

Dirty's Buffalo Bleu Potato Chips Mirror Everything Good About a Cheap Takeout Order

The best wings-and-fries dishes come in the same container, because these flavors were made for mixin'.



The Setup

At least once a week during college, my roommates and I would each sacrifice a night's worth of grocery beer money for an evening of bliss by way of Wings Over Happy Valley, or "Wings Over," as the restaurant* is colloquially known.

A "Hang Glider" cost us each $9.99 plus tax, and included a half pound of boneless wings, waffle fries, and a can of soda. My go-to order was the "Cruisin' Altitude" buffalo sauce: one chili pepper icon greater than its standard "Wimpy" buffalo and just enough kick to make your forehead bead with sweat.

Wings Over's boneless wings—especially when ordered for delivery vs. eaten right out of the fryer—were, in hindsight, fine, as were the waffle fries. The real treat of the meal was that it all came in the same container, so toward the end, at least three or four waffle fries would have spent some time wading in a pool of buffalo sauce and bleu cheese. These marinated gifts were the perfect kicker to a food-coma-inducing meal.

I was reminded of this sensation when I tried Dirty Potato Chips' Buffalo Bleu flavor for the first time.


The Assessment

Dirty's Buffalo Bleu have pretty much everything you could ask for in a wing-adjacent potato chip. Obviously notes of vinegar are the most important inclusion here, and notes of vinegar these have.

The most distinct flavor, though, is that of shitty, mass-produced bleu cheese dressing. I'm not talking about the homemade stuff you can find at any western Pennsylvania family restaurant worth its salt with a salad bar. No, I'm talking about the chunkless, seemingly dairy-less bleu cheese often served in the same packets as ketchup or plastic containers with peel-off paper lids. That's what Wings Over had (although it did have chunks) and that's why this chip made me nostalgic for college.

They aren't as spicy as Crusin' Altitude "vingers," as my friends Tzoni and Andy always referred to them, but they give you a wings fix when messy hands just aren't an option. In fact, with just one napkin handy, I ate a bag while writing this.

Buy 'Em!

Some Tasting Notes

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William Thomas CainGetty Images

Size: Below average. Maybe just the bag—I was working with a two-ouncer—but I didn't encounter many Big Chips or folded guys here.

Crunch: Perfect. Dirty knows what they're doing here. It's a good medium between Kettle's too-much crunch and Utz's gold-medal winning crisp.

Seasoning: Like I said before, these aren't over-seasoned, but you will need a napkin. Whatever they've done here, though, they've achieved a fiery orange coloring that makes you think about buffalo sauce.

Aftertaste: The small bag I ate didn't tear me up inside, but I think a larger bag would. I've had Dirty's Salt and Vinegar flavor and they definitely left me a little numb in the tongue.

Some Pairings

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 25, 2015: Grilled cheese with cheddar and cooked on pain au levain is ph
Gina FerazziGetty Images

Pairing One: NOT actual buffalo wings, or buffalo chicken. I ate a buffalo chicken salad before eating these and it really muted what they're offering. I had to take a break, cleanse the palate, and regroup.

Pairing Two: Grilled Cheese. In fact, throw some inside while grilling.

Pairing Three: Coca-Cola Classic. It's the can we at Cedar Lofts East Apartment K15 preferred, and so join me in reminiscing and crack open a Coke.

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