This Piedmont Heights Tex-Mex spot brings the heat

Dish of the Week: Smoked chicken wings at Little Rey
The smoked wings at Little Rey are dressed with salsa macha, a mixture of dried chiles and peanuts. Henri Hollis/henri.hollis@ajc.com

Credit: Henri Hollis

Credit: Henri Hollis

The smoked wings at Little Rey are dressed with salsa macha, a mixture of dried chiles and peanuts. Henri Hollis/henri.hollis@ajc.com

Little Rey’s wings are smoked, giving them a dark color that foretells plenty of flavor. The Tex-Mex taco joint does an admirable job with the wings, which have tender meat and crispy skin. That’s not surprising since Little Rey specializes in chicken, also selling pollo al carbon in half, whole or two-bird portions.

Still, it’s the sauce that takes wings from good to great. At Little Rey, there’s only one sauce option: salsa macha — a dark, seedy mixture of chiles and peanuts — unique flavors that aren’t slathered on hot wings often. Thankfully, it is nowhere near as hot as it looks.

However, if the spice level gets to be too much, there’s a generous side of jalapeno ranch to go with it, which is not spicy at all.

If you’re a wings lover in Atlanta — and there are many of us — these should be on your “must try” list.

Little Rey. 1878 Piedmont Ave. NE, Atlanta. 770-796-0207, littlerey.com.

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