Wild Wing Cafe in the Vista: Sweet Victor-Tea, Sour Loser Shots and more for game day

If you’re not ready for some football, then you may want to consider moving out of Columbia.

Or the country for that matter.

Because for the next several months, the only thing on everyone’s lips besides beer and wing sauce will be football.

This is the very reason Wild Wing Cafe in the Vista is about to enter its busiest time of year. As a fan-favorite watering hole – and Steve Spurrier’s roost for his radio show “The Steve Spurrier Show” – its no wonder Wild Wing has a year-long playbook preparing for the onslaught of patrons.

“People around here love football. This a football town,” said Seth Ricks.

Ricks has been a bartender at Wild Wing Cafe in the Vista for nine years. That’s like witnessing nine seasons of gridiron drinking, offensive wing consumption and poor bar sportsmanship. Despite that, Ricks understands the customers’ need for adult beverages to calm their nerves before, during and after quarters.

The beers of choice are Bud Light and Miller Lite, he said. The location also carries locally brewed River Rat’s Broad River Red Ale as one of the 20 beers on tap that are rotated every other week. Palmetto out of Charleston is among the 40 types of bottled beer.

The bar’s “party pitchers” – Long Island Iced Tea, The Life Saver and The Stress Reliever – are its more popular mixed drinks. But for game season only, Wild Wing is offering sideline sippers like Sweet Victor-Tea and a Sour Loser Shot, in addition to the Party Playbook, which imagines each NFL team as a drinking shot of its team colors.

But as the name indicates, people are wild for Wild Wing’s wings. According to Ricks, the location goes through close to 2,000 pounds of wings every week.

“On Tuesday, we have buy-one-get-one wings and we sell a ton. Literally,” he said.

The most popular wing flavors Ricks has noticed are the Wild West, a tangy ranch style; The Boss, a bold dry rub; Bubba’s BBQ, likened to a Southern recipe; and Gold Rush, a honey barbecue with a kick. But when it comes to the flavor, there is no one contender that beats out the other for top pick.

“Everything goes good with wings,” he said with a laugh.

There’s also a Tailgate Tackle platter that can punt as a mini-tailgate, giving you the freedom to combine an assortment of game day bar food favorites.

“As long as there’s football, we’re busy,” said Ricks.

Win or lose, Wild Wing in the Vista will always be a place that you can go to celebrate or commiserate with a drink or two. But if you’re not a sports fan and end up there, do what everyone else does: Wing it.

This story was originally published September 8, 2015 at 6:21 PM.