Wingstop has officially veered off the deep end, venturing to a place we’re pretty confident no fast-food joint has dared to go before, putting Sour Patch Kids on chicken wings.
The chain’s new Sour Patch Kids Wicked Punch flavor combines a sweet-and-sour redberry glaze with actual pieces of Sour Patch Kids candy. And now that customers are getting their hands on the bizarre Halloween collaboration, the reviews are starting to roll in.
So far, the verdict is… complicated.
Wingstop’s New Wings Are Already Dividing Customers
Wingstop announced its collaboration with the Sour Patch Kids brand earlier this month, calling Wicked Punch one of its most “unhinged” flavors yet. The wings feature a redberry glaze inspired by the candy’s signature sour-then-sweet flavor, with Sour Patch Kids Bitz sprinkled on top.
Club Wingstop members got early access beginning Oct. 23, while the flavor is rolling out nationwide Oct. 27. It’s only sticking around through Nov. 5, or while supplies last.
That means customers haven’t had much time to decide whether candy-covered chicken is an inspired idea or a complete disaster.
Judging by Reddit, there’s no consensus yet.
One customer who tried the wings described them as “not bad,” saying they smelled sweeter than they tasted and reminded them of orange chicken or sweet-and-sour chicken.
Another person admitted the flavor wasn’t disappointing, but also wasn’t anything special. “Wish there was more sauce,” they wrote.
Some Customers Actually Like the Sour Patch Kids Wings
One Redditor who tried the wings said they “enjoyed it a lot,” while another said they were “the best LTO flavor they had in a while.” Someone else who initially didn’t know what to expect said they would order the wings again, although they wished there was more sauce.
Another customer posted a 7-out-of-10 rating after trying the Wicked Punch wings, although they admitted they still had more wings to eat before settling on a final score. The comments underneath that review were considerably less enthusiastic, with reactions ranging from “F***ing ew” to “Yuck.”
That’s pretty much the story of this new Wingstop flavor so far: people either seem intrigued enough to try it or completely horrified by the idea.
The First Professional Reviews Are Mixed, Too
The early professional reviews aren’t exactly unanimous, either.
The Takeout’s Dani Zoeller tried Wingstop’s Sour Patch Kids Wicked Punch wings before their wider release and came away surprisingly impressed. She described the flavor as similar to orange chicken, although with a berry flavor instead of citrus, and said the crunchy chicken held up well under the glaze.
Her final verdict was considerably more enthusiastic: The wings were “ridiculously good,” and she argued that they “shouldn’t be this good.”
An Allrecipes taste test was more restrained. The reviewer said the glaze had a distinct artificial berry flavor that was similar to a red Sour Patch Kid, but wasn’t nearly as sour as the candy itself. The final assessment was essentially that the wings weren’t bad, but calling them good might be a stretch.
In other words, even the people who have actually tasted them can’t completely agree.
When Can You Get the Dour Patch Kids Wicked Punch Wings at Wingstop?
For anyone intrigued enough to find out for themselves, Sour Patch Kids Wicked Punch is available across Wingstop’s chicken options, including bone-in wings, boneless wings and tenders.
The flavor is available nationwide beginning Oct. 27, with Club Wingstop members getting early access, and it’s scheduled to disappear after Nov. 5.
So, if you’ve ever wondered what happens when you combine a chicken wing with one of America’s most recognizable sour candies, Wingstop is giving you a very small window to find out.
And judging by the early reviews, you might absolutely love it.
Or you might look at the wings and simply say, like one eloquent Redditor, “I hate it here.”
