THOMASVILLE, Pa. — Today is National Chicken Wing Day, and one York County business is celebrating in style.
Owner Shannon Ratliff got the idea to open Cool Wings while helping out a family member with their own business at Morning Sun Marketplace.
"I got to walking around and saw a lot of... customers wearing Penn State jerseys, Steelers jerseys, Baltimore—and I said, 'this is like a small football town!' I'm like, 'where are the good wings at here?'" Ratliff said. "No one had them. So I figured, why not go for it?"
The wing spot has been open for three years now. It recently won the 2024 Community Choice Award for Best Wings in York and Hanover.
Customers can choose from a variety of nearly 20 dry rubs and sauces at the eatery, including Cool Wings' own secret sauce.
"It has a combination of things in there," Ratliff said. "A little ranch seasoning. So what you do is you stir it up until you get this nice bright orange, and then that's it."
The owner says it can be hard to come up with new flavors because he is particular about making sure each dry rub and sauce is unique from every other one on the menu.
For fans of spicy food, he says his Angry Bird dry rub is probably the hottest option on the menu.
"Everybody asks, like, 'why is it called Angry Bird?'" Ratliff said. "When you think of Angry Birds, it's red. So I say as you continue to eat them, it gets hotter and hotter and hotter; it makes you red like an Angry Bird."
Cool Wings can be found in Morning Sun Marketplace at 5309 Lincoln Highway in Thomasville and is open on weekends, from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Pre-orders can be made by calling 856-300-0141.
