Whether it's flats or drums, sauced or dry, the wing is king this Super Bowl LVIII: Andrew Coppolino

Tomorrow, U.S. football fans will munch millions of pounds of ribs and potato chips and give a boost to pizza sales by more than 30 per cent, quenching their thirst with 50 million cases of beer during the festivities in the week before Super Bowl LVIII kickoff, according to Forbes.com.

More startling perhaps is the fact that they will scarf approximately 1.45 billion chicken wings as the San Francisco 49ers clash with the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Super Bowl chicken wing phenomenon permeates much of Waterloo region's food culture as well.

At Morty's Pub near Wilfrid Laurier University customers will takeout and eat-in nearly a half-ton of wings on Super Bowl Sunday, according to owner Jay Taylor.

During a regular week, two or three fry cooks in the Morty's kitchen will drop about 1,600 lbs of wings, but during game day on Super Bowl Sunday those cooks – bolstered to a crew of six to eight – will crank out at least 1,000 lbs. of wings and 300 lbs. of French fries, says Taylor.

Asked why chicken wings are so popular, he describes them as a definitive pub snack that's versatile and has broad appeal.

"They're delicious. And addictive," Taylor says. "And you can get different flavours, so they accommodate all the different tastes, from plain to very sweet to super spicy. Dry or breaded."

His pub colleagues in the region would likely agree.

Gator's Tail Sports Shack & Grill on Franklin Boulevard in Cambridge easily sells two to three times more wings on Super Bowl Sunday than a regular Sunday.

It's the same with Kitchener's StrykerZ Kitchen & Bar on Ottawa Street North in Kitchener, which estimates they will sell triple the number of wings that day.

Edelweiss Tavern, a long-standing and popular sports bar on Doon Village Road in Kitchener, will get catering orders for 200 wings and double or triple their wing sales on game day. Interestingly, their boneless wings outsell their regular wings.

Liz Cunha, owner of Thirsty's Bar & Grill on Phillip Street in Waterloo, says the pub goes "wing crazy" during the Super Bowl and needs to organize time-slotted pre-orders.

"I'll typically order four times as many cases of wings," Cunha says. "But similar to most wing places, we are limited to a certain amount of wings we can do depending on space in the deep fryers."

EJ's Tavern at the Baden Hotel will offer their wing-night special  of $10 per pound on Super Bowl Sunday and will cook up at least twice as many wings as they would on a normal Sunday.