A year ago, if you were looking for good chicken within a reasonable vicinity of campus, your options were limited.
The wingdings in dorm cafeterias have that odd oxymoron factor - they're greasy on the outside and dry as hell on the inside. The wings at Buffalo Wild Wings are great, but good luck finding a seat.
Fret not - Wing Zone has come to the rescue.
Located in the Frandor Shopping Center, the establishment has served as an alternative to our pizza box world.
The restaurant's concept was born from two University of Florida college students in 1991, who used their fraternity house's kitchen to deliver the goods.
"When we started researching the concept in bringing something to the Lansing area, we wanted something new, different and kind of exciting," said Steve Markey, who owns the Frandor franchise with his wife, Kathy.
The wings themselves taste like the average wing. Twice a week the restaurant receives a new shipment, so they are consistently fresh.
But the beauty of the restaurant lies in its 25 different sauces for the fried delicacies, ranging from lemon pepper garlic to hot honey teriyaki. The wings are doused in the sauce after frying, and picking a flavor is like choosing from a chocolate box.
The garlic parmesan sauce reminds you of a sauce you'd expect to have with pasta, but it works well with chicken. It's a little spicy, however, so beware. The honey barbecue has a tangy sweetness to it, and the honey mustard barbecue puts a twist on the old favorite.
You'd have to be pretty ballsy to sample some of the spicier flavors, though. There are five levels of spice: mild, medium, hot, hotter and nuclear. We'd recommend the mild for starters.
And as a bonus, for all you poor, unfortunate souls living in the dorms, Wing Zone accepts Spartan Cash, as well as the usual cash or credit card.
"I like that they're open late; it's a good late-night snack," said education freshman Lakeya Omogun, who stopped in to pick up wings and potato wedges one afternoon.
With customers like Omogun, Wing Zone might not fade into oblivion like many recent restaurants that have come and gone. She isn't a stranger - she's been to Wing Zone numerous times since last fall.
Cluck, cluck, indeed.
