A guilty trip to Wingstop

I admit it: I love buffalo-style chicken strips, but not the wings so much — too much work getting out all the meat.

I’ve previously satisfied my jones at Epic Wings and Things, a locally-based, but recently decided to branch out and try the national chain Wingstop after I got a gift card for Christmas, from someone who either loves me or wants to hasten my death.

I chose the University Heights location in a strip mall on El Cajon Boulevard. I took my son, who wasn’t thrilled, but his Rubio’s gift card had no money on it so he was stuck.

Besides the classic Buffalo-style -- which they call “original” — you can get the chicken in cajun, lemon and pepper, garlic parmesan, and Korean styles. All sounded good to me, but if you go to a place with a specific craving, it’s really best not to get distracted.

My son got the three-strip lemon pepper combo with fries and a drink ($5.99), with ranch dressing dipping sauce. The chicken was crispy with lots of breading, but I didn’t taste much lemon and pepper.

For me, I got the 5-piece combo with a drink and carrots and celery with bleu cheese dressing for dipping. There was some confusion because the cashier seemed unable to confirm that the “original” sauce was Buffalo-style. She seemed more confused when I asked for the strips to be extra wet so the sauce would drip on to the veggies (and so I’d have plenty for the fries I was going to steal from my son).

Luckily the crisis was solved and when the order arrived, I was rewarded with everything I craved. Despite being sogged up with sauce, my strips were still crunchy.

It’s been a few days, but I’m already looking fondly at that meal.