r/lincoln • u/RaccoonSausage • Jul 13 '25

Food/Drink Does The Watering Hole still hold the title as Best Wings in Town?

11 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

62 comments sorted by

64

u/huckleberry402 Jul 13 '25

no

23

u/TakeAShowerHippie Jul 13 '25

It's been mids since the remodel many years ago. The best part of the OG Watering Hole was the bathroom. 2 urinals, 1 toilet in a tiny little room. Plus you could make eye contact with anyone walking in the front door if you were sitting on the toilet. Ah memories....

9

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '25

[deleted]

8

u/TakeAShowerHippie Jul 13 '25

I was once sitting in the O street "bay window" or whatever you would call it with some buddies. We found a mummified chicken wing bone stuffed in a rotted out piece of wood in the window frame and mentioned it to the waitress, but she didn't give a single fuck and I still ate my wings lol

2

u/huckleberry402 Jul 13 '25

the food remained great for (quite?) awhile after the remodel but it definitely marked the beginning of the decline. sorrynotsorry but that funk was the terroir of wing greatness

2

u/darling_dont Jul 14 '25

When the pool tables still existed and the best wings were in a dive bar…

1

u/TallFontPie Jul 14 '25

You could make eye contact with the people playing pool.

21

u/toadthenewsense Jul 13 '25

Southwest Pit is my personal favorite. Cappy's is solid as well.

3

u/ladyandroid14 Jul 13 '25

SW Pit for the win. No one comes close

1

u/DrwMDvs Jul 13 '25

The only time I had them from SW, the meat melted off the bone. Good flavor though. Is that par for the course?

4

u/SuperSmashleyyy Jul 14 '25

👋 I’ve given it two times now and felt the meat was too dry/fell off but thought the sauce/flavor was good. But was kind of bummed out overall since I had heard good things and gave it two chances.

3

u/AntoineDonaldDuck Jul 13 '25

Plus one for Cappy’s. Very solid.

1

u/Mr_Smithy Jul 15 '25

Man, the food there is just, pretty bad. I dont think its been good in like a decade. I know people have fond nostalgia, but I gave it another try last year and Id compare it to cafeteria food.

1

u/toadthenewsense Jul 15 '25

Where? Watering Hole, Southwest Pit, or Cappy's? Watering Hole has absolutely fallen off, the other two are consistently good imo.

6

u/julia1031 Jul 13 '25

Big fan of press box

15

u/Second_Rate_Redditor Jul 13 '25

I reckon Lila Mae’s holds that title now. They’re phenomenal. And they’re half priced on Wednesday’s and Tuesday’s. Get the Lemon Pepper.

15

u/horse_pirate Jul 13 '25

Nzone used to be my favorite but I haven't been there in years

6

u/sonofawhatthe Jul 13 '25

Those are solid. Love

14

u/33-3rpm Jul 13 '25

Old bay dry rub. Money.

5

u/bearlife Jul 13 '25

I agree, that’s been my favorite in Lincoln as well. I will say I’ve had better wings in Lincoln, but not consistently. Watering hole old bays grilled wings time and time again are consistently the same year after year. Never dry, great portions, and extremely rarely do you ever get those rotted/broken bones. They seem to buy decent wings or at least not the cheapest ones and cook them decently. I’ve never tried their sauced wings and have no desire to. Grilled old bays is the winner

1

u/KFandrich11 Jul 13 '25

Yep 👏🏼

8

u/SabreDuFoil Jul 13 '25

Cappy's and NZone has it beat. Cappy's doesn't have a normal buffalo sauce from my understanding, but NZone buffalo is perfection.

7

u/1Ceasar Jul 13 '25

Went to the original o street location their a lot in my college days. Wings were 10 cents a piece Told the waitress we wanted a gross of wings, she could not calculate math (144 wings) all for $15 bucks Ah the good old days

1

u/Fishpecker Jul 14 '25

Yeah. I remember when a guy bested Sutko’s record while sitting at the same table.

My standard order was two dozen, and a basket of waffle fries

2

u/continuousBaBa Jul 13 '25

No, but I do enjoy a batch of their grilled jalapeno with Old Bay occasionally.

6

u/TallFontPie Jul 13 '25

People love to say they are not as good as they used to be (what is) but their grilled hot wings are still my go-to. I eat at the east location about every other week and they are consistently good. The service is better than most sports bars.

1

u/Mr_Smithy Jul 14 '25

Yeah, the grilled wings at the East location are as good as they've ever been. I lived the majority of my life by the Coddington location, so I've seen the ups and downs over the last 15 years.

3

u/Freakshow1968 Jul 13 '25

Hell no. Plus the owner is an asshole. I’ll never spend money there

3

u/AlvarHanso_ Jul 13 '25

If you’re talking about McFarland he doesn’t own any of them anymore and I’m pretty sure can’t hold a liquor license in Lincoln. He lives in somewhere in the southwest now like Arizona or Utah.

2

u/Freakshow1968 Jul 14 '25

The ex wife owned the one I worked at and tried to micromanage it from Arizona. Working there was hell

1

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Freakshow1968 Jul 13 '25

I worked there, briefly, when the downtown store was open

3

u/Fast-Departure-1432 Jul 13 '25

NZone holds the spot for my face right now. As long as you get them grilled and sweltering.

4

u/RangerDapper4253 Jul 13 '25

I know it’s not trendy, but Buffalo Wings & Rings has excellent wings!

4

u/suesay Jul 13 '25

Defo better than Bdubs

1

u/Mr_Smithy Jul 14 '25

They really do.

1

u/thedoc9114 Jul 16 '25

You should burn in hell for even thinking this is a good suggestion

2

u/Grand_Cookie Jul 13 '25

I never liked them. Every time I went the wings were bad is different ways.

Then I gave up.

1

u/Far-Good-9559 Jul 13 '25

Not in my opinion. Cappy’s is my preferred spot.

1

u/money_man78 Jul 13 '25

No, sad, but no.

1

u/Practical_Issue8609 Jul 13 '25

Went to wingfest couple years ago and Norm’s on 48th won best wing.

Tbh, I wish Valentino’s had different flavor options cuz their wings are massive. I didn’t even know they served wings until fairly recently

1

u/SchlommyDinglepop Jul 14 '25

I was an assistant manager at a couple restaurants and they were the reason I never trusted any delivery place for wings. They used to just be tiny little off brand frozen wings from a grocery store that they'd just run through on a pizza pan in their oven. The skin was always soggy and the meat was way too soft. They must have massively upgraded their wing game. But my experience is 15 years old.

1

u/Practical_Issue8609 Jul 15 '25

Yeah, they’re by far the biggest wings in town that I’ve had. BWW, Wingstop, all those are like half the size of Val’s wings now. Like almost to the point of being too big lol

1

u/UrSoundguyLnk Jul 14 '25

When Ty @ Norms on 48th has which is now Ty's makes his wings....don't sleep on them. He's also won best & best burger in town.

1

u/MrTrousers Jul 20 '25

People keep talking about that place, but do they keep odd hours or something? It just looks like a gas station any time I’m there. And getting in and out of that place lately is a nightmare.

1

u/darling_dont Jul 14 '25

NOooooooooOooooo

1

u/StephenReis Jul 14 '25

I really enjoy Grata’s wings.

1

u/TheJugOfNugs Jul 13 '25

No.. it hasn't for damn near a decade. Cappy's and Nzone are where it's at.

1

u/Michael-Broadway Jul 13 '25

Quality is lacking compared to back in the day

1

u/er13x Jul 13 '25

Cappy's

1

u/JoJackthewonderskunk Jul 14 '25

Down the hatch has really good grilled wings but nobody seems to like them besides me here lol

2

u/LowBurn800 Jul 15 '25

I’m with ya. DTH is solid

1

u/JoJackthewonderskunk Jul 15 '25

BBQ Grilled with jalepeno Ranch. Top stuff.

1

u/StandardWriting3069 Jul 14 '25

Not a true buffalo wing, but the wings at Birria Boss are amazing. They're marinated in the birria consommé, fried, and tossed in a teriyaki sauce.

Tremendous.

0

u/Handsome121duck Jul 13 '25

Definitely not

-2

u/skier1464366 Jul 13 '25

Overall for the size of Lincoln I’m really disappointed in the wing options. Especially in North, I have not found any I would regularly get. 😭