Wild Wing Cafe Opens New Location in Rock Hill, SC
Wild Wing Cafe’s newest Charlotte-area restaurant welcomes its first guests this afternoon.
That roughly 6,000-square-foot restaurant opened at 1940 Cinema Drive in Rock Hill. The space was formerly home to Mellow Mushroom.
“We’ve been looking at Rock Hill for a while,” says Steve Weigel, CEO. “We knew this space was perfect for us.”
The concept offers made-from-scratch chicken wings and nuggets that are prepared using a process of frying, saucing and baking to help seal in flavor. There are 33-plus signature sauces and dressings made from scratch.
The menu also features shareable appetizers, fresh-baked pizzas, entrées, burgers, wraps, sandwiches and salads.
The bar features cocktails, interactive drinks and local draft and bottled beer choices. That includes Wild Wing Cafe’s exclusive Wicked Chicken Wheat Ale, developed through a partnership with Wicked Weed Brewing out of Asheville.
“We want to consistently bring new culinary-forward items and beverage-forward items to keep people constantly wanting more,” Weigel says.
The 31-year-old brand has built a following for its wings, cold beer and live music. It got its start in 1990 in Hilton Head, South Carolina, before moving its headquarters to Charlotte in 2016.
Wild Wing currently operates 40 corporate and franchise locations across eight states, including the Carolinas. This marks the fourth restaurant in the Charlotte market for the brand, following locations in University City, Ayrsley in southwest Charlotte and Gastonia.
Weigel has said the brand intends to grow its footprint to 100 restaurants by 2028, up from 40 currently. He sees room for as many as four more restaurants in the Charlotte market.
It remodeled 15 corporate stores and opened three new locations during the pandemic. It continues to look for growth opportunities, including franchise locations and second-generation spaces.
“It’s very important for us to take an existing restaurant that’s closed. We can reemploy those employees and really make a difference in the community,” Weigel says.
Wild Wing Cafe has revamped the Rock Hill space, removing walls to create a more open layout and increase the seating capacity. It incorporated elements of its new prototype restaurant, including large windows that fill the space with light. The space features a central bar, textured accent walls — ivy, distressed wood and metal — with pops of neon. The restaurant’s interior also has an expansive area to relax and listen to live music, with a permanent stage.
“We want people to come in, listen to live music, have incredible wings and just relax and come together again,” Weigel says.
Wild Wing will be open for dinner service to start, opening at 4 p.m. daily. Lunch service will be added after Thanksgiving. There’s also a designated to-go and curbside pickup area.