I honestly don’t think I realized just how many wing sauces that exist throughout the 64 restaurants vying for the top spot in the city as part of this year’s Wings Bracket (first round voting ends tonight at midnight.)
In part out of my own curiosity — you know by now I love trying something new — and in part to keep fresh content coming your way throughout bracket season, I drove out to 177th and Center earlier this week to try out one of the wing spots in this year’s bracket that I’d never heard of: Koko’s Korean Fried Chikin. (Yes, I did spell that correctly; it’s the Korean term.)
Koko’s, tucked in a nondescript west Omaha strip mall, was totally empty when we arrived around 6:30 on a weeknight. The restaurant seems to specialize in two things: Fried chicken (wings, tenders, sandwiches and bowls) and boba tea. The restaurant also has beer, fruit tea, smoothies and slushies.
We ordered a dozen wings and two sauces: curry and gochugang barbecue sauce. The menu boasts several other interesting sauce choices: cheese curry, black pepper, lemon mustard and honey butter among them.
The wings at Koko’s are medium sized and breaded in a medium-thick crust, then liberally dipped in sauce. Curry wings come studded with fresh bits of garlic and ginger, and are what I’d classify as an Indian-inspired wing, their flavor similar to a yellow curry. The gochungang barbecue has a sweet-spicy thing going on, and if you like an extra saucy wing, this is your order.
I read online that Koko’s hand cuts and breads its wings in house, and we could hear (and smell) them being fried to order. Being the restaurant is also a boba tea house, we sampled both an iced black and green unsweetened tea. Both were great. I’d definitely recommend getting a drink if you visit.
Koko’s is one of those under-the-radar spots I love checking out during bracket season. Will it move on? Probably not. But is it fun to check out regardless? Absolutely.