ATLANTA, WE CLOGGED our arteries just for you. In the face of a recession we scoffed and logged almost 200 miles on the car in the pursuit of good, golden, greasy chicken wings. From Lawrenceville to Austell to Cascade, we journeyed with empty stomachs and wet naps. We found plenty: big and small, in strip malls and street-corner joints, some of them delicious, others downright awful. We watched how you ate them and learned your technique, because there really is technique involved in eating a wing. Hot wings, buffalo, barbecue, garlic and, of course, lemon-pepper — we sampled them all. And we consumed more than our share of bad blue cheese and ranch dressings.

This, folks, is about as close to American street food as it comes. So here are a few stops and lessons learned on our tour.

Joey Ivansco/ajc staff (ENLARGE)
The barbecue morsels at the Harlem Bar.
Joey Ivansco/ajc staff (ENLARGE)
'Plain' wings at Edgewood Avenue's Harlem Bar (not on menu but often requested by regulars).
Joey Ivansco/ajc staff (ENLARGE)
Crisp lemon-pepper flavor at Da Bomb; and the barbecue morsels at the Harlem Bar.
Joey Ivansco/ajc staff (ENLARGE)
'Cinnamon Love' at Da Bomb on Auburn Avenue.
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WINGED VICTORY: OUR TOP 5

Our first stop on the quest for good wings was, in the end, one of our favorites. Rick's Hot Wings — in an unassuming, downright plain Kennesaw strip mall — does the standards right. And by standards we mean lemon-pepper and hot. What elevates them is their preparation. The skin is not battered or floured, it's dropped naked into the grease, so when it comes out it crackles. The pepper sauce doesn't race down your fingers and the lemon pepper is dusted rather than compacted on the surface.

Some wings cry for a tall beer. The fine specimens at the Harlem Bar beckon for a martini. Large, super-fresh, fried to a crisp and then painted in barbecue sauce, these wings perfectly embody the cocktail-hour mood of this Edgewood Avenue hideaway. Regulars know to ask for "plain" wings — not listed on the menu, but they qualify as some of the best fried chicken around.

Da Bomb Wings & Seafood, just around the corner from Harlem Bar, is more of a classic wing joint with limited seating and a serious takeout/delivery business. The wings are all we could hope for — fresh tasting, fried to such an impermeable crisp that even the glossy sauces can't penetrate and free of gushy fat. The crisp lemon-pepper is definitive, while the "Cinnamon Love" wings drip with an appealing honey sauce. Look for flavors you've never heard of.

The new Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q near Little Five Points has 'cue lovers debating the merits of its brisket and ribs. We'll venture the opinion that the wings rule the roost — or at least the smoker. Literally caked in lip-tingling spices and smoked to the core, these are bones to suck dry. You'll need a massive beer at the ready.

At Brent N' Brett's Famous Yardbird in Austell, the wings are a meal, not a drinking snack. They arrive as 10 little morsels huddled together, wafting steam and promising a lively crunch. Next to them cool, fresh-cut slivers of celery stand posture perfect. Tater tots are mounded like a fist full of quarters. Slices of Texas toast and are wedged in for good measure. All of this is cradled in a gleaming stainless steel bowl. The barbecue wings were probably the best we had on this journey— fried, tossed in homemade sauce and grilled until it had little spots of char. Bone appetit.

HOW TO EAT A WING

First, put down the knife and fork. To paraphrase an old choir director, you have to get ugly when you wing. Most people eat the drummie part of a wing, like, well, a drumstick, Fred Flintstone style. When it comes to the flat, the oblong, two-boned piece, there seem to be two favored ways: nibbling around the bones leaving them joined at top and bottom by cartilage, or splitting one of the joints and pulling the bones apart until they form a "V." Then again, we've seen some people put the whole flat in their mouth and, in one motion, extract two bones, picked nearly clean. Definitely a method best practiced at home

WIDE WORLD OF WINGS

All the wing joints, wing chains and wing shacks around Atlanta still don't seem to satisfy our craving for the tasty bits of meat and cartilage that cling to the humerus, ulna and radius of a certain flightless bird.

So everyone gets into the wing business. Of particular note around Atlanta are the numerous Chinese restaurants that serve everything from Buffalo-style hot wings to Chinese "braised" wings — most often deep-fried and coated in a tangy-sweet sauce. Try Hong Kong City for a fine version with a side of pork-fried rice. Wing love soars at all kinds of Caribbean restaurants, as well, from the ubiquitous Jamaican jerk wings to the Cuban-style lemon/onion wings at Coco Loco. Even barbecue places now smoke up coopfuls of wings, particularly during tailgate season. They may lack the crispness of top-flight wings, but the pink-from-smoke meat at the buzzy new Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q are addictive.

SIZE MATTERS

A good rule of thumb: the bigger the wing, the fattier it is. And a fried chicken wing, especially coated in a buttery sauce, is sinful enough. The more petite, the better. Think of it like a brandy pour, two fingers wide is probably a little more than enough.

WHERE TO FIND THEM

Here is the list of places we tried (minus a couple of nasty options better left unmentioned).

For most of these we tried basic hot wings, lemon-pepper wings and interesting "specialty" recipes whenever possible. Multiple locations are noted, as well as the location we tried.

Barbecue Works: 121 Central Ave. (in Underground Atlanta). 404-681-1870. Boy, you can taste the pride with which these were cooked. Lemon-pepper was a favorite and they went especially well with a side of collard greens and mac-and-cheese.

Brent N' Brett's Famous Yardbird: 1025 East-West Connector, Austell. 678-556-0161, www.famousyardbird.com. We love this Austell restaurant for its variety of dips, sides and flavors, as well as the fresh celery and steaming-hot wangage. Thumbs up to the grill-crisped barbecued wings; thumbs down to the fake butter flavor on the lemon-pepper.

Buffalo China: 1145 Glenwood Ave., 404-622-8888 (multiple locations). Crisp-saucy "braised" wings with fried rice is the tasty signature at this wings-n-Chinese joint. But the yellow celery and stench at the entrance may keep us away from the East Atlanta spot in the future.

Da Bomb Wings & Seafood: 250 Auburn Ave., 404-681-5300, www.dabombplatinum.com (multiple locations). Creative sauces shine on big, fresh-tasting and supremely crisp wings in a friendly carry-out spot with a couple of tables. Added bonus: They deliver.

Coco Loco Cuban & Caribbean Cafe: 2625 Piedmont Rd. (Buckhead Crossing Mall), 404-364-0212, www.cocolocoatlanta.com. Lemon/garlic/mojo marinated wings find a nice foil in soft, tangy onion rings at this popular Buckhead old-timer.

Fat Matt's Rib Shack: 1811 Piedmont Ave., 404-607-1622. Like the ribs, these wings were a little too big.

Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q: 1238 DeKalb Ave., 404-577-4030, www.foxbrosbbq.com. Lip-tingling spices and sweet smoke earn these hot little suckers best in show for barbecue.

Harlem Bar: 262 Edgewood Ave., 404-588-0014. This groovy little hideaway serves uptown wings — batter crisp and painted with sauce — that say cocktail hour rather than tailgate.

Hong Kong City: 810 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd., 404-756-6300. Old-fashioned Chinese joint across from West End Mall serves up a great, gut-busting box of wings braised with Chinese five-spice and pork fried rice.

J.R. Crickets: 631 Spring St., 404-881-1950, www.jrcrickets.com (multiple locations). Carefully honed dive-bar atmosphere makes you crave a beer. Small, crispy-bitted wings, chunky homemade blue cheese dressing and a fistful of celery are always just right if not memorable. If you climb the stairs, don't let your eyes dwell on the archaeology of gum beneath the mezzanine-level tables.

LT's Wings & Other Things: 1160 Fairburn Rd., 404-349-0006. (multiple locations) A stopover for commuters who call ahead and pick up boxes of wings, each with a baggie of celery sticks and baby carrots. If you eat on premises, the friendly owners will set up a picnic table on the patio.

Rick's Hot Wings: 3103 Cobb Parkway, Kennesaw. 678-453-4343. Not much to look at, but this strip-mall joint serves crackly-good digits. The chef uses a deft hand when it comes to seasoning, with pepper sauce that doesn't race down your fingers and lemon-pepper that's dusted rather than compacted.

Sgt. Phifer's Wings and Fries: 124 Spring St., 678-886-0556. Sitting on the rickety patio festooned in a comic-book military theme feels like entering a piece of folk art. The wings and fries are fine. Caveat cluck: Hot here is hot.

Shane's Rib Shack: 1221 Caroline St., 404-525-7427, www.shanesribshack.com (multiple locations). Not too crisp, not too smoky. But, hey, they're ready fast.

Taco Mac: 573 Main St. (in Lindbergh City Center) 404-574-5813, www.tacomac.com (multiple locations). We know everybody loves these hometown wings, but we thought the skin was just too soft. Then again, after sampling the exhaustive beer list, we didn't mind the flimsiness so much after all.

Wing Ranch: 1154 Lawrenceville Hwy., Lawrenceville. 678-225-0750, www.wingranch.com (multiple locations). Give us a home where wingless chickens roam: This Western-themed spot serves up a fine passel of flavors (garlic Parmesan or lime-pepper, anyone?) in a spit-shined strip-mall dude ranch.