Georgia lawmakers are known for debating weighty topics when the General Assembly gavels into session—including taxes, education, and the state budget.
And now, according to Fox 5 Atlanta, those weighty discussions include a very important proposal that hits much closer to home for many Atlantans: officially recognizing lemon pepper as Georgia’s signature chicken wing flavor.
House Bill 1013, introduced by Rep. Eric Bell (D-Jonesboro) and backed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, seeks to designate lemon pepper as the state’s official chicken wing flavor.
If passed, it would place lemon pepper alongside the peach, the Cherokee rose, and the live oak as one of Georgia’s codified cultural symbols.
The bill frames lemon pepper wings as more than a menu item. Its language traces the rise of chicken wings in Georgia to the early 1980s, when Atlanta-based J.R. Crickets helped popularize them locally.
From there, Georgians began putting their own spin on the standard Buffalo wing, sprinkling lemon pepper seasoning over the top to balance out the heat. That experimentation eventually evolved into variations now considered Atlanta staples, including “lemon pepper wet,” hot honey lemon pepper, and orders of “all flats.”
“Just as peaches symbolize Georgia’s agricultural pride, lemon pepper wings symbolize Georgia’s cultural flavor and global culinary influence,” the bill states.
The proposal also highlights lemon pepper’s reach beyond food culture. Over the years, the flavor has become a recurring reference point in Atlanta’s music scene, name-checked by artists such as Gucci Mane and Rick Ross.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has publicly called himself a “lemon pepper head,” while even local law enforcement agencies have leaned into the joke, posting tongue-in-cheek images and captions tying the seasoning to Georgia life.
This isn’t the first time Georgia legislators have used food to define state identity. In recent years, cornbread and Brunswick stew were officially recognized as state symbols.
House Bill 1013 still needs to move through committee and receive votes in both chambers of the legislature. If approved without changes, it would head to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for final consideration.