Oil brought Adele Scott and her family from Australia to Magnolia in 2018, but wings are keeping them there now—specifically, Scott’s restaurant’s double-fried “naked” chicken wings.

Scott said the dish was her own preference. She said she is not a fan of the conventional wings tossed in sauce, and she likes having an assortment of homemade sauces served to customers, ranging from traditional Buffalo-style sauce—WingNuts’ most popular—to ghost pepper pineapple and garlic Parmesan.

After her husband’s career in oil took Scott “all over,” she knew in 2019 that she wanted to open WingNuts Express as her two sons got closer to graduating high school. She opened WingNuts in October. Although the COVID-19 pandemic hit restaurants hard, it allowed Scott to bring her best friend Winter Hollenbeck on board as a co-owner.

Scott and Hollenbeck met at their children’s swim meet in 2018 and hit it off. Hollenbeck said they were both self-isolating in WingNuts when they decided to officially become business partners.

“I knew that she was doing this, and I knew that they needed help getting open, so my family just started coming and helping. And in December, I got my chance to become a business partner,” Hollenbeck said.

A bigger concern for the duo was the nationwide chicken wing shortage that closed down a competing shop in Magnolia and forced the chain Wingstop to begin offering chicken thighs.

Scott said their success in finding a local supply for bone-in wings was another draw to keep customers coming in.

“We have not had wings from Cisco, our usual supplier, for a few months, so we’re in the car, driving around to find wings,” Scott said. “Because we still found some, we have people coming from Old Magnolia because there isn’t a wing place there anymore.”

Scott said she hopes to one day open a franchise.

WingNuts Express

32903 Tamina Road, Magnolia

832-521-3808

www.wingnutsexpress.com

Hours: Mon.-Thu. 5-8 p.m.; Fri. noon-2 p.m., 5-8 p.m.; Sat. noon-8 p.m.; closed Sun.