Meet the 'Wing Scout,' social media's biggest chicken 'wing-fluencer' from Long Island
MIDDLE VILLAGE, Queens (WABC) -- Do you love wings? Then you might want to check out Long Island's self-proclaimed "Wing Scout," whose no-nonsense reviews are racking up thousands of followers online, and boosting business at local restaurants.
Before you follow, there's just two rules: no boneless, and absolutely no ranch!
"Everywhere I go, somebody's like 'wing scout,' they're driving by... 'wing scout,'" Ryan Bliss said.
Thousands of people follow Ryan Bliss, AKA "The Wing Scout," on social media, on his quest for the best-tasting chicken wing.
"It's crazy, at first, I was like all right, this is really ridiculous, what's going on? Now I'm just feeding into it," Bliss said.
Eyewitness News caught up with the 35-year-old inside Bridie's Grill Room in Middle Village, Queens, doing what he loves... eating wings. He rates them from 1 to 10, and then posts the review on social media.
To date, Bliss has hit about 80 different locations on Long Island, in Westchester, New York City, and even a spot in Mexico.
Bliss has been good for business at a spot in East Islip.
"Their wings sales went up 500% since I posted my video, and that's just wings... you come in and get wings, you're gonna get a beer, you might get a burger," Bliss said.
Bliss has always loved wings. It was his go-to meal while working at a restaurant Babylon.
In November, he did a wing review and posted it in a group chat with friends. They loved it.
"I knew I had something, just because I got a pretty big personality, and I'm like, I can do something with this," Bliss said.
He now has merch, his own sauce and has offers from hot honey and blue cheese companies, and a wing festival is in the works.
Bliss doesn't just wing it, he carefully plans everything out, drops about three videos each week and is always open to suggestions.
Bliss, who works at JFK International Airport, told Eyewitness News that he has no plans on quitting his day job, and that right now things are "wing-sational."
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