On Sunday evening around 6, EVG reader Laura shared the above photo, showing a backup of Super Bowl deliveries outside Atomic Wings on First Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street.
According to several angry Yelp reviews, tweets and eyewitness reports, there was some kind of breakdown at this Atomic Wings that several people have since humorously compared to the disastrous
Fyre Festival.
An EVG reader shared this Super Bowl experience via Atomic Wings:
Those delivery guys standing outside were still there well into the evening as the store was completely overrun with orders. I had a delivery [set for] 5 p.m. — made the order days ago. I came at 6 p.m. to see absolute chaos. I ended up leaving since the game started, but people were missing their own parties, etc.
They had no directions as to what to do. People were furious, delivery guys were angry, and police were ticketing and towing double-parked cars outside. So you’d hear people scream “who has the gray Nissan?! They’re about to tow it” every 5 minutes.
I ended up never getting my wings — which I preferred over getting them at midnight — and will be calling for a refund ...
The reader shared this photo from inside the shop about 30 minutes before the kickoff between the Patriots and Rams...
People took out some frustrations on Twitter...
And then there were the 13
one-star reviews on Yelp that came during and after the Super Bowl Wing Debacle. Most people said that they pre-paid for their wings, which never arrived. One example:
I ordered over 100 wings for my super bowl party a week in advance. I prepaid and even called the restaurant the night before to confirm the order. Not only were the wings not received but they unplugged their phone line so that no one could get in touch with them and have not reconnected it as of 12:30 P.M. the following day.
There were several more comparisons like this: "This is the Fyre Festival of wings...."
Atomic Wings has been around now for 30 years, with multiple NYC locations selling their Buffalo-style wings.
I reached out to the Atomic Wings home office for more information on what happened at the EV outpost during the Super Bowl. Will update if I hear back.
Updated 7:30 p.m.
Here's the word via the Atomic Wings HQ:
The franchisee at the First Avenue location ran into an equipment failure that hampered his ability to get orders out in a timely fashion. He has already reached out to customers to offer them full refunds and store credits.