‘Everybody loves wings’: New North Myrtle Beach restaurant a first for the Grand Strand
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Little River resident Dave Patel is a buffalo wing lover and he loves his family even more.
That’s why when he was pondering what kind of new business he wanted to open in North Myrtle Beach a key endorsement played a huge role.
“For some reason I just kept coming back to wings. Me myself, I’m a wing lover,” said Patel, who, partially thanks to his cousin, will open a Wing Zone franchise this week in a building connected to a Shell convenience store he owns as part of a family partnership in North Myrtle Beach. “Everyone in my family loves wings.”
One family member in particular, a cousin who lives in Virginia, appears to have made the biggest pitch as Patel himself had never eaten at a Wing Zone restaurant.
“I trust his judgment a lot,” Patel said with a chuckle, adding with a laugh that he believed his cousin would prefer to remain anonymous. “He goes to Wing Zone all the time up there. He used to tell me, ‘Oh, they’re the best.’ So that’s kind of what got me started. And then when I did the tasting for myself I was sold.”
The building used to house a Taco Bell, but that business moved to an independent location a little farther north in the spring. That left Patel with an opportunity to bring something new to the area as there’s only one Wing Zone location in the state that’s in Columbia.
“We decided that we’d love to bring something different here. Just something different from the typical pizza, sandwiches and all that stuff,” Patel said. “So we thought, let’s think about wings because everybody loves wings. We’re in the South and, come on, wings is a great thing.”
Patel also liked the idea of the convenience of Wing Zone compared to so many sit-down restaurants on the Grand Strand.
“When you’re trying to find something quick to go for lunch or something you don’t have time to do the full sit-down thing. You like to be on the go,” Patel said. “So when this came around I looked into it I really fell in love with their story.”
Patel and Co. are holding a training launch — or “pre-soft opening” — Monday and Tuesday in which they will serve invite-only community members such as first responders and business leaders as a thank you for their service. The official opening will be Thursday and a grand opening ceremony will be held Saturday.
“We’re trying to keep that same family feel among our staff. We’ve got a wonderful staff that’s already been hired and looking forward to getting started,” Patel said. “We’re just here to serve the community. We want the best for the community. We want to make sure that we provide something that’s just a good product with great service.”
Though wing is in the company name, Wing Zone serves up many other offerings, such as burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads and various sides. However, Patel warns customers that another part of the menu might just steal their taste buds.
“Our sides are terrific. We’ve got mac-and-cheese bites, onion rings, but the one thing that anyone that comes here should try, believe it or not, are two of our desserts,” he said. “We’ve got Oreo churros that are out of this world. They’re amazing. And funnel cake fries. I’m telling you, you eat them once and you’re hooked. You don’t want to be hooked, but you’re hooked.”
The restaurant will include a pick-up window in which you can order ahead online and receive your food with enhanced social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic. The business also offers its own delivery service.
“We like to be able to provide that extra special touch of customer service as we do it ourselves so we control how it gets to the customer,” Patel said.
This week’s opening is a longtime coming for Patel and Co. as COVID-19 has provided further obstacles such as coordinating construction, gathering proper materials, etc.
“We were patient. We understood. We just decided ‘Hey, when the timing is right we’ll get it done,’” Patel said. “So we didn’t put an urgency on getting open. We just wanted to be sure that we opened when it was right to open.”
That’s not to say the family isn’t pumped for this week, however.
“We are super, super excited. We have been working hard and we feel like we are just getting to the finish line. We are right there around the corner, so we’re just ecstatic about opening up to the community,” Patel said. “It’s been great to see the excitement building around our local community. We love to cater to the locals, even with our other business. The locals keep the lights on.
“We love the tourists, but the locals are the ones who keep our lights on. So we are always here for them and just to see the excitement building with them makes us feel really good.”
Wing Zone, which is located at 1209 U.S. Highway 17 South in North Myrtle Beach, will have store hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.
This story was originally published November 8, 2020 at 5:28 PM.
