Wing It On!

What Wing It On! does

Wing It On! is a fast-casual chicken restaurant chain founded in 2011 by Matt Ensero in Waterbury, Connecticut, and now headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina as part of the Craveworthy Brands portfolio. The concept centers on fresh, never-frozen wings tossed in 24 signature sauces and dry rubs, with a menu that also includes boneless wings, hand-breaded chicken tenders, buttermilk chicken sandwiches (including a Nashville Hot variant), Dump'wings fried dumplings, loaded fries, and family packs for group occasions. Wing It On! operates primarily through a franchise model, with 10+ dine-in locations across Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Virginia, and Florida, supplemented by a food truck sub-brand (Wing It On Wheels), a ghost kitchen inside Orlando's Dollins Food Hall, and catering via Olo and ezCater. Third-party delivery is fulfilled through DoorDash and Uber Eats.

The technology layer is a conventional, third-party-assembled QSR stack rather than proprietary infrastructure: online ordering runs through Thanx (order.thanx.com/wingiton), mobile ordering and the WIO! Rewards loyalty program are powered by Incentivio (iOS and Android apps), catering is operated through Olo (wingitoncater.olo.com), and gift cards through a dedicated order.wingiton.com portal. WIO! Rewards accrues 10 points per dollar spent (points expire after 6 months) and unlocks $3, $8, and $20 rewards at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 points respectively, with a separate $5 first-purchase incentive.

The business model combines franchisor economics with restaurant sales. Franchisees pay a $35,000 single-unit fee (or $20,000 per additional unit, with a three-unit minimum for multi-unit operators), an ongoing 6% royalty on sales, and a 4% marketing fund contribution, against a total per-unit investment of $218,900–$473,333 and qualification thresholds of $150K liquid capital and $500K net worth. The company has signaled international ambitions via a master-franchisee evaluation program announced in 2022, and a stated 100-unit growth target. Brand moat rests on multi-year National Buffalo Wing Festival championships in the Medium Traditional Buffalo Sauce category (beating Anchor Bar) and Inc. 5000 / QSR 40/40 recognition, which the franchise system monetizes through new unit signings across the U.S. Northeast and Southeast.

Name

Wing It On!

Legal name

Wing it On Franchising LLC

Website

https://wingiton.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Wing It On! is a fast-casual, franchise-led chicken wing chain founded in 2011, serving fresh never-frozen wings and chicken sandwiches through 10+ U.S. locations, a food truck, and a ghost kitchen, and selling franchise rights to owner-operators across the Northeast and Southeast.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Chicken Wing Restaurants

NAICS

Mobile Food Services (72233), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Chicken & Wings QSR (THAFAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Chicken Concepts (Fried/Grilled/Hot Chicken) (THAFABAI), Mobile / On-Site Catering (Food Trucks for Events, Pop-Ups) (THAFAIAJ), Pizza, Wings & Oven-Baked Prepared Foods (In-Store Concepts) (CRAHAKAE)

Keywords

• Chicken wing restaurant
• Fast casual dining
• Franchise restaurant chain
• Buffalo sauce wings
• Chicken sandwiches tenders

Headquarters

HQ city

Raleigh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Franchise Fees: Initial franchise fees of $35,000 for single units, $20,000 for additional units. Food truck can be added as brick-and-mortar bonus.
2. Royalty and Marketing Fees: Ongoing monthly royalty of 6% of sales plus 4% marketing fund contribution from franchisees.
3. Restaurant Sales: Direct revenue from company-owned or franchisee-owned restaurant locations offering dine-in, takeout, delivery, and catering services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Wing It On! operates a fast-casual chicken wing restaurant chain offering fresh, never-frozen wings tossed in 24 signature sauces and dry rubs, along with chicken sandwiches, tenders, loaded fries, sides, and Dump'wings. The company sells through company-owned and franchise-operated brick-and-mortar locations, a food truck concept (Wing It On Wheels), ghost kitchens, and catering services, supported by a proprietary mobile app with a points-based loyalty program. Revenue is generated from direct restaurant sales to consumers, franchise fees and ongoing royalties (6% royalty + 4% marketing fund) from franchisees, and catering/event orders.

Product overview

Wing It On! is a fast-casual chicken restaurant chain operating under a franchise model, offering a unified dining experience centered on fresh, never-frozen wings and chicken products. The core product portfolio consists of Traditional Wings, Boneless Wings, Chicken Tenders, and Chicken Sandwiches (including Nashville Hot), all customizable with 24 signature sauces and dry rubs. Supporting offerings include Famous Loaded Fries, Sides, Family Packs for group dining, Catering services, and a Food Truck sub-brand called Wing It On Wheels. Digital engagement is enabled through the proprietary WIO! Mobile App (powered by Incentivio) and the WIO! Rewards loyalty program. The company operates primarily through third-party delivery partnerships with DoorDash and Uber Eats, online ordering via thanx.com, and catering through Olo. The brand's flagship differentiator is its award-winning Medium Buffalo sauce, which has won back-to-back championships at the National Buffalo Wing Festival in 2022 and 2023.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Wing It On Wheels!: The food truck concept dedicated to authentically prepared Buffalo wings, bringing the same hand-crafted process, fresh chicken and Buffalo-inspired flavors to events.

Products and services

• Traditional Wings (Classic and Boneless) Authentic Buffalo-inspired chicken wings available in Classic (traditional bone-in) or Boneless varieties, sold in portions of 6, 10, 15, 20, or 30 pieces with choice of 24 signature sauces or dry rubs.
• Crispy Thigh Wings Chicken thigh wings with a crispy texture, offered as an alternative wing style to traditional wings, available in-store, online, on WIO! mobile app, and via third-party delivery.
• Chicken Sandwiches Hand-breaded crispy buttermilk chicken sandwiches including The Signature Chicken Sandwich (customizable with any sauce), The Original Chicken Sandwich (pickles, tomato, mayo), and the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich.
• Chicken Tenders Breaded chicken tenders tossed in any of the 24 sauces or served on the side, available in portions of 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 pieces.
• Chicken Nuggz Boneless chicken nugget-style option added to the menu, targeting casual snacking and football-season consumption.
• Dump'wings (Fried Dumplings) Fried dumplings with chicken or vegetable filling, available in 5 or 10 pieces, tossable in any of the 24 sauces or rubs, served with ranch or blue cheese dipping sauce.
• Famous Loaded Fries Crinkle-cut fries loaded with toppings including The Original (Buffa-Rub, boneless bites, award-winning Buffalo sauce), Garlic Parmesan, Spicy Chicken, and South O' The Border varieties.
• Sides Side items including Crinkle-Cut Fries, Smokin' Ranch Slaw, Loaded Street Corn, and Buffalo Mac & Cheese.
• Family Packs Bulk family-style meal packages including Wings Family Packs (30-100 wings) and Tenders Family Packs (12-50 tenders), each served with fries, carrots, celery, and a choice of ranch or blue cheese dipping sauce.
• WIO! Mobile App Native mobile application enabling online ordering, loyalty rewards tracking, and push notifications about unlocked rewards; available on iOS and Android.
• WIO! Rewards Loyalty Program Free points-based loyalty program where members earn 10 points per dollar spent and unlock rewards including $3 'Wing Nut' (500 pts), $8 'Duke of Dipping' (1000 pts), and $20 'King of the Wing' (2000 pts); points expire after 6 months.
• Catering Service Catering service for events and corporate functions offering wings, tenders, sandwiches, sides, and family packs in bulk configurations, ordered via Olo (wingitoncater.olo.com) or ezCater.
• Wing It On Wheels (Food Truck) Mobile food truck concept bringing the same hand-crafted process and fresh chicken from restaurant locations to events, festivals, and breweries; also offered as a franchise format.

Quantifiable outcome

• Back-to-back wins as America's Best Buffalo Sauce at National Buffalo Wing Festival (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• IncentiviocoreTechnology or Integration · 29 August 2019Partnership with online and mobile rewards partner Incentivio to build and deliver a scalable mobile ordering and loyalty experience. Incentivio powers the WIO! Rewards loyalty program and mobile app functionality.
• Marty Welch / Martin Franchising ConsultantscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 11 April 2019Strategic partnership with franchise industry veteran Marty Welch, CEO/Founder of Martin Franchising Consultants, leading the franchise development efforts to ramp up unit signings.
• DoorDashminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party delivery partner available at select locations for food delivery services.
• Uber EatsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party delivery partner available at select locations for food delivery services.
• Craveworthy BrandscoreOthersParent company of Wing It On! Founded by Gregg Majewski, CEO. Wing It On! is described as 'the wing concept from Craveworthy Brands.'

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Slim Chickens: Slim Chickens is a fast-growing chicken-focused QSR franchise (200+ locations) offering wings, tenders, and sandwiches. It competes for the same franchisee pool as Wing It On! and overlaps on menu categories.
• Huey Magoo's: Huey Magoo's is a chicken-tender-focused QSR franchise (80+ locations) expanding across the Eastern US. It competes with Wing It On! for chicken-occasion consumers and franchise partners in overlapping geographies.
• PDQ: PDQ is a chicken tenders and sandwiches QSR franchise (~70 locations) operating primarily in the Southeast. It shares Wing It On!'s Southeastern footprint and competes for similar chicken-occasion customers and franchisees.
• Dave's Hot Chicken: Dave's Hot Chicken is a rapidly scaling Nashville-style hot chicken franchise with 200+ locations. It competes with Wing It On! in the hot/spicy chicken QSR category and shares a similar fresh, made-to-order positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Chick-fil-A: Chick-fil-A is the dominant US chicken QSR with 3,000+ locations. While it does not focus on wings, it dominates consumer chicken QSR mindshare and competes for franchisee operators and chicken-occasion spending.
• Raising Cane's: Raising Cane's is a national chicken-tender QSR with 700+ US locations and a similarly limited, sauce-focused menu. While wings are not its core, it competes for chicken QSR occasions and franchisee capital.

Direct peers

• Wingstop: Wingstop is the largest chicken wing-focused QSR franchise in the US with 2,000+ locations and a near-identical core product offering (wings, sauces, bone-in/boneless). Wing It On! competes directly in the same category with the same takeout/delivery orientation and franchise-led growth model.
• Bonchon: Bonchon is a Korean-style double-fried chicken wing chain that has expanded rapidly across the US via franchising. It overlaps with Wing It On! on premium chicken wings with sauce-driven differentiation and franchise-led US expansion.
• WingZone: WingZone is a delivery- and takeout-focused chicken wing franchise that shares Wing It On!'s emphasis on wings as the core product and a franchise growth model targeting regional expansion.
• Buffalo Wild Wings: Buffalo Wild Wings is the legacy category-defining sports-bar-and-wing chain (1,000+ US locations, owned by Inspire Brands). It directly competes with Wing It On! for chicken wing occasions, particularly sports viewing and group dining.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/wingiton1
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@wiofranchising6642
• Facebookfacebook.com/wingiton
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wing-it-on
• Instagraminstagram.com/wingiton
• TikToktiktok.com/@wingiton

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wing It On!