Wings are relatively easy to find, and plenty of Tucson’s restaurants are great. But Aubriana and Chad Vargas were looking for something different, so they opened a wing place of their own.
Enter Wings y Mas, where the wings are served dry or saucy, and sweet, hot or your-mouth-is-on-fire. Cool off with loaded fries, an agua fresca ($5), RC Cola or cerveza.
Aubriana said Wings y Mas puts the customer first, wanting them to feel like they’re in their auntie’s dining room.
The couple comes with restaurant experience, Aubriana as a server and Chad as chef. The initial plan was to open a food truck and find a commercial kitchen. Then they saw the former Elbow Room bar on Prince Road and discovered the place was for sale. After a facelift, Wings y Mas opened last July.
“We put the food truck on hold because everything went into this,” Aubriana said. “We didn’t think there were any wings on Prince. The closest thing you have is Buffalo Wild Wings, which is a big corporation, and this is right off of the freeway. … We saw the potential in it. The building was small and manageable. We weren’t going to be over our heads. It had a lot of potential — the building itself and the location.”
The menu is purposely limited because wings are Wings y Mas’ specialty.
Guests may order a dozen with two sauce flavors and a side of ranch or bleu cheese dressings ($15). They also come in four dozen ($56) and six dozen ($84). Add another six wings for $8. A favorite is the wing combo, which comes with six wings, an order of fries or tots and a soda for $14.
The menu lists six dry coatings, including salt and vinegar, ranch, garlic parmesan and Arizona heat. Wet wings may be topped with sauces like teriyaki, Grand Canyon Gold, sweet and spicy, Cajun, gold heat, hot Buffalo and chiltepin. Even experienced wing fans will be surprised by the heat here.
Ask your server, who could very well be Aubriana’s mother. There is also a monthly sauce special.
For dessert, try the churro bites ($6) or one of the rotating sweets, also $6. This month it’s strawberry cheesecake.
Although the star of the show is wings, the “y Mas” part (or “and more” for those who don’t speak Spanish) is also excellent. For example, the salsa is made from Aubriana’s mother’s recipe (chips and salsa, $6). Another starter is Tostitos Preparados, which comes with chamoy, cucumbers, carrots, peanuts, lime and tajin ($6).
Nobody wins friends with salad but sometimes that’s exactly what the doctor ordered, so Wings has your back with plain dinner and Caesar salads (both $9; boneless wings may be added for $4).
The easy ambiance belies the way Chad runs his kitchen.
“I like to eat,” he said. “I’m not super critical of food but I do understand how it works, what flavors go well together. I like the fast pace of cooking and how precise you have to be if you want your food to be good. … I think the challenge of having consistency and putting that all together to serve people something good is what motivates me.”
The business is going well; it pays for expenses right now, but the Vargases are looking to the future when everyone knows their restaurant.
“We are a locally owned and operated family restaurant and we are looking to provide great service and great wings,” Aubriana said. “We want Wings y Mas to become a staple in Tucson (and) be a place people bring family and friends. We want to be Tucson’s favorite wing place.”
Wings y Mas
1145 W. Prince Road, Tucson
Instagram: @wings_y_mas
10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays to Mondays
Closed Tuesdays
