Buffalo-style wings joint J.R. Crickets already has seventeen locations in Georgia (and has even crossed state lines into Virginia), and soon it will be opening its eighteenth.
The restaurant, which has been in business in Atlanta since 1982, has recently signed a lease at 5456 W Fayetteville Road, in The Shoppes at River Station, which is also home to China One and IceBar Lounge and Restaurant.
Voted as Thrillist’s “Best Wings in Georgia” and hailed by customers as serving up the freshest, most flavorful wings in the state, J.R. Crickets won’t be without competition at the new spot — K Wings Cafe has set up shop down the street.
But if J.R. Crickets loyalists have anything to say about it, the new location will be just as bustling as its original. “I’ve been coming here since 1996. I keep coming here because the wings are fresh, and I love blue cheese,” says one customer of the restaurant, which makes its blue cheese (and all its sauces, for that matter) in house.
Dedicated loyalists aside, it seems J.R. Crickets is determined to bring the heat. According to owner Paul Juliano, “Nobody sells more wings in the city than we do. Where else can you go at 8pm and order 600 wings and get them in 45 minutes?”
The new location’s opening date has not yet been announced, but let’s just hope it’s slinging wings in time for football season. We’ll take our order of 600 wings Three Mile Island-style, please, which is J.R. Crickets lingo for extra hot.
I wish they’d close the Midtown location. Rowdyfolks every night until 3:30.