Hot Sauce and Panko

hotsauceandpanko.com

This is one of two places I would recommend for wings in SF. The other being San Tung, but San Tung is more a Chinese restaurant with their special dried fried wings so they are really in two different categories.

Panko is more in your traditional style of what people think of as buffalo wings and I think they are the best in the city for that style. They have a lot of flavors and you can separate them into the dry style and the sauced style. I haven’t had all of them but the ones I have had are good. I also like that the wings are correctly sized. Some places I think serve wings that are too big and that throws the meat, skin, sauce ratio out of proportion.

They serve other things here like a burger and fried chicken meals but I’ve only had the wings here. One minor nit I have with the place is why five wings per order? Six would be a lot better for sharing purposes so each person can get the proper split of flavors.

They never really had a seating area but since COVID you don’t even go in to order. The door is the counter now and they give you a pager to pick up your order when ready.

So, the problem if you are not a local (like myself) is that you need to find a bar that does not serve food to eat your wings. Two options nearby are Shanghai Kelly’s or McTeague’s Saloon - both solid bars that don’t serve food. I guess you could eat in your car as well but I’m usually not driving when I go to this place.