A whole chicken wing is three sections, and only two of them make it onto a plate. The drumette is the meaty piece nearest the body, shaped like a small drumstick. The flat — sometimes called the wingette — is the middle section, with two thin bones running through it. The pointed wing tip is trimmed off before cooking.

Most orders arrive as a mix of the two, which is fine for most people. If you have a preference, though, you do not have to leave it to chance.

What actually separates them

Both come off the same wing and cook the same way, so the difference is structural rather than culinary:

The short version: drumettes give you more meat per piece and are easier to handle. Flats give you more crisp skin and more sauce per piece, and they take more work. Neither is objectively better, which is why the argument never settles.

Yes, you can ask for all of one

This is the part most people do not realise is on the menu. Bone-in wings can be ordered all drum or all flat for a small charge per ten pieces. It is not available on boneless, for the obvious reason that boneless wings are not wings and have no cut to choose.

Worth doing if you know what you like. Worth skipping if you are ordering for a group, because a mixed order lets people take the piece they prefer, and there is always someone at the table on the other side of the argument.

The other options people miss

Three more that change the order more than the cut does:

• Extra wet — more sauce, charged per ten pieces. Order it if you like sauce on your fingers; skip it if you want the skin to stay crisp
• Extra dressing — an additional cup, per cup. Cheaper than running out halfway through 20 pieces
• Split — divide one order across more than one sauce, per split. The single best option on this list for a group

Splitting is the one worth knowing. A 20-piece split across two sauces solves the mixed-table problem completely, and it costs less than ordering two separate tens.

Sauce on the wing, or on the side

This decision does more to the wings than the cut does, and it barely gets discussed. Sauce tossed onto hot wings starts softening the skin immediately. A cup on the side keeps every piece crisp and lets each person use as much or as little as they want.

The trade-off is coverage. Dipping puts sauce on one face of the wing; tossing gets it into the folds and between the bones, which is precisely what makes a sauced flat better than a sauced drumette.

• Eating in, straight away — sauced is better, every time
• Taking it home, or a group with different tastes — sauce on the side
• A long count in one sauce — add a cup anyway, for the last few pieces
• Kids at the table — on the side, so the heat is theirs to choose

Sauce and dressing cups are on the menu as sides in their own right — ranch, blue cheese, honey BBQ, honey mustard, hot sauce, mild sauce, garlic sauce and several others. Adding one or two to an order costs little and does more for a shared table than an extra five pieces would.

How many, and in what form

Wings here run from 5 pieces up to 200, bone-in or boneless, so the piece count is rarely the constraint. Where people go wrong is ordering one large count in one sauce for a group with different tastes.

The very large counts exist for a reason, and it is not bravado. At 75, 100 or 200 pieces you are feeding a party or a team, and at that scale the cut stops mattering and the split becomes the whole game — a 100-piece order in a single sauce will leave half the room disappointed no matter which sauce you pick.

If you are working out quantities rather than cuts, our guide to how many wings per person has the group-size table. If you are still deciding between bone-in and boneless at all, that comparison is here — and note that the all-drum and all-flat option only exists on the bone-in side.

A note on cooking them at home

If you are buying wings raw rather than ordering them, the cut matters at the prep stage too. Flats are thinner and cook through faster, so a tray mixing both will finish unevenly unless you pull the flats early. Separating them before cooking is the fix, and it is also the reason plenty of home cooks end up buying one cut only.

Raw chicken also needs the usual care about surfaces and hand-washing — the FDA’s guidance on safe food handling covers the basics.

The short version

Drumettes are meatier and cleaner to eat; flats hold more sauce and more crisp skin. You can order all of either on bone-in wings, add extra sauce or dressing, or split a single order across sauces — and for a group, splitting beats choosing. It is all on the wings menu.

Wings, cut the way you want them

Bone-in or boneless, 5 pieces to 200, all drum or all flat on the bone-in side.

Wings

Every count, both styles.

Sides

Fries, rings and everything fried.

Explore the Menu Order Online

Frequently asked questions

The short version: pick one starchy side and one sharp one. Wings are rich, salty and sauced, so what works alongside them is either something that soaks up sauce — fries, rings, anything fried — or something acidic that resets your palate between pieces. Ordering two of the same kind is the most common mistake, and it makes a large order feel heavier than it needs to.

The sides that actually work

Fries, in every form

The default for a reason. Plain fries stay neutral against a strong sauce; cheese fries and loaded fries push the meal in a richer direction, which is great for two people sharing but heavy if you’ve already ordered a big wing count.

Onion rings

The better choice if you want something fried that doesn’t taste like more of the same. The sweetness of the onion cuts through hot sauce in a way potato doesn’t.

Something sharp

A plain house or Caesar salad is underrated next to wings. It does the job celery traditionally does, at a scale that actually matters when you’re eating twenty pieces.

Matching the side to the order size

What we actually have

Beyond fries and rings, the fried side of the menu runs to mozzarella sticks, fried pickles, fried okra, fried mushrooms, corn nuggets, chicken nuggets, chicken fingers, gyoza and fried donuts. There are also salads if you want the sharp counterpoint rather than more fried food.

• French fries — the neutral default
• Loaded fries — a meal in themselves for two
• Cheese fries — richer, best with a smaller wing count
• Onion rings — the best fried side for cutting through sauce
• Fried pickles — acidic, and the most underrated option here
• House or Caesar salad — the reset button on a big order

You can see everything on the appetizers and sides menu.

What about drinks and dips?

Something cold and carbonated does more for a plate of hot wings than anything else on the table. On dips, the useful rule is contrast: if the wings are already sweet, a plain creamy dip works better than another sweet sauce.

If you haven’t settled on a wing style yet, our comparison of bone-in and boneless wings is worth a look first — boneless pieces are more filling, so they change how much side you need.

A note on fries

The fried potato has a longer and more disputed history than its status as a default side suggests, with both Belgium and France laying claim to it. Britannica has a short entry on french fries covering the argument.

Build the rest of the order

Wings scale from 5 to 200 pieces, with a full fried menu alongside.

Wings

Bone-in or boneless, 5 to 200 pieces.

Sides & Appetizers

Fries, rings and everything fried.

Explore the Menu Order Online

Frequently asked questions

Both styles land on the same table every day, and the choice is less about which is “better” than about how you plan to eat them. Bone-in wings are the original — jointed sections of the chicken wing, fried with the bone in, which keeps the meat moist and adds flavour as it cooks. Boneless wings are chunks of breast meat, breaded and fried, then sauced the same way. At Philly Steak & Wings both are offered across the same piece counts, so the decision comes down to texture, mess and how you’re sharing.

What actually separates the two

A bone-in wing is one of two sections — the drumette or the flat — cut from the whole wing. The bone conducts heat from the inside as the wing fries, and the connective tissue around it renders down, which is where a lot of the richness comes from. The skin crisps and holds sauce in the folds.

Boneless wings are not wings at all in the anatomical sense. They’re bite-sized pieces of chicken breast, battered and fried, then tossed in the same sauces. Because the surface is smooth and uniform, sauce coats the outside evenly rather than pooling in crevices. They eat more like a tender than a wing.

Texture

Bone-in gives you two textures in one bite: crisp skin against softer meat. Boneless is more consistent — a crunchy coating over lean, even meat. If you like the contrast of skin, bone-in is the one. If you find skin off-putting, boneless removes that question entirely.

Eating them

Bone-in takes hands, napkins and somewhere to put the bones. Boneless can be eaten with a fork, which matters more than people expect — at a desk, in a car, or when you’re feeding a group standing up.

Which one gives you more to eat?

Piece for piece, boneless usually delivers more meat, because you’re getting solid breast with no bone. That’s worth knowing when you’re comparing counts: ten boneless pieces will generally feel more filling than ten bone-in wings. If you’re ordering for someone with a big appetite and you want predictability, boneless is the safer count.

That said, bone-in fans will tell you the bone is the point — it keeps the meat from drying out, and gnawing a flat clean is part of the experience. Neither view is wrong. They’re different foods that happen to share a sauce list.

Ordering either style in Lakeland

Our wings menu runs both bone-in and boneless across the same range of piece counts, from a single-person portion up to large party trays, so you can mix formats for a group without changing the sauce you like. Because both styles are available at every count, the practical move for a mixed group is simple: split the order rather than trying to pick a winner.

Wings are cooked to order here, which is why they arrive hot rather than holding under a lamp — but it also means a very large tray takes longer than a small one. If you’re ordering for a crowd, call ahead.

Not sure how much to get? Our guide to working out how many wings to order per person breaks it down by group size and by whether wings are the meal or just part of it.

What to eat alongside them

Wings on their own get monotonous quickly, and the usual fix is something starchy and something sharp. Fries and onion rings both do the job; loaded fries turn wings into a full meal for two without ordering a second main. If you’d rather balance the heat, a plain house or Caesar salad cuts through sauce better than most people give it credit for.

You can see the full range of fried sides on our appetizers and sides menu, and if you’re feeding a group it’s worth looking at the cheesesteak options too — a mixed order of wings and Phillys covers more preferences than either alone.

A note on cooking them at home

If you do fry wings yourself, the temperature that matters is internal, not the timer. Poultry should reach a safe internal temperature all the way through, and the USDA safe minimum internal temperature chart is the reference worth using rather than judging by colour. Boneless pieces cook faster than bone-in, which is the most common reason home batches come out unevenly done.

The short answer

Choose bone-in if you want crisp skin, richer flavour and don’t mind the mess. Choose boneless if you want consistent meat, a fork, and no bones to deal with. Since both come in every piece count on our menu, a split order is usually the right call for more than two people.

Craving wings in Lakeland?

Both bone-in and boneless are on the menu at every piece count, from a single portion up to party trays.

Burgers

Built to order, single or double.

Loaded Fries

The side most wing orders end up with.

Explore the Menu Order Online

Frequently asked questions