For most people, hotwings are a game-time snack, a sports-bar appetizer, or - for the guys - an excuse to see women wearing very short, bright-orange shorts. For me and my friend David, however, hotwings are a passion.

Some people are connoisseurs of wine, truffles, or caviar. We are hotwing connoisseurs. We love the rich, hot flavor of the red peppers and vinegar, the crispiness of well-fried wings drenched in sauce, and of course, the good times shared watching whatever game is on TV. For us, our love of hotwings started many years ago - and we've spent the past many years finding the best wings in Tampa, our hometown. With that, if you're in Tampa, pay a visit to Bilmar Station - you won't regret it. We've even driven as far as Atlanta just for hotwings - and again, if you're in the area, be sure to check out Max Lagers and get the wings.

I wanted to not only extend this hotwing expedition to Gainesville, but to also share my reviews of our local hotwing-serving establishments. As a disclaimer, I'm reviewing food and as subjective as it all is, I should say that my preferences for hotwings are for crispy-fried chicken wings of medium-large size with a hot, but flavorful sauce that is close to a traditional Buffalo-style hotwing sauce, though I'm not a purist. As such, I will not address Hooters wings here other than to say that they are somewhat sweet, not particularly hot, incredibly greasy, and fairly "untraditional."

Gator's Dockside offers numerous wing options; with three cooking styles (grilled, breaded, and Buffalo) and 14 different sauces, you can mix and match more combinations than you can eat in one sitting. Traditionalist that I am, I ordered their Buffalo (or "naked") wings with their "hot" sauce. The wings were smaller than expected, in the small-medium range (in my experience), but were fried perfectly. They came out fairly saucy, but could have used a little more sauce. The "hot" sauce could have been hotter, but it had a solid Buffalo-wing flavor. Overall, the wings were good, but a little small and in need of some extra sauce.
6 out of 10

Calico Jack's claims to be "voted best wings in Florida" and while I cannot say I was part of that vote, I will certainly say that they have excellent hotwings. CJ's wings were medium-large in size and were also fried perfectly - crispy even when drenched in sauce and not over-cooked. Their "hot" wingsauce was a traditional Buffalo sauce with a good flavor and just the right amount of heat for a "hot" level of sauce. As (almost) always, a little extra sauce would again have been an improvement, but overall these wings were excellent.
8 out of 10

These wings were ordered delivery from Wing Zone. Admittedly, this puts them at a slight disadvantage to the others, which were eaten fresh at their respective restaurants. Still, I enjoyed the Wing Zone wings, which are medium-large in size. The "hot" sauce was not particularly hot and much of the sauce had been soaked up by the wings, so a cup of extra wingsauce is recommended. This greatly improved the wings, both in spiciness-heat and overall flavor. The sauce is a traditional Buffalo sauce, though it has a "higher pitch" red pepper flavor as compared with the others. Overall, Wing Zone wings are good wings and probably best when eaten directly after pick-up at their storefront. The size of the wings helps make up for the "delivery disadvantage."
6 out of 10