Nothing brings out the boy in the man quite like eating chicken wings. When presented with a basket of these savory appendages, my husband goes monosyllabic, his conversational contributions reduced to "me eat, more beer," his face covered in sauce. In short, I have to be in a generous mood to suggest we dine at a wing joint.

Thankfully, St. Louis Wing Co. is around to make me seem downright altruistic.

The restaurant creates an immediate impression with a sparkling clean dining space and friendly staff. And with nearly 20 flavor choices ranging from "traditional hot" to "Thai sweet chili" and the option of regular or boneless wings, there's something to please any palate.

When faced with such variety, even wing skeptics like me will find it easy to splurge on 30 wings in our choice of three flavors ($21.99), then up the game with some of the tempting sides.

The pineapple habanero wings were lightly breaded and perfectly sauced, with a surprisingly light kick and a pleasantly delicate sweetness. The chili cheddar wings may have spent a bit too much time under the heat lamp, but they retained a pleasantly smoky chili flavor and were cleverly garnished with oyster crackers. The kalamata and feta wings — lightly briny, with a generous sprinkle of salty cheese — were the standout, even eliciting more than two words of praise from my otherwise wing-engrossed, sauce-slathered, extremely content spouse.

As for me, I found love in deep-fried wedges of macaroni and cheese ($3.49) with tempura-light breading, and hand-cut, crisp yet tender fries ($1.49) under a sweet and spicy seasoning, perfect with the house-made jerk chili mayonnaise. The sides alone made St. Louis Wing Co. worth a visit and guaranteed a future return trip — no special dose of wifely benevolence required.

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St. Louis Wing Co.

Where 9816 Manchester Road • More info 314-962-WING; stlwingco.com • Hours 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday