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Duff's Famous Wings
Category: Restaurants Chicken Wings Chicken Wings [Edit]
1604 Bayview AveToronto, ON M4G 3B7
Neighbourhood: Mount Pleasant and Davisville
(416) 544-0100
- Hours:
Mon, Wed 11 am - 11 pm
Tue, Thu 11 am - 12 am
Fri-Sat 11 am - 1 am
Sun 12 pm - 11 pm
- Parking:
- Street
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
29 reviews for Duff's Famous Wings
Review Highlights
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"Flavours go from no heat (honey garlic - so yummy." In 10 reviews -
"They could top out at Super Hot and even spice chasers..." In 3 reviews -
"Especially with the blue cheese dipping sauce." In 3 reviews
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29 reviews in English
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Review from John D.
Toronto, ON
12/12/2011
I'm from Buffalo, there is a on going battle between Duffs and The Anchor Bar on who invented the chicken wing and who has the best. We left Buffalo 18 yrs ago and went to p.a. then to Nashville ( great place) the wings were awful in both both places. Believe me I'm glad there is a Duff's here.
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Review from Shael K.
Richmond Hill, ON
1/22/2011
If there was a 4.5 star option, that's what I would have given it. By far the best wings in Toronto, but lacks in consistency. Usually the sauce to wings ratio is pretty good, but every so often they will just be drenched. The beer selection is indeed wanting.
The only place I've found that rivals Duff's wings are Anchor bar, which also originates in Buffalo (and is said to be the creator of the buffalo wing).
They start you off with 3 small pieces of celery/person and your choice of blue cheese or dill sauce. IMO blue cheese is the way to go. Something about their celery - it is somehow the greatest celery I've ever had, every single time.
Wings - authentic buffalo wings (indeed the original Duff's hails from Buffalo), and so far the only ones of its kind in Toronto. There are a number of your 50+ flavour breaded wings around the city, but nothing compares to your simple deep fried wing with that spicy red/orange sauce.
Fries - Great in their own right. Shoestring, unsalted, and not easily comparable to any other fries I can think of.
The honey garlic sauce is extremely sweet and sticky - I guess that's good if you like honey garlic!
You'll find some people rate other wing joints in Toronto better than Duff's, but if you're looking for Buffalo wings, this is THE [only] place for them in Toronto!
Now with 3 locations across the GTA (Uptown, downtown, and Thornhill Woods), wait times are not what they used to be. -
Review from Genevieve R.
Toronto, ON
11/6/2011
The wings were good, but I've had better... I liked them, but I don't crave them. The ambiance was ok, but not overly amazing. The service was good and the place clean.
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Review from Jay W.
Markham, ON
3/18/2011 1 photo
Wing night on Tuesdays. 'Nuff said.
The wings here are a good sized and perfectly cooked. Not dried out or undercooked like some other wing joints. The skin is really crispy too.
My favourite part is that they don't ding you for ordering multiple sauces unlike some other wing joints and your wings come in orders of 10 rather than pounds... Nice and simple.
The sides though are overpriced ($4.50 for fries?), but that's probably so that you focus more on the wings. There's usually a lineup here, but the service is quick, so the turnover is pretty fast too.
Personally I find their hot sauce a little on the salty side, but for this price and quality who cares? -
Review from Johnathan N.
Brampton, ON
8/6/2010
I wasn't sure I was ready to write about Duff's, yet. It's a pretty profound spiritual and salivary experience, even just sitting here thinking about it.
Sidebar: Try to understand, guys who like spicy food have a bit of a tough time of it. Any pursuit of spicy is read as machismo, and protests to the contrary just dig deeper. What can I say? I eat spicy on my own, when no one's looking. I promise. Some people just seem to have their spice receptors wired directly to endorphin release, and I'm one of em. So when I say this next thing, I hope it will be taken as the significant and earnest sentiment it is intended to be:
Duff's Armageddon wings are the single spiciest thing I have ever eaten.
You want the stock review? Okay: Duff's is a cozy little place along a nice strip of Bayview. There's always a line up, but they turn people over pretty quickly, and the owner's out there every night chatting with you and giving you the run down if it's your first time. The beer list is uninspiring and short, but gets the job done. The sides and appetizers are pretty good, indeed I genuinely like their fries - they aren't just along for the ride. All in all, it would be a fine little 3- or 4-star hangout depending on how you ranked space issues against tastiness.
But if you like spice, and I do, and it's my review so you'll just have to play along, this place is unreal. They list their wing sauces in terms of Scovilles, the dilution-based unit used to evaluate spiciness. I think that's gimmicky, and I'm almost certain their numbers are inflated, but it does signal quite effectively what kind of establishment you're entering. It is a kingdom of spice, the servers all wear shirts that say "Remember, medium is hot, medium hot is very hot, hot is very very hot."
Above "hot" is "super hot" and through to this point we've been on a consistent, classic wing recipe. Strong vinegar, bright red/orange sauce with bright cayenne notes, big crisp wings with *great* heat. They could top out at Super Hot and even spice chasers would be happy. But they have two more offerings: Death and Armageddon. These two share a recipe with each other, but are vastly different from the others. A dark, smokey sauce with lots of Habañero and Scotch Bonnet. Beautiful smell when it hits the table, heat that hits your eyes.
And the spice? Unbelievable. I'd give Death a pass, no point in half measures once you're on this terrain. But the Armageddon is like nothing I've ever tasted. The sweats start right away, my fingers tingle and my eyes water and honestly, I start to get twitchy. My foot's tapping, I'm banging the table. How many meals do you have that get your whole body going this way? I have to stop and let my mouth recover after half an order, use some fries to soak up the heat, use some beer to break it down.
My brother and I will sometimes share a double order, half Armageddon, half Super Hot and while the super hot are tasty, their (substantial) heat is barely detectable in the post-Armageddon haze. We leave that place worn out - spent. Nowhere else have I had food that beat me up that much, or made me so happy to be beaten.
The owner says he can't personally handle anything above medium. -
Review from Monique L.
5/28/2009
Like the 1st reviewer, I've been coming here since high school, well over a decade ago. I know, I know, I look way too young to be that old, but I'm comfortable with my age! I remember going for $0.10/wing nights, or was it $0.19/wing? Either way, it was CHEAP!
Tonite was no different but I just wish they had a little more selection. I am still a fan of the honey garlic sauce. And I only had the mild, because of the company with me, but I really want to try some of the hotter ones. They have one called "Armageddon"......SPICY! One guy had his name on the board as eating 60 of these super hot wings. Who eats 60 wings??!!! I can't even finish 10. -
Review from Wendy H.
Toronto, ON
5/11/2009
Sometimes you wanna just be real manly and gnaw on some hot meats, you know?** And as far as I'm concerned, this Duff's has the best wings in the city. Seriously - I've been known to order from this location and ask them to put the order in a cab for me. That's real chicken loyalty.
If you're into breaded-dip-in-le-sauce wings, you won't get them here. Duff's wings are saucy, messy and gargantuan. The heat levels are pretty insane - Hot wings are 35,000 on the scoville scale, and the next step up (Superhot) is 150,000. I don't even know the Armageddon rating because frankly, they terrify me a little bit. I never get anything more or less than Hot, because I think they're perfect.
If you're craving some patio action, they've got good deals that include 20 wings, fries and a pitcher for... I don't know how many dollars. I'm very helpful, I know. Just letting you know it's an option.
**I attempt to be as girly as possible while at the same time, being very manly. Example: dainty bites and one-handed lifts, but with SUPERHOT SAUCE. -
Review from Sameer N.
6/7/2010
I'm crazy for wings. I'm not too wild about bone-in wings because the bone part takes up room where the meat should be. My friend told me that this place was the chillest, so I decided to give it a whirl. We went in there and sat down.
First things first, the waitresses are mostly super banging. Toronto has some of the hottest girls worldwide son, so you know this place is going to have them correct hunnies working. They have pitchers of brews and super spicy wings. You can get some wings that will punish the hell out of you, mine made my forehead sweat like a whore in Church. I loved it though.
They've also got some excellent apps, but we didn't waste our time with them. It's a nice place to go with friends if you want to snack on some dank wings, see aboot a hockey game, eh?, or pound some brews and lecherously scam on the waitresses who aren't into you at all.
That's aboot it. -
Review from Darren M.
Burlington, ON
10/4/2011
Wings = perfectly cooked
Spiciness = overhyped
I went to Duff's for the first time as I'm always looking for a place with hot enough food to slow me down, and numerous people told me Duff's could be that place to bring me to my knees; I've never had restaurant food that could do it so I was excited.
What I found was that the wings were awesome, they were perfectly cooked and breaded, just the perfect chicken wing. I'm a wing nut and this and a small pub known as Westend in hamilton are the only two places I've eaten at that do wings properly.
The spice level is greatly overhyped though, I ordered armageddon and asked for them extra saucy, I got them and was immediately disappointed by the heat level; I should mention the flavour of the sauce was awesome. Got half way through and still didn't have a tingle so I got a bowl of armageddon sauce on the side and started using the wings as spoons to scoop the sauce into my mouth seeing if it would give me a burn at any point, it didn't. I ended up just spooning all the sauce into my mouth and got a light tingle but that was it. I'm a spicy food not and I have a very high tolerance so if you aren't they may very well still seem obscenely hot, but that being said I can still make hot sauces at home that I will struggle with and for all the hype and the "armageddon" label these didn't come close.
I'll still definitely go back though because the wings and flavours were top notch but sadly my search for a food joint in toronto that can give me a burn continues. If anybody knows any places that could potentially do it reply and let me know. -
Review from Kimmy B.
East York, ON
4/18/2009
I've been going to Duff's for 6 years now, but its reputation far pre-dates my entry on the scene. This "wing joint" is known for the best wings in the city and it delivers, but doesn't really deliver by car!! *giggles*
The wings are good-sized, not those itsy-bitsy ones. You have a great variety of choice in your preferred level of heat.
Service is fast and friendly. Yes, seating is a bit cramped, but that's only cuz they are this little local shop, with a HUGE following!!
I recommend Duff's if you're in the mood for wings, maybe some beer and fries. The menu is somewhat lacking in variety of much more than that. But do not let this deter you from the ultimate wing, get your fingers sloppy and sticky, dining experience!!
Duff's does not disappoint! -
Review from Payam Z.
3/5/2009
With the deteriorating quality of St. Louis, Duff's will be having an easier time staying as the top Wings place in Toronto.
The only sad part is that you will not find much more than wings and beer at this location, but within that domain, you will have choices. The seating area can also use some major improvement as it resembles a cafeteria.
Take it for what it is...a great wings joint. -
Review from Kat B.
Scarborough, ON
12/6/2009
My hubster & I have searched high and low for good wings and beer. He used work with his construction crew in the area and all the guys there spoke highly of Duffs, thus we tried it shortly thereafter.
He enjoys the hot flavours and I like honey garlic- on tuesday nights they have 1/2 price wings with the purchase of a drink- so we'd always go for a pitcher of beer and 10 wings each. Love ittttt. But be prepared to wait in the queue for seating!
Some of my freinds who are the pickiest eaters I know have also made this place their must go to. So the clientele keeps on expanding. I prefer the leaside location to the downtown location- which is too noisey and pretentious. Leaside location, has something very warm and friendly about it.
I live a further away than i used to from Duffs now, but this past weekend ordered it with some old freinds and it tasted like 'home'. memories. tasty and true. -
Review from Karen S.
5/9/2010
I love wings and Duff's does it really really well. The wings are large, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside - done just the way I like it! They're flavourful both inside and out, which is something that is actually much harder to find than you would think. Flavours go from no heat (honey garlic - so yummy!) to super uber burning hot (Armageddon). Love this place!
This place is really small though I really like the cozy atmosphere. It's tough to get seating here, so we enjoyed a pint of Guinness instead at the bar while waiting for our 50 wing take out. There's a good patio outside though it was a bit too cold to take advantage of it! -
Review from Lindsey S.
Toronto, ON
12/10/2009
Hands down, THE BEST chicken wings anywhere!
I've been going to Duff's since I was little. I'm not that old, but I would say it's been about 10 years now, pretty much since they opened their doors. My dad taught me the importance of a great chicken wing by taking me here. Over the years, he's had to reduce the heat of his wings, where as I have been able to increase mine. I'm not to high up there on the hot scale, but Duff's hot scale is not a normal scale. They aren't lying when they say that their mild is hot. I eat the mild medium and love ever second of it. I like the flats, and they always try to do their best to give me more of those, but they can't guarantee it.
The wings are HUGE and are crispy - just the way they should be, none of that fleshy s*it here. A single order has I think about 10 wings, and they come with celery sticks and dip. I always suggest getting an order of fries to cool your mouth.
I love the atmosphere, it's so welcoming and the fact that it's a family biz adds a great touch. Duff's has opened a location on College Street and it's just as great! This location is a lot larger in comparison to the original.
Tuesday is cheap night, and it's well worth it - and it's well worth the wait, regardless of what day of the week it is. Trust me when I say this - there is always a line on Fridays and during the play offs....so go early.
This is truly the ONLY play I eat wings...and this is coming from a picky eater. -
Review from Zoe G.
NORTH YORK, ON
11/10/2010
full disclosure: I LOVE St. Louis. anytime i'm craving good wings, beer, and fries, that's my go to place. (I know many people will disagree, but hey to each their own) so when two different people told me that Duff's was even better, I got pretty excited.
the wings were great. I love spicy but also honey garlic, and it's a choice I dread any time I make an order. Duff's lets you mix the two, so mad bonus points right there.
the dill and blue cheese sauce were great, too. very thick and creamy just the way I like it.
beer is beer, and it goes well with wings, so no complaints there.
what made it less than spectacular for me though was the fries, which were just really disappointing. one of the things I love about St. Louis is the fries that you can't seem to get anywhere else, and the ones at Duff's fall way short. the only thing I can think of to compare them to are McDonalds fries, but not as salty. they were bland and boring.
I know it seems crazy to put such emphasis on that kind of thing, but it's one third of the wings/fries/beer trifecta, so it's worth mentioning.
the wings really are great though, and I wouldn't be opposed to coming back, but only if there isn't a St. Louis around. -
Review from Blake C.
Toronto, ON
8/16/2010 1 Check-in Here
I usually order the wings "easy on the sauce" as I find the default amount of sauce too much. When they are served this way, they are perfect! Especially with the blue cheese dipping sauce.
I haven't had anything else on the menu but wings/beer, so I can't comment on any of the other menu items.
The patio is small, with only about 16 seats or so. If it's the summer, and you want to eat outside, be prepared to wait.
Service is good, food is good. No complaints. -
Review from BudgetBougie B.
6/23/2010
We got a box of twenty to go. Heard these guys were "world famous" -- which should have been the biggest warning signal. Did the mild medium AND the honey garlic. This was because we took the server's advice to lay a little low on the spice. Seriously folks? LAY ON the SPICE. Otherwise, not the greatest palate pleaser.
Listed in: covering the CANUCKS
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Review from Romeo M.
Toronto, ON
12/15/2010
As with the downtown location...wings are consistantly large...I love the spicy BBQ and just wish they would deliver lol...great wings I always get take out as i like to eat them alone so I chow down like. Savage in peace...lol everyone I've taken to duffs always become a fan for life...the "go to spot" for wings if your in the north end
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Review from Tony C.
Richmond Hill, ON
10/21/2009
A great wings place for me has to offer juicy plump wings and a decent selection of beer. This place meets those two criteria of mine. The only thing they're lacking are different flavours, granted they have a gazillion different levels of hotness for the wings but that doesn't equal different flavours. We had an order of medium and a order of bbq wings. I prefer the medium sauce, just the right amount of hotness. For jokes a friend of mine dared another friend to try the armageddon sauce which is the Holy Grail of hotness. A siren goes off in the restaurant when someone orders it, I guess it's a warning that someone will get hurt real bad. Just taking a whiff of it will burn your nose. For kicks I decided to try it first, i took one small bite and my eyes watered, head was pounding, then I started to get heart palpitations, and began to sweat profusely, to top it all off my lips and mouth burned for a good hour. Meanwhile my buddy was able to eat the whole wing without breaking a sweat, which I applaud and admire greatly. How he was able to do it, I really don't know. I would never put myself through that much agony again! The name armageddon was appropriate, it did feel like my world was ending, a slow and painful death.
Another plus about this place is that they offer poutine for an additional charge to come with your warp/burger/sandwich. It's a heart attack waiting to happen with all the fried food, but hey, might as well go all out! Poutines should be mandatory in all bars across Canada. The sandwiches/warps/burgers look like they were the typical fare you'll find in other bars, nothing to write home about. My Duff's crispy chicken sandwich was good but nothing to rave about, come here for the wings. -
Review from L B.
Toronto, ON
8/8/2010
Best wings I've had in North Toronto. We got the wimps' versions - mild and spicy honey garlic. Both were amazing though and had just enough kick for those with slight aversion to the super spice :) We will be back for the hot ones!
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Review from Jerry J.
North York, ON
8/27/2009 2 photos
Not sure what's the big fuss about this place.. I checked it out last night and I wasn't that impressed. The place was very loud and it was hard to carry a conversation. Service was OK, but not more then that. I've ordered "Medium wings" and "Hot Honey garlic wings" both were OK but a bit dry in my opinion. I may go there again if I am in the area but definitely won't go out of my way to dine there. Oh, and one more thing.. if you are a person with disabilities take into consideration that the washroom is in the basement and the only way to get there is by stairs..
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Review from Matt K.
East York, ON
10/19/2009
Ive been going to duffs since i was a young gun. Its always delivered on amazing wings. Whether you are taking out for a wing feast at home or munching down with your buddies, it just cant be beat for atmosphere, wings and honey garlic sauce. So good
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Review from Dan P.
Toronto, ON
4/6/2010
As good as it gets.
Awesome traditional butter sauces at all level of heat (from zero heat up to "Armageddon"), good bbq, honey garlic, and hot honey too.
The real key here is not just great sauce, but large (not HUGE) wings, cooked nicely, crispy bite, but still juicy inside, and with no outside fat.
These are the best wings I've ever had. There's a reason that the place is full 7 nights a week.
Also, the brothers who own it, and all of the servers are extremely nice. -
Review from Andrew T.
Toronto, ON
3/1/2010
Pretty straight ahead wings - nice to be in a specialized place that is definitely no frills. A bit pricey, though, for what it is - worth a try at least once,,,
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Review from Roy A.
Toronto, ON
7/17/2009
Sure the have VERY TASTY wings, but it's so over-priced...
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Review from Josephine T.
North York, ON
6/28/2010
The honey garlic wings are really yummy. The drinks are expensive and not free refills like other restaurants. This restaurant is very similar to Quaker steak and lube in the US. Quaker has more spicy levels but does not have honey garlic and their drinks are free refills. Expect to pay more on drinks than wings.
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Review from Brandon S.
12/16/2008
I've been going to this place since high school, and I won't stop anytime soon. The wings are probably the best in the city. I've never been to the College st. location but I'm sure it's the same.
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Review from Jeff B.
6/21/2010
I have been a lifelong fan of wings and am always on the search to find the best. I have tried some of the best around North America, but had never tried Duff's. I have been told time and time again that Duff's in Buffalo and Toronto have the best wings out there. So on a recent trip to Toronto, my wife and I stopped into the Duff's location on Bayview. These are now the wings by which I will measure all others. Yup, they lived up to the hype and now sit at #1 on my list of "best wings"! We popped in mid-day on a Monday and found the place to not be crowded at all. This place is downtown, so you either have to park on the street at a meter or find a local parking garage. We found a number of metered spots available on the street right in front of the restaurant. Upon entering the small restaurant we saw that you could sit either inside or outside. We opted for an indoor table since it was looking like it was about to rain outside and ordered their #4 combo. The #4 gets you 20 wings, with fries and a large pitcher or beer for around $35. You can split the sauce on the wing order, so we got 10 Hot and 10 Super Hot. We ate the Hot first and those wings were amazing. The sauce was the best I have ever tasted. Perfect amount of heat and great flavor. The Super Hot wings were very good as well with a noticeable jump on the heat scale, but not too hot. Enough to make you sweat, but not to the point where your tongue is burning. We preferred the Hot over the Super Hot due to the great flavor that came through in the Hot wings. The fries were also very good that came with the meal. We actually contemplated ordering another order of the hot wings since they were so good, but declined since we were already pretty full. Duff's gets five stars for serving up what I would consider "the best wings I have ever had"!
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Review from Alon G.
Toronto, ON
3/28/2010
best wings in toronto, hands down. i've been coming here for years, and will be coming back again and again
