photograph by michael donahue
Ruben and Michelle Webber.
Ruben Webber’s first cooking attempt was Italian: When he was 13, he made a pizza from a box mix. His first restaurant job was Tex-Mex: He worked at Taco Bell.
But he ended up as the co-owner with his wife, Michelle, of a restaurant specializing in fare that’s about as straight-up American as you can get: hot wings.
Their restaurant, The Wing Factory, has now expanded into a drive-through location and one franchise, with another slated to open in two or three months.
As a kid, Ruben played football and Little League baseball, but he also loved to cook. His mom even told him, “You’re going to end up a cook,” Ruben says. He learned all the basics at Taco Bell. “Always at that point I wanted to start my own business.”
Michelle remembers the day Ruben said, “Michelle, I want to open a hot wing place.” She recalls replying, “‘Are you serious?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’”
But that wasn’t all he said. “He told me to come up with the sauces.’”
photograph by ruben webber
The author — hard at work.
Michelle got advice from Ruben’s uncle, who had been a chef. “He gave me a base and said, ‘Go from there and use your creative juices.’ And I went from there,” opening The Wing Factory at 2280 Park Ave. in 2005.
Growing up in Raleigh, Michelle was the oldest of four and says she was “usually in charge of cooking. I think I started cooking really early — 10, 12 years old. My mother always told me I was creative.”
She came up with the sauces they still use. “‘April Special’ is a combination of all our flavors and is topped with parmesan cheese. ‘Erica Special,’ named after our daughter, is hot-based, but has a zesty seasoning on top that makes it unique and different; people swear by it. An homage to Memphis called ‘Memphis Soul,’ nobody has that. It’s a sweet chili-based sauce and topped with our special house-based seasoning. ‘Orange Mound’ pays tribute to the area we are in. ‘Flavor’ is a honey-gold based flavor — citrus, with a hint of orange flavor.”
They now offer more than a dozen hot wing flavors. “But the beauty of it is people are able to intermix what they want,” Michelle says. “We let the customers mix and match. They can be creative on their own.”
She says “Lemon Pepper” is another signature wing. “We were the first to start putting fresh lemons and all that lemon pepper seasoning on top of our wings.”
Ruben’s uncle, who gave her the hot wing base, was proud of her. “He called our wings ‘The Erling Jensen of wings.’”
Ruben’s brother, Donrico Webber, came up with the name of The Wing Factory. He said he always envisioned Ruben and Michelle in a “factory of wings” and “working in lab jackets, creating all these different sauces. But I’m the one creating all the sauces.”
When the Webbers opened The Wing Factory a couple of days after Christmas in 2005, “Our friends and family were very supportive,” Michelle says, and they went through a 50-page order book. “We were just so excited about that.”
They now offer more than a dozen hot wing flavors. “But the beauty of it is people are able to intermix what they want,” she says. “We let the customers mix and match. They can be creative on their own.”
They also sell other items, including hamburgers and chicken sandwiches. Two months ago, Ruben and Michelle opened a drive-through Wing Factory at a converted Checkers location at 1351 Airways.
A franchised location that belongs to Ruben’s nephew, Leon Baker, is at 7395 U.S. Highway 64, Suite 103.
photograph by michael donahue
Ruben and Michelle make it a point to work at the main location and the express location. “We make sure we are there,” Michelle says, “and the people we have placed at the express have been in the food business for a long time. We make sure a seasoned veteran is around all the time.”
The Wing Factory is continuing to expand. “We have a friend, Terry Draine. He wants to open up one farther out Airways [at Holmes] closer to the Mississippi state line. And that should be going up here real soon.”
Like the Highway 64 location, Ruben and Michelle won’t be part owners of the newest branch of their business. “That will basically be a franchise,” she says. “We set them on a right path and let them fly.” Good thing they have plenty of wings.
The Wing Factory is located at 2280 Park Ave., 1351 Airways, and 7395 U.S. Highway 64.
