, the spiciness, the sweetness) come together to create a very compelling wing. These aren’t just the best wings in Valparaiso, but they may be some of the best wings I’ve ever eaten. If you ever find yourself in the area, you should go get them.