I’ll never fully understand people who don’t like hot wings.

Like, when someone says, “Oh, I don’t like hot wings,” I immediately file them away in my brain under E for Eeyore. Have you never known joy? Were you raised in a sterile environment by a fleet of nanny robots who only fed you varying shades of beige paste?

“The bones are yucky.”

No, you’re yucky, Steve. I don’t care if you’re 4 years old, you need to get your life right.

In a world beset by bland, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chicken wings are the antithesis of the boring bird. They are the ultimate discovery — a part of the chicken that for years was thrown away or only used to make stock, now transformed into one of the most-sought-after cuts.

Why? Because of a ridiculous skin-to-meat ratio. Chicken skin is fatty, which is why it crisps up so nice. And as the wings cook, the fat melts and infuses the meat with its flavor. Because they’re so small, they cook through quickly without becoming dry.

I love hot wings. Love them. And the best place for wings in Oklahoma City is Wing Supreme.

What? You want to go to Buffalo Wild Wings? Okay. Wing Stop? Sure. I love those, too. Pizzeria Gusto has some bomb wings basted in sriracha.

But you have to try Wing Supreme. You have to. Because they do them differently.

A lot of places deep fry the wings and then spin them in sauce or seasoning. That’s fine. I like it. But Wing Supreme starts off by seasoning the wings and then frying them slowly, building and intensifying the flavor of the spices. The sauce is built from the interaction of the chicken fat (aka schmaltz) and spice. It’s not dripping off. It’s infused into each wing.

The Food

This is going to sound weird coming from me, but I don’t like big wings.

Have you noticed how much bigger chicken wings seem to be getting? It’s not that I’m averse to more meat, obviously, but it messes with the ratio and the cooking process.

Small wings cook through more quickly and they’ve been the standard for a while. A real chef probably has no problem dealing with cuts of different sizes, but not every restaurant that serves wings has a staff that knows how to handle it.

That includes me, by the way. I’ve worked enough pizza delivery jobs in my day that I can tell you some kitchens just put the wings on a metal plate and send them through the salamander and hope for the best.

Sometimes those big wings don’t get cooked in the middle. Sometimes the fat is too thick and it doesn’t crisp up. That’s gross. Flabby wings will put you right off a meal.

(Not to be confused with Flabby Wings, my overweight all-male Wings cover band.)

Wing Supreme cooks smaller wings. And if that bothers you, well, sorry. They’re getting quality chicken that cooks up exactly the way a wing should be cooked. The texture, the cooking time, the flavor: all on point.

Now, I can’t make any promises, but I’ve never gotten a 10-pack of wings from Wings Supreme that only had 10 wings. You get your money’s worth.

You get to choose one flavor for every 10 wings ($8.25) and you pretty much have to get some classic Buffalo. They won’t make you, but they will judge you harshly if you don’t at least try it.

I think the medium is about perfect. Just enough heat to give your lips a tingle, but smooth enough that you can easily strip them without needing a glass of milk.

If medium is too hot for you, there is mild available. Or just stay home and eat saltines topped with children’s Tylenol.

Using one of my classic Jedi mind tricks, I asked the woman at the counter, “What’s that one really good flavor?” and, like a fool, she said, “Oh, Buffalo lemon pepper.”

A-ha! The secret is out! Buffalo lemon pepper is, in fact, a really good flavor. It blends the buttery spice you know and love with a little lemony twist. I grew up using lemon pepper to cover up the complete lack of flavor of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, so it feels like a tribute to now use it in a dish I love.

The Old Bay-seasoned wings have a nice herbaceousness, but even with the red pepper flakes, it lacks heat. If you like spices but not spicy, this might be the best choice for you.

Whereas I will choose a hotter herb flavor: Jerk wings. Oh, man, these are nice. Not an overwhelming heat, nothing that will make you sweat, but after downing a few you might start to feel a warmth welling up in your stomach and chest. It’s what I assume love feels like, which might explain why I’ve been crying at Wing Supreme so much lately.

Finally, if you like a sweet kick, I cannot recommend Honey Love wings highly enough. The honey adds a sheen to the glaze that is almost hypnotic enough to keep me from devouring the whole pile of them in a single sitting. There’s a smokiness and a sizzle, but the honey rounds off the rough edges and makes it one of the most delightful flavors on the menu.

At my last job, I named Wing Supreme my favorite hot wing joint in the city and that assessment hasn’t changed. If anything, I think the restaurant has really dialed in their recipes and made service more consistent. If you love wings, then you really need to try Wing Supreme. And if you don’t love wings, maybe it’s because you haven’t tried Wing Supreme yet.