Dan's Best Hamptons + North Fork Wings, Sports Bars for Super Bowl LII

So Tom Brady’s hand injury was a non-issue. Nearly two weeks after the New England quarterback overcame the adversity of team turmoil and black tape and sparked the umpteenth comeback of his career, Patriots haters remain not the least bit surprised. Now Pats fans are celebrating the team’s 10th trip to the Super Bowl—not to mention a chance to join the Pittsburgh Steelers as the only teams to win back-to-back Super Bowls twice.

Turns out the “Minneapolis Miracle” was a one-hit wonder and now Philadelphia Eagles fans are reveling in their team’s first return to the Big Game since 2005. Not to mention a shot at redemption. The last time the Eagles were vying for the Lombardi Trophy, they lost to the last team to repeat as Super Bowl Championships…yes, the Patriots.

When it comes to story lines, this game is not lacking on either sideline. So where does this leave us, here on the East End, our local teams looking more forward to the draft than to Super Sunday? Unless you have a ticket to U.S. Bank Stadium, then it leaves you right here—and there’s nowhere else we’d rather be as Super Bowl LII kicks off on Sunday, February 4.

No, we may not have the best teams this year, but we do have the Best of the Best ways to make the day memorable.

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If you’re headed out to enjoy the fun, the odds are in your favor at one of the Dan’s Best of the Best Sports Bar winners. In the Hamptons, the lineup includes 78 Foster Bar & Grill and Buckley’s Inn Between in Hampton Bays, Fellingham’s Restaurant in Southampton, and Mercado Mexican Grill & Tequila Bar in Bridgehampton. On the North Fork, there’s Phil’s Restaurant & Sports Lounge in Wading River, Digger’s and The All Star in Riverhead, and O’Malley’s and Sophie’s in Southold.

Of course, there’s also the time-honored tradition of watching the Super Bowl at home, and everyone knows you can’t have a Super Bowl party without wings.

“Not serving wings on Super Bowl Sunday is like not serving turkey on Thanksgiving,” says Arthur Wolf, owner and chef of East Hampton’s Smokin’ Wolf BBQ & More!—the reigning Platinum winner of Dan’s Best of the Best for wings on the South Fork. “We brine our wings for 24 hours, then cook them in our smoker in the brine liquid. This cooking method is confit style,” Wolf adds. After they cool and are then fried, “we toss them in our Smokin’ Wolf Hot BBQ Sauce.” Victory.

Where to find the best wings wherever you happen to be is the perpetual question, and we have the answer. In addition to Smokin’ Wolf, other Best of the Best “wingeries” on the East End include John Scott’s Surf Shack in Westhampton Beach, 78 Foster Restaurant & Bar in Hampton Bays, Boom! Burger in Mattituck (they also have a joint in Westhampton Beach), Buckley’s Inn Between in Hampton Bays, Phil’s Restaurant & Sports Lounge in Wading River, Maple Tree BBQ and Jerry and the Mermaid in Riverhead, and Phil’s Restaurant & Sports Lounge and North Fork Bacon & Smokehouse in Wading River.

At Jerry and the Mermaid, where they usually serve up at least 200 pounds of wings every Super Sunday, their sauce recipe is anything but traditional. “We’ve been preparing our ‘Jerry’s Wings’ in the same fashion for nearly 25 years and have developed quite the following for them,” says chef/owner Jerry Dicecco Jr., whose dad created the tasty treat. What’s in the sauce that sets them apart? Not even Bill Belichick could come up with that one. “At least once a week we get someone trying to figure out the recipe,” Dicecco says, “but no one has ever come close!”

Hungry for more? Visit DansBOTB.com to find location information, phone numbers, hours of operation and more for every top business in the Hamptons and on the North Fork.