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The Original D’s Restaurant and Bar, probably better known affectionally as D’s Wings or simply D’s is a long time favorite gathering spot, most well known for being one of the most famous and longest running wing restaurants around the midlands.
It moved from its original location off Knox Abbot Dr to a new one just up the road on Meeting Street with an expanded menu in 2021.
I remember going to the old D’s many a time when I was younger, and its lived in atmosphere, complete with the $1 dollar bills signed by guests covering the walls, made clear it was a local favorite.
But does D’s Wings live up to its reputation today?
Find out in this review of D’s Wings in Cayce, SC, where I share my thoughts on the current iteration of D’s based on a couple recent visits.
The “Original D’s Restaurant and Bar”
I remember growing up there being two D’s, a D’s Wings in Cayce/West Columbia and a D’s Wings in Columbia near Richland Mall.
I actually went much more frequently to the one near Richland Mall since it was closer to me growing up. A few buddies and I used to go almost every Monday our last couple years of high school for 40 cent wing night.
Alas, the D’s in Columbia proper closed years back (it’s now J.R. Cash’s Grill and Bar).
However, I also remember going to the D’s Wings in West Columbia occasionally when I was younger as well.
My understanding was this was the original D’s and the Columbia D’s Wings near Richland Mall was a totally separate entity with separate ownership and no connection to the West Columbia D’s Wings.
On D’s website, their history doesn’t mention anything about a location there but does trace its founding back to 1988.
The current owner, who started as a bartender not longer after the original Cayce D’s Wings opened, took over that original location after a short closing in the mid-90s.
He moved the restaurant to the new location, which he partially rebranded as “The Original D’s Restaurant and Bar” in 2021 after the lease on the old location in Parkland Plaza wasn’t renewed, according to this article from The State.
That current location of D’s Wings is on Meeting Street in West Columbia, located precisely at 415 Meeting Street, wedged next to Savage Craft and part of a growing number of nice cafes, restaurants, and bars in this area near Congaree River and just stone’s throw from the excellent West Columbia Riverwalk.
Dollar Dollar Bills (one the walls)
While not unique to D’s, one of the long traditions that gives it part of its character is the many dollar bills signed by guests that dot the walls of D’s Wings.
In that history write up on their website, the owner Billy Rentz says no one knows for sure who started posting the dollar bills, but that it quickly caught on.
He does credit his mother with putting the first bill on the wall after he reopened the original location in 1995. In 2005, most of the dollar bills were removed and given as a donation to the George Rodgers foundation.
Today, there aren’t tons of dollar bills dotting the walls, although you can find some from the old location enshrined in the glass tabletop of the bar.
Personally, I’d love to see them bring it back and have this new D’s in West Columbia lined with people’s dollar bills like the old one.
The place still has a cool atmosphere though with lots of neat decorations like old movie posters and photos. It seems like they’ve mostly managed to walk the line of still feeling like an old, local favorite but in a shinier, newer locale.
My Recent Experiences at D’s
This review is based on two recent visits to D’s in late summer of 2025.
I went first on a Monday night, taking advantage of their “wing night” and catching the Vikings’ opener on Monday Night Football.
I also popped in with my daughter Aaliyah for a daddy daughter lunch date on a Friday after spending the morning exploring Riverbanks Zoo.
We had been to D’s several times before, and I’m sure we’ll be back. I may drop in some details based on those in later updates, but this review is mostly based on those two recent visits in the late summer of 2025.
D’s Location and Atmosphere
I like the new location.
As I said above, there’s a neat atmosphere here, one that manages to feel family friendly and up to date but also like the long time favorite and welcoming bar and grill that it is.
There are a small handful of tables outside, a nice touch when there’s nice weather, at least if you manage to snag one.
There is a fairly large dining area and decent sized bar with plenty of TVs for watching sports.
A changing table in the men’s room or a family bathroom would be nice, but I’ve seen much worse set ups for us dads, and there was at least a little ottoman bench thing in the bathroom.
Of course, we had a blowout diaper, so a better place to change a diaper would have been much appreciated (probably by the other guys in the bathroom for that matter too).
Both times I went recently, and the other times we’ve been to this location for that matter, there has been a decent crowd.
Not packed but not empty either.
Service was great both times, and I was impressed how quick food came out both times as well.
D’s Menu
To be honest, I’m kind of impressed with how extensive a menu D’s has.
There’s all your typical bar food style sandwiches and wraps, plus ribs, as well as more proper entrees like shrimp and grits, grilled chicken dishes, hamburger steak, salads, and even pasta.
There’s even tacos, nowadays on the menu at D’s.
I’ve stuck to the wings every time I’ve visited, but there are quite a few intriguing sounding other dishes on the menu. I just always end up here with a taste of wings on my mind and tastebuds.
However, if you’ve got some heathen wing haters or someone who just wants something different, there’s plenty of options, which should make it a crowd pleaser for just about any group or family.
You can see their full menu here, by the way.
How are the Wings?
I think they live up to their reputation as some of the better wings around Columbia.
On both visits, my wings were decently sized, not the tiny, skimpy ones some places serve nowadays but also not the massive, who knows what they’ve been injected with ones other places serve either.
They’ve also been cooked well with a crunchy crust on the exterior but still moist and juicy inside.
On my visit to watch Monday Night Football, I ordered the Hot and the Lemon Pepper.
The Hot are great.
I like they have a tomato based hot sauce that is a touch unique compared to most hot wings. It’s got a good flavor, although I didn’t find them all that hot (to be clear, I love spicy), and they don’t quite live up all the way to the ones I remember from the D’s Columbia location’s back in my high school days.
Seriously, those dipped in ranch were so good. Also the Carolina Gold (they were really called something like Carolina Mustard Barbecue but everyone called them Carolina Gold) there were so good.
Alas, I’ve digressed down memory lane.
The wings at the current D’s in West Columbia are great too, and maybe just as good as those really were, even if they don’t live up to the hot sauce colored glasses of my memory.
My only other nit pick would be the sauce was a little runny and could maybe be thickened up a bit or maybe they could give the wings a few extra tosses in it to get it to stick to the wings a bit better.
Still, these are really, really good and might be my overall favorite hot wings around.
While I like a bit more kick, I actually do really appreciate they are edible and not overwhelmingly, mouth-numbingly hot.
I have made a point to try the next level up Suicide or the Cajun flavor, which the menu lists as Buffalo kicked up a notch, on my next visit.
The Lemon Pepper were good too, but more just fine than amazing.
They had a good flavor, but I felt like they lacked that tangy punch that sets apart a great lemon pepper wing. I thought they were a little unevenly seasoned too, with some having more rub and flavor than others.
That makes me wonder if sticking to the actual sauces might be better than the dry rubs. I am intigued to try their original dry rub flavor though.
On my visit with Aaliyah, I got the Spicy Teriyaki.
They were good but closer to just fine than great too.
Ok, well, that’s unfair. They were good, but they just weren’t really spicy, like at all.
I would say, I thought they hit the spot of having sufficient sauce and flavor without sauce running off all over the place too. Maybe that sauce just sticks a little better.
Come to think of it, I think I had ordered their Spicy Teri before and been underwhelmed.
To be honest, I’ve never found a Spicy Teriyaki better than Publick House’s (speaking of them, I haven’t been in a long time, guess I need to go and do a review there too!). Peeble’s spicy teriyaki are also really good (and their Lemon Pepper definitely beats D’s).
Anyways, I’ll have to try to Cajun Teriyaki on a future visit and see if it hits that sweet spot of kick alongside the smoky sweetness of teriyaki.
Thoughts on the Wing Specials
It just do happens that the two days I went are the two days they run wing specials, on Mondays and Fridays.
Monday Wing Special (all day)
I chose to go in for Monday Night Football in part because I wanted to check out the Wing Special, which they run all day on Monday.
As I mentioned above, I used to regularly hit the 40 cent wing night at the other location back in the day.
Unsurprisingly, they are definitely no longer 40 cents!
I had no illusions of expecting they’d be the same price as they were 20 years ago (ouch, writing that hurt), but I had read they were 50 cents.
That was still wishful thinking though.
The price (keep in mind this is August 2025), was $7 something for 8 wings. The bartender said it worked out to about 90 cents a wing.
You also have to order flavors in sets of 8 and they don’t include any celery or dip.
To be honest, I find it a bit disappointing that they don’t have the special’s price or the details about orders of 8 listed on their website, which I imagine is because it just isn’t that great a deal, and they’d rather lure you in hoping it’s cheaper than it is.
In fairness though, I imagine it might also just be subject to change due to costs and they don’t want to have deceptive marketing.
In all honesty, the regular menu price of the 6 piece with fries, which does include a dip and celery, isn’t really much more expensive, especially if you want fries and ranch or bleu cheese.
In fact, I ordered the 6 piece with fries, plus 8 additional with the wing special, because, well, I did want fries and ranch.
I guess this is where I should throw in that D’s raw fries are pretty solid, although their regular seasoned french fries are really, really good too.
In fact, I think I like the seasoned fries more, but I love having raw fries with wings, and it feels like not that many places serve them anymore.
That aside, the wing deal isn’t bad if all you want is wings and not fries or another side. It also probably works better in a group where you can order several flavors and maybe split a basket of fries if you want them.
Friday Wing Lunch Special
The Friday wing deal is a bit better, in my opinion.
It was $10.99 for 9 wings and fries, and it did include a few pieces of celery and a dip.
Helpfully, they do list the price for this special on the website, and you can confirm its price and the other daily specials (most are pretty decent deals) on this page.
Keep in mind, this deal (and most of the other daily specials) is only for lunch though.
Kids Menu
The kids menu is decent enough, and not horribly priced.
Aaliyah had a grilled cheese. It was a decent size, with tasty, crunchy bread grilled to a golden brown.
It also came with a pretty decent portion of fries, enough so Daddy could steal a few.
Oh, and I did appreciate they brought it out on a lighter, paper plate a little more appropriate for a two year old.
D’s Wings Delivery
Does D’s Wings deliver?
Yes.
If you go to their website here, you can click order online at the top right and put in an order for takeout or delivery.
I should clarify that I have not tried D’s wings delivery yet myself (we are a short drive away, so I don’t anticipate I will).
It’s not clear if they employ their own drivers or contract it out via one of the delivery apps, but I at least appreciate they have the option to do it directly on their website.
If you have done D’s Wings’ delivery, I’d love to know what you thought in the comments!
Final Verdict on the Original D’s Wings
In conclusion, I’d say an old favorite lives up to its reputation.
D’s Wings will definitely stay on my shortlist of places that come to mind when I want wings, especially hot wings.
That big, crowd pleaser menu also means a great choice if some in your group want wings but others want something else. That, along with the solid kids menu, lack of changing table aside, also makes it very family friendly.
However, I wouldn’t go out of my way to plan to go on a Monday again though or choose D’s over another place if I was going out on a Monday just for the wings deal.
I’ll definitely be back though!
Have you been to D’s?
I’d love to know what you thought in the comments! Any other sauce flavors you recommend trying?
And if you haven’t been, I hope this write up was useful in planning your own visit.
Cheers and Happy Exploring!