"Wing It"
For those who believe great wings are the ultimate comfort food, this trail’s got your cravings covered.
When it comes to wings, our community doesn’t mess around. Whether you’re into smoky BBQ, classic Buffalo, or bold dry rubs, Lafayette-West Lafayette offers a lineup of local joints serving wings that are crispy, saucy, and finger-lickin’ fantastic. Follow this trail to find your perfect wing.
🔥 Local Wing Spots That Bring the Heat (and Flavor):
WALT’S PUB AND GRILL
A staple for comfort food and sports fans alike, Walt’s serves wings that are crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and tossed in a range of crave-worthy sauces.
History and Heritage
What’s something unique about your origin story that most people don’t know?
“I have been told our wings are larger in size (wing to bone ratio). Our kitchen says the type of wings we get are exclusive to our restaurant. This ties into our signature Walt’s Pub Sauce, which has roots in Harry’s Chocolate Shop wing sauce and the late owner Herschel’s original recipe.”
Wing Focus
What’s your top-selling wing flavor or style?
“We offer 6 different types of flavors, however the signature Walt’s Pub Sauce is by far our most popular.”
What’s an underrated flavor or menu item that you think deserves more attention?
“When we first opened, we did not have Cherry Bomb sauce which was a flavor at Walt’s Other Pub. That along with my favorite, Honey Garlic is also an underrated flavor. It is the right amount of sweet and spicy but not too powerful.”
The Experience
How would you describe the vibe or experience you’re trying to create for your guests?
“Although we have an upscale feel on the inside, it is definitely family friendly. It is value priced and a place we want you to come after a game or other special occasion and a place that creates regulars.”
Community Roots
How has the Lafayette community played a role in your success?
“We are greatly affected by all the community events, the sports calendars and academic calendars. We must pay very close attention to coordinate our schedules with all that is going on around us. Purdue is very generous with us, and we are so very appreciative of their and others support.”
Are there any community events or local traditions you participate in or look forward to:
“We try and focus on local events that are community oriented where we put our name out there to be associated with family related events. This includes Toys for Tots where we had a breakfast with Santa and stations for crafts. We also participated in Trunk or Treat this year and would like to make that an annual event for us. We have sponsored many different sporting teams. This will also be our third year participating in Mocktail Monday for Mental Health Awareness, and we’re proud to be the reigning champs—having won the 'Most Entertaining Bartenders' award two years in a row. Walt is always open to anything coming his way.”
Fun & Personal
Do you remember the first wing sauce you ever created or sold here? Is it still on the menu?
“Our signature Pub Sauce has not changed. It has stayed the same since we opened.”
Looking Ahead
What’s next for you?—any new sauces, menu items, events, or locations in the works?
“We typically change the menu once or twice a year and are coming up on a menu change in July 2025. We usually change 1-2 items in each category when we do make menu changes. We also are creating a tailgating program starting during Purdue football season and continuing through basketball season. We are hoping to do some of the tailgates outside and the rest in our downstairs space once the weather changes. We plan on offering a ticket for $25 for an all you can eat buffet along with a cash bar. More details coming soon on this!”
How do you see your brand evolving in the local or regional food scene?
“We have a sister company that just opened in Brownsburg called Walt’s Eats and Drinks. It is the same concept as this location but just much smaller scale and faster service. Walt hopes to do more of these soon, possibly up to a dozen or more.”
REVOLUTION BARBEQUE
With bold flavors and a dedication to smokehouse perfection, Revolution Barbeque brings serious wing game. Their BBQ-sauced wings are sticky, spicy, and completely addictive.
History and Heritage
What’s something unique about your origin story that most people don’t know?
“It all goes back to our smoking process. We have an amazing smoker. We brine the wings, and we use local hickory along with bourbon barrels to use as our white oak. Using the combination of both is a fun combination. That is the first part of the process and then we smoke the chicken for about 2 hours. We then cool them, toss them in the fryer, we add sauce if the customer requests one and finally top them off on the grill. It’s a bit longer process than most places, but the end result is the great quality.”
Wing Focus
What’s your top-selling wing flavor or style?
“We use a special dry rub for our wings. We do our own small batch of sauces here for the wings. We do a very southern traditional style. The sauces are not as thick with sugars as most sauces, it’s healthier as we use a ketchup/vinegar base with fresh vegetables.”
What’s an underrated flavor or menu item that you think deserves more attention?
“Our Strawberry Habanero sauce is super solid. We just recently added a hot honey BBQ that is popular, and our traditional house sauce is very mild. We also make our own ranch sauce from scratch.”
The Experience
How would you describe the vibe or experience you’re trying to create for your guests?
“There are three aspects of life…community, work and home. We want to be a place of community where you can come, bring friends, bring family no matter who you are and come, relax and have good food. We provide comfort food. BBQ is a group and family thing so that is something we always wanted to do.”
Community Roots
How has the Lafayette community played a role in your success?
“When we moved up here from down south, we saw a great opportunity in a growing food scene. We felt this was a ground level opportunity for us. Lafayette was very hungry for something like this. We started at the Lafayette Farmers Market and grew from there. We are very fortunate that the community was ready for someone like us to move in. There is such a good industry here to support businesses like ours. The more small businesses and local people that come together as a community, the more businesses like ours will thrive.”
Are there any community events or local traditions you participate in or look forward to:
“We partake in the Mosey Down Main Streets where we have a drink booth and a street eatery. We will also be at the TASTE of Tippecanoe again this year with some items like Texas Tweenkies and other similar fun items. We continue to be at the Lafayette Farmers Market as well. We do some really cool things with the Lafayette Theatre downtown too.”
Fun & Personal
Do you remember the first wing sauce you ever created or sold here? Is it still on the menu?
“Yes, we were really solid out of the gate with sauces. We have always had our house sauce along with the Strawberry Habanero sauce. They have all stayed pretty much the same with a few small tweaks. We are looking to continue to add sauces as we go.”
Looking Ahead
What’s next for you?—any new sauces, menu items, events, or locations in the works?
“We will be at Loeb Stadium this summer for all the Aviator games. We will have a tent where we’ll offer turkey legs, beef ribs, etc. We thought what’s crazier than offering a giant beef rib or giant turkey leg to eat at a game?! We have a lot of cool things coming up for our bourbon events which we will be announcing soon. We also are renovating the space next to us to possibly have as an events space, so we are excited about that.”
How do you see your brand evolving in the local or regional food scene?
“I think right now there is still a lot we can learn. So, we are focusing on educating ourselves on big team management. We have a lot of ideas for the future, but we want to ensure we are prepared for this type of growth. Once we have that structure down, everything else will work itself out for our future plans.”
OLD BUFFALO’S OUTPOST BAR AND GRILL
This hidden gem delivers hearty portions and wings with big-time flavor. Home of Lafayette’s Original “Char-Buffed Wings” Their wings hit the spot after a day of exploring.
History and Heritage
What’s something unique about your origin story that most people don’t know?
“Our wings were introduced to Lafayette in 1983 when we owned Sgt. Preston’s of the North located downtown. Because of their popularity, we transferred the wing recipe to The Old Buffalo Bar and Grill but added “Char Buff” wings, which is unique to the area and a big hit. We offer both now at the Old Buffalo along with the long tradition of substantial size and flavor. No wimpy wings at the Buffalo.”
Wing Focus
What’s your top-selling wing flavor or style?
“Our signature sauces are Buffalo and Lambo but do offer a wing sauce of the month which is created by our kitchen team. We offer traditional wings but elevated the wing experience with our original “Char Buff: which are cooked, sauced and finished on the grill which sears the sauce into the wings. Dip it in our inhouse chunky blue cheese or ranch… delicious!”
What’s an underrated flavor or menu item that you think deserves more attention?
“I prefer the Lambo sauce, but you must like hotter sauces to enjoy this one. I think some shy away from these because they are afraid they will be too spicey, but I don’t think they really are too hot and feel many would enjoy this sauce given the chance.”
The Experience
How would you describe the vibe or experience you’re trying to create for your guests?
“We emphasize a ‘feel at home’ environment where no one is a stranger. I would classify us as casual, laid back and neighborhood friendly. We want customers to come in and immediately feel welcome. We have many regular patrons and fortunately, amazing staff that have been with us for a long time. The entire team connects with our customer base and engages with new guests. The Old Buffalo is a rustic retreat with wood finishes and a relaxed atmosphere along with a beautiful spacious patio that rocks in the spring, summer and fall.”
Community Roots
How has the Lafayette community played a role in your success?
“We opened Sgt. Preston’s of the North in 1980 and developed strong and lasting friendships. Because of our quality, hiring practices and consistency, the community has trusted us to be a part of their weekly and sometimes daily dining experience. When deciding to sell Preston’s and the building and concentrate on one establishment, the community followed, which we are extremely thankful.
We also continue to attract first time patrons often because of word of mouth and our social media. Comments are made by those newbies that they will be back and most have become regulars.”
Are there any community events or local traditions you participate in or look forward to:
“In the spring, summer and fall we support local musicians on our patio. We boast that we have the largest patio in the community, and it is relaxing to sit out under the stars.
Being close to downtown, we still receive patrons participating in all the downtown festivals and events. They drift to our place before or afterwards for dinner or drinks. These exciting events energize the community and benefit all businesses.”
Fun & Personal
Do you remember the first wing sauce you ever created or sold here? Is it still on the menu?
“The signature Buffalo Char-Buffed is the first sauce we had, and it hasn’t changed over the years due to its popularity. At one time, it was the only sauce we had on the menu, but we decided to add Lambo and a wing sauce of the month.”
Looking Ahead
What’s next for you?—any new sauces, menu items, events, or locations in the works?
“We do offer monthly rotating sauces for our wings. For instance, Mango Habanero, Garlic Parmesan, Cherry BBQ, just to name a few, which are created by our talented kitchen crew. This month’s sauce is Carolina Buffalo. True to our spirit of keeping things fresh and exciting, we’ve added a barrel of Patrón Reposado to our lineup—stay tuned for how we’ll be pouring that into something special. We will bottle these and sell them utilizing our carry-out licenses that most don’t know we have.”
TEAYS RIVER BREWING & PUBLIC HOUSE
Not just great beer—Teays delivers big on wings too. Their smoked wings are a fan favorite, and the craft beer pairing options don’t hurt either.
History and Heritage
What’s something unique about your origin story that most people don’t know?
“Our original chef, Jake Robinson, was big into smoking meats. He did a lot of the festivals around town. When we hired him, a lot of our menu was smoked items including the wings. We get fresh wings (never frozen) and smoke them first for about 2 hours, then cool them down in fridge and finally flash fried once they are ordered. This gives them a unique flavor and they are not greasy or dried out either. By doing it this way, you do not lose the smoke flavor. All our seasonings are made in-house as well. We could have done wings like most everyone else but wanted to be unique in the way we did our wings.”
Wing Focus
What’s your top-selling wing flavor or style?
“For sauce it’s BBQ but overall, the BBQ dust is very popular as well. The BBQ dust really highlights the smoke and dry dust flavor. We also offer a special sauce for our wings, and it’s called Alabama White Sauce. This is very popular in the south. It looks like a ranch but it’s more of a BBQ sauce but mayonnaise based. The sauce is unique as most places have your standard ranch or bleu cheese.”
What’s an underrated flavor or menu item that you think deserves more attention?
“I think the Monkey Fire sauce is underrated. This one can be compared to a Bang-Bang shrimp/Asian Zing sauce. Also, check out the Peach BBQ when it comes up in choices of BBQ. It’s delicious if you have not had this type of sauce before so I recommend trying this for sure.”
The Experience
How would you describe the vibe or experience you’re trying to create for your guests?
“A casual and laid-back place where you can have a conversation. Unlike a lot of pubs or sports bars, we eliminated a lot of TVs on purpose. Public House is in our name on purpose. Public House is traditional in Europe or England, etc. where places are social. The origination of the word “Pub” is from Public House. From the limited décor, color scheme, the use of wood and natural trees in our outdoor space creates our nature theme. The garage doors also help bring the outdoors in and the indoors out. Also trying to be unique, we purposely opened our kitchen so you can watch the theatre going on back there. We just wanted to try and elevate your brewpub experience. We wanted to be a brewery that serves great food vs a restaurant that makes their own beer.”
Community Roots
How has the Lafayette community played a role in your success?
“They have been great! They have been hugely supportive of us through the years. The local community comes in regularly, but we also are easy to get to for those that live in West Lafayette. We do a lot of charity work and sponsorships. We like to try and participate in as many community events as we can to help give back.”
Are there any community events or local traditions you participate in or look forward to:
“We do get heavily involved in the Feast of the Hunters’ Moon, all of the local beer festivals, the Indiana Bacon Festival in Delphi, and we have some of our product out at Indiana Beach.”
Fun & Personal
Do you remember the first wing sauce you ever created or sold here? Is it still on the menu?
“The only thing that has changed is we have added 2 new sauces. Besides that, nothing has changed with our recipes and all the originals are still here. All our sauces are unique to us and how they were created.
Looking Ahead
What’s next for you?—any new sauces, menu items, events, or locations in the works?
“We are planning on coming out with a new menu very soon. We also will be offering the Peach BBQ sauce when the new menu comes out. We are tweaking a few of our current items like our pork chop to be a bone in pork chop. We are always trying new recipes with our pizzas as well. We joke that we are going to start to be known as a pizzeria with the popularity of our pizzas. Regarding a second location, I think about it every day. I would love to be down somewhere on the Levee or Downtown Lafayette if we expanded. I have a ton of ideas of what I would like to do going forward from a sports bar to a taste tap room.”
How do you see your brand evolving in the local or regional food scene?
“There always seems to be opportunities everywhere. One of the biggest opportunities we have is expanding our retail beer sales to more local restaurants and stores.”
EDDIE JOE’S ICEHOUSE
A down-home Texas-style BBQ joint in West Point, Eddie Joe’s is serving wings with smoky, savory flavor and a spicy kick. Their house-made sauces elevate the experience.
History and Heritage
What’s something unique about your origin story that most people don’t know?
“We have now been open 9 years. This was actually a Ford tractor dealership at one time back in the 1950s. West Point is an old town, I have pictures of when there were horse and buggies going through town.”
Wing Focus
What’s your top-selling wing flavor or style?
“It’s really a mix. The Sweet and Spicy is probably the most popular we have. It has a little bit of heat but not enough to where you will be sweating. The process of the wings is the same though. The flavoring is what is different. All our wings are smoked first and then flash fried to get that crispy texture we desire.
What’s an underrated flavor or menu item that you think deserves more attention?
“We only make 4 sauces (Teriyaki, BBQ, Sweet/Spicy and Hot). My favorite is Hot, that is a personal preference though. We make our house made blue cheese which is really nice and helps cut down on the heat some.
The Experience
How would you describe the vibe or experience you’re trying to create for your guests?
“We wanted to provide good BBQ first. But we didn’t want to just cook BBQ and hope you like what we have, and we wanted it to be more well-rounded. That is why we added in the tex-mex vibe. We are also modeled after an ‘Icehouse style’ restaurant which is huge in Texas. When the Icehouses were no longer needed, the old buildings then got turned into places like this. We also have become a dining destination. People coming from Attica, Lafayette and even some that come once a month from Illinois. About 25% of our business is wedding catering, food truck and corporate catering. Being open just four nights a week, we use our food truck instead of offering lunch here—it helps keep our business balanced. People can request our food truck through our website.”
Community Roots
How has the Lafayette community played a role in your success?
“It’s been huge. Having graduated from Purdue I am fortunate to have a lot of connections from Purdue. Once you are part of that family, there are still people that come in here that remember these things.”
Are there any community events or local traditions you participate in or look forward to:
“Yes, there are a handful of things. We work with the West Point Fire Department to cater their Christmas Dinner. On Tuesday nights, we utilize our food truck here in West Point as well.”
Fun & Personal
Do you remember the first wing sauce you ever created or sold here? Is it still on the menu?
“The BBQ sauce is the original and it hasn’t changed. The original Memphis sauce was designed for a wide span of people. It is designed so a lot of people will like it, and we can adjust the heat if necessary. We also started bottling the sauce about 3 years ago because so many asked for it.
Looking Ahead
What’s next for you?—any new sauces, menu items, events, or locations in the works?
“It’s almost like having multiple kids. We have a catering business, a food truck business and a restaurant business and each of them is a kid doing their own thing in life but still are symbiotically connected. For each of them we have our individual goals of where we would like to see them go.
How do you see your brand evolving in the local or regional food scene?
“The business-to-business relationship we have created with our food truck has been huge and we love catering weddings! We are full service as well where we can offer alcohol with our catering. We are just scratching the surface with the wedding catering.”
🍺 Local Pairing Tip: Grab a local brew or cider at each stop to wash down the spice. Several of these spots double as great hangouts with chill vibes and friendly locals.
📸 Tag @visitlafayettewestlafayette and share your saucy adventure—we love seeing which wings win your heart!
🎯 Wing It Like a Local!
From sports bars to barbecue joints, Lafayette-West Lafayette has wings to please every tastebud. Grab some napkins and your appetite—it’s time to hit the trail
If you serve specialty wings and would like to be featured in this blog as well, please contact Paul Whitehurst (pwhitehurst@homeofpurdue.com).