Feeling spicy? Viral ‘Hot Ones’ sauces are joining this State College restaurant’s menu
Inspired by a beloved YouTube talk show, a State College restaurant will soon serve a lineup of viral hot sauces.
Fans of Hot Ones, known as the show with “hot questions and even hotter wings,” can order chicken wings and sandwiches coated in the show’s branded sauces from Champs Downtown starting Wednesday, Feb. 5. The new promotion comes as Hot Ones’ production company, First We Feast, celebrates the show’s 25th season.
Champs Downtown will serve Hot Ones sauces exclusively by pickup or delivery through hotonesdelivery.com, Uber Eats, GrubHub and Doordash. The lineup of available sauces will include:
Los Calientes Rojo, described as spicy and tropical
Los Calientes Verde, a Baja-inspired sauce
Los Calientes Barbacoa, described with an earthy flavor of smoke and heat
The Classic Chili Maple, described as offering “the perfect balance” of sweetness and heat
The Last Dab: Apollo, described as the only sauce in the world made using the “superhot” Apollo peppers
According to the promotion, Champs Downtown’s kitchen hours are from 4 to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to midnight on Fridays, noon to midnight on Saturdays and from noon to 11 p.m. on Sundays. The bar and restaurant is located at 139 S. Allen St. in State College.
Although there is no targeted end date for the Hot Ones options at Champs Downtown, the promotion’s delivery-only partner, Mealco, said it plans for a long-term partnership in State College that will serve fans “for months and years to come.”
Chicken coated in Hot Ones’ branded sauces is already available through delivery options at dozens of locations across the country, according to the online delivery platform. At least two locations in Pennsylvania — Philadelphia and West Chester — serve Hot Ones-sauced chicken, too.
In a company press release, Mealco said it helped make the promotion possible by leveraging its “extensive network of restaurant partners to maximize their kitchen capacity, enabling them to fulfill delivery and pick-up orders” for franchised brands. The AI-powered platform was recognized as one of 2022’s best inventions by Time magazine.
Launched in 2015, Hot Ones regularly interviews celebrity guests while challenging them to eat chicken wings coated in a progressively spicier series of hot sauces. The show, whose guests have ranged from Gordon Ramsey and Shaquille O’Neal to Beyoncé and even Donald Duck, uploads its videos on YouTube and has received nominations for Daytime Emmy awards.
Hot Ones’ 26th season premiered Jan. 23 with Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny as host Sean Evans’ guest. An investment group purchased Hot Ones’ studio, First We Feast, from BuzzFeed for $82.5 million in December.
