New York Wing Scout has two unbreakable rules…
He’s lord of the wings.
A JFK employee is building a social media following as Long Island’s “Wing Scout” with more and more fashionable reviews of the pub-menu mainstay that adhere to two cardinal rules: nothing boneless and no ranch dressing.
“I’m hearing from restaurants that they’re selling out of their wings after I stop in,” Babylon’s Ryan Bliss told The Post of his reviews, which price wings 1-10.
JFK employee Ryan Bliss, left, the “Wing Scout,” is a social media star reviewing wings across Long Island. Courtesy of Ryan Lee Bliss
“I got approached by at least five people at the [comedian] Shane Gillis show at MSG,” said Bliss, who is a energy plant employee at the airport. “This guy came over going ‘I need a picture!’”
The 35-year-old dad of two has been a wing nut since working as a bus boy, bar back and bartender as a teen. Since he remodeled into the Wing Scout on his Instagram web page he’s hit a healthy 75 stops on the island, New York City, and Westchester County.
Bliss has been a wings diehard for years. Dennis A. Clark for NY Post
It began on a wing and a prayer in November, and he collected a fast 5,000 followers in two months.
“I took a video as a joke for my group chat and my buddies told me I had to do more,” said Bliss, who is the go-to man for wing suggestions in his crew of buddies. It also helps that his spouse is culinary-trained.
What started as a chortle all of the sudden took flight with now over 7,000 locals tuning into his web page, which explores all the things from mainstays to hole-in-the-wall joints.
“Even at my job, contractors will go … ‘is that the Wing Scout?’ Now I just have to fully embrace it.”
Wing Scout Ryan Bliss’s trustworthy reviews, with strict rules, have boosted gross sales for Long Island eateries. Courtesy of Ryan Lee Bliss
He’s labored with big manufacturers like Mike’s Hot Honey and is now on pace dial for eating places that need him to come in and do a Dave Portnoy-style review.
Joe Bonin, the proprietor of 44-year-old J.Paul’s Terrace Cafe in Oceanside, reached out to Bliss just before the Super Bowl. The review grew to become an additional level in his numbers around February.
“Some people have been walking through the door mentioning, ‘this is our first time here because we saw you on his Instagram,’” said Bonin.
“We’ve definitely seen lots of new faces walk through the doors… It’s kind of cool what he’s done and how he’s grown this following.”
Many eating places credit Bliss for getting them more business. Dennis A. Clark for NY Post
Cow Palace in Rocky Point has also had wing gross sales soar after a glowing review.
“People would call and say they saw certain flavors on his Instagram page, and they would request the ones that we made for him,” said supervisor Kevin Huff. “Now those are very popular sellers for us.”
Tons of followers — aka the “scouts” — also recommend new spots the plant employee ought to attempt.
“It’s on a rocket ship right now,” said Bliss, who lately had Mets star Doc Gooden in a video at Bull Smith’s Tavern in Smithtown.
When it comes to can’t-miss wings, Bliss has a few poultry pillars on Long Island. Dennis A. Clark for NY Post
Scout’s honor
He’ll always start with a basic Buffalo wing, then attempt other flavors and specialties once he’s established a benchmark.
Bliss prides himself on his “nine club” — a coveted rating on the size that only the best of the best can get, as he’s yet to give out a good 10.
The fashionable devourer is even producing 9 membership stickers for those prestigious eating places to put in their home windows.
“I think we’re about 20 nines right now, out of the 75,” he said while eating the Thai chili wing at Sally Black’s in Williston Park on Monday.
It acquired a 9.15, while the new eatery’s common buffalo wing took home an 8.8.
He isn’t a chicken when it comes to being brutally trustworthy and has given low sixes to local spots that flopped. Bliss shredded the chicken wings at 7-Eleven with a ruthless one-point score.
Restaurant house owners usually keep their composure if they get an underwhelming rating, but some viewers cry fowl.
“I went to use the lavatory someplace once, and some man comes in and goes ‘Wing Scout! I don’t like your score system!’
“The guy was approaching me in the bathroom about it,” he added. “I’m like, ‘bro, relax.’”
Aside from the occasional bonehead, suggestions has been implausible for Bliss, who is most pleased giving a highlight to unsung wing joints on the island recognized mainly for pizza and bagels.
Now he’s organizing Scout Fest, where the locations he’s profiled can be half of a road honest in Babylon Village this September.
The “Wing Scout’s” highest score, a 9.8, goes to Candlelight in Scarsdale, Westchester. Courtesy of Ryan Lee Bliss
“We’re going to have a little bit of everything from a wing-eating contest to some judges testing the wings.”
When it comes to can’t-miss wings, Bliss has a few poultry pillars on Long Island.
The scout praises Shanahan’s in Kings Park for their common wing and Mama’s Garden food truck in Bay Shore for a dry rub, both of that are respectively 9.4.
He’s also partial to a pair of 9.1 scores: East Northport’s La Villini for a chicken scarpariello wing and Cow Palace for a lemon pepper one.
Sadly, to the dismay of proud islanders, the enduring Candlelight in Scarsdale on the mainland of Westchester holds the scout’s highest-ever rating, 9.8.
“Those things are no joke,” he said.
But the journey is just starting as Bliss, who plans on going to the motherland in Buffalo, will keep scouring the Empire State’s entire flock.
“You gotta catch them all. You gotta find every nine that’s out there,” he said.
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