We Visited Atlanta’s Strip Clubs to Taste Their Wings. Yes, Really.
Atlanta is known for much more than strip clubs and lemon pepper wings, but if we’re being completely honest with ourselves, I meeeeeeean they’re definitely known for that, too. And Atlanta became nationally known for their intersection of strip clubs and wings when NBA player Lou Williams famously broke NBA quarantine rules in 2020 to go to Magic City to “pick up” wings. I made my first ever(!) foray into a strip club for a strip club wing crawl with our editor OJ to see if they’re really worth the hype and ended up totally surprised with my results. Here’s a guide and ranking on some of the best wing offerings at ATL’s finest strip clubs.
Pink Pony
Pink Pony was the first stop on our strip club wing tour. As OJ and I were there strictly for the food, we stopped by at around 3:30 pm on a Thursday, and were really surprised to see that people were already getting their party on. It definitely felt like a time warp walking in, as the overall feel was a smokey dive bar at about 11:30pm at night. After placing our orders at the bar, we noted with a touch of apprehension that we were the only ones eating in this establishment.
However, once the wings come out we were pleasantly surprised. These were meaty, hot out of the fryer wings, and they were better than the wings we’ve ordered at quite a few restaurants that specialize in wings. The seasoning on the lemon pepper wings was exactly what you’d expect out of a lemon pepper wing, perfectly salty and tangy, and the hot wings were just plain delicious. We got both ranch and blue cheese which came in pull tab containers, so nothing special to note there. We took the leftovers to go, and OJ asked out loud if it would be messed up to bring the wings home to his kids to try (we decided against it!).
What We Ordered: 6 piece Lemon Pepper Wings and 6 piece Hot Wings
The Service: 4.5 out of 5 stars
The Music: 3 out of 5 stars
The Vibes: 3 out of 5 stars
The Wings: 4 out of 5 stars
Magic City
Perhaps the most famous of the bunch, Magic City has long been known for both the club and more recently, its food. As the second stop on our strip club tour, all the jitters had faded away and we were feeling pretty confident walking in. The Magic City branding all around the club added to the magic of it all, and the club tunes the DJ was pumping were much more lively than the music at Pink Pony. It has a similar feeling to MJQ Concourse, and I could see it becoming a quite a fun scene at night.
We sidled on up to the kitchen window and took the chef’s recommendations for the hot honey lemon pepper wings. We devoured every single one of the fries, and really enjoyed the homemade blue cheese, too. The wings themselves come out in a takeout container and were on the smaller side–good if you like a higher crispy skin to meat ratio–so pricewise came out to about the same as Pink Pony’s. However, the actual sauce was a letdown for us. It was hot and we got the lemon pepper flavor, but there was no honey taste. These ended up being our least favorite, but we would have to give it another go with a different sauce.
What We Ordered: 10 piece Hot Honey Lemon Pepper Wings
The Service: 4.5 of 5 stars
The Music: 4.5 out of 5 stars
The Vibes: 4.5 out of 5 stars
The Wings: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Cheetah/Alluvia
For our last stop, we visited Cheetah Lounge at around 3pm on a Friday. Walking in, our initial gut reactions were definitely, “Ooooooooh!” The stage and LED screens above the stage were high-tech, and there were white tablecloths and those fancy wireless brass table lights on every table. It felt much more like a high-end restaurant, plus a really fancy stage for entertainment. This space was also much bigger than the other clubs we visited.
We sat down in a comfy booth and ordered and got plenty of helpful recommendations from the watier and one of the dancers. It felt like a shame to order wings here as they were lots of enticing things on the menu like lamb chops and steak! But for the purpose of our Very Scientific Experiment we kept with the wings theme, but did also get a side of cheese curds just for fun. The hot wings were very good, but the sweet chili wings were crazy good. We were WILD about the sauce, and these wings were a good size. The curds were piping hot and delicious too.
What We Ordered: Sweet Chili Wings and Hot Wings, Cheese Curds
The Service: 4.7 out of 5 stars
The Music: 4 out of 5 stars
The Vibes: 4 out of 5 stars
The Wings: 4.5 out of 5 stars
The Verdict:
For fries and a funky blue cheese, Magic City were the best. For classic lemon pepper, we loved Pink Pony. For just the overall best wing, we loved Cheetah’s sweet chili wings. However, after sharing a video of our experience our Instagram commenters let us know that Blue Flame Lounge beats all of these spots, so we’ll have to save those for another day and reserve our judgment on the absolute best!
