Founded in the 90s, buffalo-style wing restaurant Wingstop surpassed its competitors in popularity in recent months, according to PR Newswire. Its innovative marketing and creative flavors helped build the restaurant to what it is today.
The restaurant went viral in 2020 for the release of its Hot Honey Rub flavor, according to PR Newswire. It continued to gain traction and a steady customer base, with the Super Bowl being one of their busiest days of the year, according to Daily Nexus.
“Ever since people found out about the one flavor they got addicted to the rest which made them very popular,” Gilat said. “I’ll always see videos of people raving about Wingstop especially on Tiktok which gives them traction.”
The restaurant offers 11 flavors year round and occasional seasonal flavors such as Hot Honey Rub and currently Lakers Legendary Garlic.
“It’s relatively simple compared to other wing places,” Gilat said. “The way they create their flavors is way different than Buffalo’s or Mango Habanero’s. They add their own type of love to the flavors.”
The increased social media traction helped the restaurant stay relevant throughout the past four years despite some economic instability during COVID, according to Restaurant Business Online. The Wingstop Instagram posts entertaining videos that draw a lot of attention according to junior Bayan Shinaishin. Tiktokers often post themselves eating large quantities of Wingstop, enticing the viewer to buy the food for themself, according to Gilat.
“It’s definitely interesting seeing many people ordering many different things online,” senior Skylar Barnes said. “It’s fun because you can go try their orders that would be different from your own. It’s become a lot more crowded in the restaurants since it gained popularity.”
The popular restaurant was introduced to chemistry teacher Erica Borquez during COVID as eating out became a popular activity.
“I heard about [Wingstop] just through commercials,” Borquez said. “Just commercials and TV and word of mouth. So many people were talking about it telling me I had to try everything on the menu.”
The obsession with not just their wings but Wingstop and their condiments as a whole has surprised many students after their first encounter.
“It was really, really good. The ranch is so authentic,” Shinaishin said. “It’s not like the store bought [ranch] where you put it in the refrigerator and it tastes really eggy and weird by the second day. It tastes really fresh and refreshing to eat with your chicken.”
To some students, the ranch is the best part of the meal. Wingstop’s popularity is partly due to their ranch, as they started allowing customers to buy cups of ranch, according to PR Newswire.
“I will not eat any piece of chicken without Wingstop ranch,” Shinaishin said.
