Your new favorite chicken wings may be at a convenience store in downtown L.A. - Los Angeles Times
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Your new favorite chicken wings may be at a convenience store in downtown L.A.

A selection of chicken wings from POV Snack Shop in downtown L.A., including (from left) the pineapple BBQ wings, curry wings and Buffalo wings.
A selection of chicken wings from POV Snack Shop in downtown L.A., including (from left) the pineapple BBQ wings, curry wings and Buffalo wings.
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
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You’ve probably passed by the Mission Market convenience store in the Spring Arcade Building in downtown L.A. You may have even stopped in for an iced tea. But for the last couple of weeks, two guys known for making pizzas in Altadena have been frying and saucing excellent chicken wings out of a corner of the store.

Jamie Woolner and Sean St. John, the partners behind Pizza of Venice, a small pizza restaurant in Altadena, have opened POV Snack Shop. It occupies a portion of the Mission Market counter space, opposite the Jolly Rancher slushee machine and next to the cash registers.

Jamie Woolner, one of the partners behind POV Snack Shop in downtown L.A.
Jamie Woolner, one of the partners behind POV Snack Shop in downtown L.A.
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times )
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“We really wanted to do a shop in downtown, and we heard about the space through a friend of a friend,” Woolner said. “We looked and said we couldn’t do pizza here — but we could do our whole appetizer menu.”

So Woolner is making chicken wings, crispy Brussels sprouts, fries, dipping sauces and a couple of salads. On the wings are Woolner’s signature sauces, including a sweet pineapple BBQ sauce made with caramelized pineapple; a Korean-style sweet and spicy glaze made with the Korean fermented chile paste gochujang; a coconut yellow curry sauce; the POV hot sauce, a spicy Caribbean habanero sauce; a mango habanero chutney sauce; and a classic Buffalo sauce that’s tangy and just a bit spicy.

Regardless of the wing flavor, get a side of Woolner’s blue cheese ranch dressing. Yes, even for the curry wings.

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You can order wings as well as the fried Brussels sprouts tossed in any of the sauces. The Belgian fries are served with a garlic chive aioli and ketchup; and the salad may rotate depending on what Woolner finds at the farmers market. A recent salad included both fresh and dried stone fruit, citrus and a fruit vinaigrette.

The Brussels sprouts in "Korean" wing sauce at POV Snack Shop in downtown L.A.
The Brussels sprouts in “Korean” wing sauce at POV Snack Shop in downtown L.A.
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times )

“Everything is still homemade; it’s just in a really random location,” Woolner said. “These days, with social media, you can do that sort of thing and it can still work.”

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Once you order your wings, you can peruse the market for some beef jerky or Gardetto’s, then snag a spot at the counter in another corner of the store — and stand and eat your wings while you people watch on Broadway.

Expect some new wing flavors in the future, including lemon pepper wings, made with preserved lemons.

I like extra blue cheese and I expect to be delighted. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Jenn_Harris_

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