On his show Hot Ones, Sean Evans interviews celebrities while he feeds them progressively hotter wings. And I have watched it enough times to convince myself I could survive Da Bomb without losing my composure. These are the kinds of lies I tell myself to stay loyal to my Mexican roots — and my ego. That being said, it was about time I tested my tolerance.
Edmonton is home to some restaurants that are not afraid to let their customers delve into self-indulgent pain. So I gathered some of my colleagues at Edify, as well as a few of my family members, to hop on the challenge with me. Who doesn’t like chicken wings?
Like most great bar snacks, hot chicken wings were born of a late-night craving. Legend has it, in the 1960s at Buffalo, New York’s Anchor Bar, pub owner and cook Teressa Bellissimo’s son showed up with friends, demanding a tasty snack. She deep fried some wings and added some heat in the form of a vinegary chili sauce. If it weren’t for that hungry group, this classic bar snack wouldn’t have spread as far and wide as it did.
We heat lovers are familiar with the Scoville Heat Unit scale — the measurement system that determines the heat level of chili peppers that became the gold standard for spiciness back in 1912. For context, the average buffalo wing clocks in at a relatively tame 30,000 SHU. Today, chicken wings can easily make it to the millions — where you can find yourself uncontrollably tearing up, stomach revolting and your pride on the line.
Were my taste testers and I ready? No. But that was not going to stop us from trying Edmonton’s hottest chicken spots.
If you want to test the waters before diving in (which I recommend), Plain Jane, Rob’s mildest heat level, might be a good place to start. But I know there are some who will jump at the chance to try their Cluckin’ Hot Drumsticks — which is exactly what we did. Their ghost pepper and Carolina Reaper blend hits a brutal 1.5 million SHU — a detail we probably should’ve respected more.
Jodi Glen, our director of operations, says this chicken “wasn’t for the faint of heart.” We could not deny that Rob’s was hot, but we could also not look past the flavours, which Caitlin Hart, staff writer, raved about: “The balance of spice with crispiness and juiciness. It wasn’t just spicy, it was a good piece of chicken.” I knew Jodi agreed — she mumbled something affirmative as she devoured a drumstick.
Rob’s Famous Fried Chicken
Boyle Street | 8540 Jasper Ave, Edmotnon | robsfamous.ca
This Nashville chicken spot has six levels of heat intensity to choose from — depending on how flirty you are feeling. Their Level 6 Scorchin’ Flirt, a cayenne-Scorpion-Reaper mix, is also in the 1.5 million SHU range.
Even as my throat dried up and the heat flushed my skin, I managed to keep it together. Yes, there were tears and coughing here and there… OK, it was hot. Even my brother, who laid on the ground, cursing at me, stated that Flirty Chicken’s spiciest wing felt like death but he’s a bit of a lightweight.
My father demolished a Scorchin’ Flirt wing and let out a single cough. “I mean, yeah, I can understand why this would be hot for someone.” And he proceeded to go about his day. To contextualize: this man snacks on habaneros in between dishes. And this was hot for him.
Nashville Hot Chicken Flirty Bird
222 Baseline Rd, #238, Sherwood Park | flirtybirdchicken.com
Dave’s is the only place in Edmonton that makes you sign a waiver before ordering their hottest chicken — which sounds funny until you read it. According to them, their hottest chicken — which hits two million SHU — has the potential to do some damage, “including, but not limited to, bodily injury, property damage, emotional distress, or even death.” It is not called the Reaper for nothing.
The weakling of my group of taste-testers, art director Kim Larson, took one bite and tapped out. Who could blame her? “Too hot for this Scandinavian,” she says.
Caitlin left the room with her eyes watering after a bite of Dave’s Reaper, and she is a spicy food lover who always orders chili oil with her ramen and never hesitates to add generous chili flakes to her pasta. As for me, the moment my tongue touched one of these wings, I understood exactly why the waiver existed, it was a whole body reaction, chills rushing up my spine, triggering my face to act as if I had just been punched.
“Dave’s Hot Chicken was hot. Like… very, very hot. Make-you-sweat hot. Give you hot flashes,” Jodi says. “It definitely got to the point where I couldn’t really taste anything, and all my brain was registering was HEAT.” She wisely made sure there was yogurt on hand to extinguish the flames if need be. But even covered in sweat and tears, that yogurt remained untouched. I think she had passed the point where Liberté could help.
If you’ve read this far, your curiosity is already working against you — the only question is whether you’re brave enough to take a bite.
Dave’s Hot Chicken
Downtown | 10832 102 Ave NW, Edmonton | daveshotchicken.com
