Former Basketball Player Opens Epic Wings In Clearwater, 1st In State

CLEARWATER, FL — Award-winning Epic Wings is celebrating the grand opening of its first Florida eatery at Tri-City Plaza Shopping Center in Clearwater Saturday.

The newly opened neighborhood wing spot will serve a menu that features family recipes including traditional and boneless Epic Wings, best-selling tenderloin strips, pizza sticks, its popular fresh-cut Epic Fries and salads in addition to homemade breadsticks and array of sauces and dips.

The California-based wing brand is bringing their award-winning family recipes to Florida, opening a new neighborhood wing spot at the Tri-City Plaza Shopping Center in Clearwater. The Epic Wings menu includes fresh, never frozen traditional and boneless wings, tenderloin strips, homemade breadsticks, sauces & dips, and their famous Epic Fries.

The official grand opening party from 1 to 6 p.m. includes a buy-one-get-one-free meal offer that runs through Sunday, Aug. 28. Guests who visit the new location also will experience fun activations, games and a chance to win free wings for a year.

The Clearwater franchise owner, Ty Jacob "T.J." Leaf, grew up in San Diego near Epic Wings. The brand is etched in many of his childhood memories, includinng eating the famous wings at their weekend games and family events.

"I hope to provide the same type of memories and experiences for the families in Clearwater. This is truly a full circle moment for me," said Leaf.

Taking a shot at the restaurant business will be a slam dunk for Leaf after playing pro basketball for the UCLA Bruins, Indiana Pacers and the Portland Trail Blazers.

"Opening an Epic Wings in Florida marks an exciting time in the company's growth," said Epic Wings President Rob Streett. "Epic Wings is well-positioned to bring our always-fresh, best-selling wings to new markets, and the Clearwater community is an excellent fit for us. We look forward to becoming this community's go-to neighborhood spot for wings and family fun."

Highlights of the menu include:

• Single and Double Meals with a choice of tenderloin strips, boneless wings, original buffalo wings served with carrots, celery, house-made dressings and hot oven-fresh bread sticks.
• Buffalo sauces ranging from mild, medium, hot and atomic, and other flavors include original barbecue, garlic Parmesan, honey barbecue, lemon pepper and sweet chili.
• Buffalo pizza sticks featuring homemade bread sticks topped with signature buffalo sauce, melted cheese and boneless buffalo chicken served with ranch for dipping.
• Epic Fries, crispy fresh-cut fries with melted cheese and boneless buffalo chicken, finished with a chipotle-ranch dressing.
• Epic Chicken Salad with fresh romaine lettuce, green bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion and pepperoncini topped with chicken tossed in your choice of sauce.

Epic Wings has been family-owned and -operated since 1982. Formerly known as Wings N' Things, the family was the first to bring buffalo wings to the West Coast.

Epic Wings operates 30 locations, with additional stores opening in California, Texas and Illinois.

Epic Wings in Tri-City Plaza, 5300 E Bay Drive, Suite 300, is open for dine-in, to-go and delivery Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.