If you’re a spice aficionado in Washington state, or even just a thrill-seeker craving a challenge, there’s a small restaurant chain that understands you. Catering to adventurous souls, at least when it comes to eating, is the 7-Alarm Challenge at Wing Dome, available at the company’s four locations in the Seattle area: Pier 56, Greenwood, and the Seattle Center Armory, plus one in Kirkland on the Eastside, just a floating bridge-drive across Lake Washington. For those who muster up the culinary courage, some ultra-spicy wings are waiting, daring brave souls to consume seven of them in a mere seven minutes — which is dicier than it sounds. These are definitely not your standard fast food chicken wings.
The Wing Dome menu features more than 20 sauce options, including the infamous Nashville Hot, which I personally sampled at Hattie B’s in Nashville, home to its “Shut the Cluck Up” challenge. But by all accounts, the 7-Alarm sauce at Wing Dome holds its own with a spice level that actually requires a waiver to participate. That’s because the wings are soaked in the hottest sauce of Wing Dome’s two-through-seven “alarm” levels.
For perspective, the six-alarm sauce comes with a tagline of “I can’t feel my face.” Level 7 simply says, “Face the Challenge!” It’s the 7-Alarm sauce that holds the fiery secret: It reportedly comes from roughly 100 habanero peppers per quart of sauce. Habaneros are among the hotter chile peppers out there, rated at 100,000 to 325,000 Scoville units.
Here’s a look at the required waiver, the challenge’s rules, and the rewards. You be the judge of whether what you get is worth the price you pay.
7-Alarm Challenge: The waiver, rules, and rewards
So here’s what the Wing Dome challenge entails: Every one of the seven wings must be stripped to the bone within the allotted seven minutes, with not a drop of remaining sauce (even sauce on the fingers and on the plate must be licked off.) Contestants can’t use napkins, condiments, or beverages, not even water, and definitely not milk. Also, be sure that someone is available to click a triumphant photo of the empty plate.
The few making it to the hot finish line receive a 7-Alarm Challenge T-shirt, no charge for the meal, and a permanent name-fame spot on the Wing Dome “Wall of Flame.” Contestants who don’t quite make the cut have some more “sevens” in store: a bill for $7.77 for the cost of the meal. A dedicated recovery kit for $4.99 reduces the burn, literally and figuratively, with milk and an ice cream sandwich.
As for that waiver you’ll need to sign if embarking on the 7-Alarm Challenge, it outlines the risks involved, for which Wing Dome takes no responsibility. They basically come down to things like potential swollen lips, dry tear ducts, explosive bodily functions, and “overall unpleasantness after touching your eyes or various body parts.” The waiver re-states the challenge rules, including a minimum age of 18 years, and stresses that participants take full responsibility for their decisions and agree to comply with every rule during the event.
