Having a meatless Super Bowl? Try vegetarian chicken wings

On Super Bowl Sunday, Americans will consume approximately 1.25 billion chicken wings, according to the National Chicken Council.

Canadians enjoy eating chicken wings while watching the NFL, too. In this country, Canadians will scarf down an estimated 70 million chicken wings.

So chicken wings have long been a staple of Super Bowl Sunday. But there's an increasingly popular wing in the city, and it has very little to do with chickens.

Here are five bars and restaurants serving the meatless chicken wing.

Home Of The Brave (2nd Floor, 589 King St. W.)

An ode to American cuisine, this King Street restaurant's menu includes an alternate to the Buffalo wing, called the Buffalo Cauliflower. It's a beer-battered cauliflower covered in Buffalo hot sauce with a side of ranch dressing.

Grasslands (478 Queen St. W.)

Under a section of the menu called Bar Snax, this vegetarian restaurant calls its wing option Boneless "Chicken Wings"note the quotation marks.

Hogtown Vegan (1056 Bloor St. W.)

This Bloor West favourite serves vegan crispy fried soy wings, tossed inde rigueur wing sauces like Buffalo or barbecue sauce, armed with a sidekick of carrots, celery sticks and chipotle ranch dipping sauce. The longtime food authority Zagat recently named Hogtown Vegan's wings among the best in Toronto.

Bloomer's (873 Bloor St. W.)

A bakery by day, Bloomer's serves chicken-free wings two ways: a standard plate of tempeh wings smothered in barbecue sauce or similar wings done Reuben-style in a sandwich.

Clinton's Tavern (693 Bloor St. W.)

Among the oldest bars in Toronto Clinton's was first established in 1937 this Bloor West mainstay offers both chicken and chicken-free wings. Both are prepared the same way, just with one crucial ingredient missing in the soy-based wing. Clinton's gets its vegan wings from King's Cafe in Kensington, which serves its own vegan chicken substitute, BBQ flavoured drumsticks.