Do you like free food? A new family owned restaurant called Mr. Wingz is serving their “Yo!” Chicken sandwiches every Thursday to Johnson County Community College students. All students need to do is bring their student ID and the staff will make a fresh sandwich for them. 

I personally went to Mr. Wingz every Thursday that I could last semester so I could get my “Yo! Chicken sandwich”. This is not a small sandwich by any means. In fact, I would sometimes only eat half of the sandwich and save the rest for later. The sandwich comes with two generously sized chicken tenders, pickles with a little bit of a kick to them, and the delicious “Yo! Sauce” all served together inside of a brioche bun. This is easily one of the best chicken sandwiches I have ever eaten in my life. There was a reason I hardly ever missed a Thursday outing to Mr. Wingz. 

“We chose to partner up with JCCC because we are big about education and we have three freshmen right now in college, so we understand the life of a student,” said Renae M., who owns Mr. Wingz with her husband. “And we felt the one way we can encourage students, at least one less thing for them to worry about, is a meal. So, JCCC Thursdays are for the student and it’s at no cost to them, just to support and encourage them.” 

As a JCCC student, it is nice to be able to count on a free meal once a week without having to worry about what and where I am going to eat. Renae is always so friendly every time I have visited Mr. Wingz. She greets every customer with a warm smile. Besides the free sandwich, she is one of the main reasons I keep going back.

“Yo! Chicken” is not the only thing on the menu. As per the name, the restaurant serves other forms of chicken as well, namely their chicken wings. They also have a plethora of sides such as macaroni and cheese and coleslaw. If you are craving something sweet, they have a variety of shakes made with real ice cream. The food is always made to order so customers are guaranteed to have fresh meals. 

“We want to make sure that we are accessible to more people over time so in two or three years we manage to expand our footprint while maintaining the quality of service,” Renae said. “The level of service and quality of our food is critical to us. The other piece to that too is for us to be able to keep our prices as minimal as possible… so we can pass the savings onto the customers.” 

As meals are made to order, there is a bit of a longer of a wait than what a consumer would expect at a fast food restaurant. The level of care that goes into each piece of food is well worth the wait though. Customers can tell that Renae and her staff truly want to serve the community the best that they can at the best possible price point. 

Mr. Wingz is located at 9532 Antioch Rd in Overland Park, Kansas. The restaurant is open all seven days of the week. Hours are 10:30AM to 9:00PM. Stop by anytime on a Thursday to try a “Yo! Chicken” sandwich for free with student ID.

By Audrey Hook