Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Chicago

Located at 41 E. Superior in the Rive North neighborhood, downtown Chicago

The Wing Joint:
If your a wing eater from Chicago, there is no doubt you've at least heard of Jake Melnick's Corner Tap.  I'm certain most of you have been there for these award winning wings.  If not, add this place to your list.  Although its been awhile since my last visit, I knew I needed to get here soon for an award winning wing review.  Well, my reviews are far from award winning but its these wings that are the winners.  For those of you who don't know here is a list of what some others say:
"Best wings in Chicago" - Thrillist
"The four best places for buffalo wings in Chicago" - Timeout Chicago
"One of seven best places for wings in Chicago" - Chicagoist
"Top 25 best wings in the country" - The Daily Meal
Voted Best Hot Wings 2010 Chicago Wing Fest
"Top 5 for wings and wing joint 2015" - Chicago's Wingman

Yes, its only April but I already know that this place will be near the top of my 2015 Wing Joint Awards.  I love this place.  Its an old fashion, comfortable, laid back, not really a sports bar but a sports bar bar with all the games on tonight.  This is a joint that makes you forget you just spent the day in the madness of Michigan Ave. shopping.  Yep, its only 2 blocks away.  An old long wooden bar is the first thing you'll notice when you walk in.  We waited for table on a Saturday night for only about 10 minutes, no worries because the bar is right there and they have 36 beers on tap.  Looking for a table without a reservation anywhere else in the area...good luck.   The wings are the highlight of the menu, but its also loaded with a bit more that just bar food; all with great reviews.  It's wing night for me and that's what I came for, to be honest I'm not even sure I've even had anything else here. Who has a wing of the month?  Jake Malnick's Corner Tap does and April is Pepperoni Pizza wings.


The Wing Review:

Poncho & Buffalo Spicy

So If your a regular reader, I've changed the format for my blog a little  Let me know what you think.  Anyway, so the wings are awesome.  Like heat?  This is your place.  Sign the waiver and try the XXX challenge, which is now hotter that before.  The Trinidad Scorpion Pepper has surpassed the Ghost Pepper for the title of World's Hottest Pepper and has been added to the XXX Sauce.  Maybe next time, but tonight its the very popular wing combo order for me.  4 Traditional Spicy Buffalo and 4 "Poncho" wings which are grilled, with a mixture of garlic and cayenne pepper coating the wings.  If I wasn't on my way to a party right after it would have been a Super Hot, which is a roasted habanero.

Temperature Served (4 stars):
Who doesn't like their wings steaming hot, well you all know I do.  Of course, a place that serves up a ton of wings they know how to do it right, but do I see the steam rising?  No

Size & Texture (4 Stars):
The size of the wings are medium.  Poncho wings are grilled to almost to perfection with a bit of crunch and super tender meat.  The juicy meat practically falls off the wings.  The traditional spicy where lightly breaded and fried.  Slippery when wet, careful if wearing white.  Wings slipped out of my hand twice, luckily not onto my pants.  I do like a little bit of a crispy crunch and there isn't much on the traditional buffalo.  My only complaint would be not enough wings in an order to be stratified.  I was done eating and looking for table scraps.

Sauce Coverage (4 Stars):
Poncho wings aren't sauced.  The buffalo were coated nicely.  Missing: that little extra puddle of sauce at the bottom of the basket to dip my wings or fries in.

Flavor & Heat (5 Stars):
Nailed it!  Yes both flavors.  The poncho wings were a little smoky tasting but the mixture of garlic and cayenne peppers made for an awesome combo.  They didn't forget about the heat either, just what the doctor ordered, the poncho wings had a sneaky heat.  The traditional spicy buffalo was very tasty.  The everyday wing eater might not be able to tell, but you can taste the Franks Red Hot sauce.  By adding their own mixture of spices its covered up well pretty well and has a great taste.  Lately, it seems its hard to find a great tasting buffalo sauce but this sauce should be jarred and in my refridgerator.  Well done Jake Melnick, well done.

Wing Night: None


Side Notes:
+Wing of the Month!  They should start a club
+Great location, great atmosphere, walk in anytime and get a table within 10 minutes, even on Saturday night at 7 while a Bulls playoff game is on.
-Pricey, $11.99 for 8 wings
-An order of 8 wings isn't enough for me, especially on a wing night.  Left a little hungry which is rare.


Moment of Truth and Why:

Overall: 4.5 Star Wings 

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap has a lot of hype, a lot of beer selections, and well known award winning wings.  To me, this place lives up to that hype.  They didn't quite get the 5 star rating, I initially had, but one to many negatives to give it that perfect wing rating.  Ill be back soon to see if they can redeem themselves with the Super Hot.  This is still one of my favorite places to get wings in the city.  This place knows heat.  The wing flavors are unique, tasty, and spicy.  If the prices weren't so high, this would be a regular wing joint.  Out of towners this is a must try and locals need to not eat another wing until you at least try these.  I'm looking forward to my next trip for the Super Hot wing flavor.  Then maybe the XXX challenge.

Website: www.jakemelnicks.com

 

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Always looking for a new wing joint, got a favorite wing joint?  Tell me about and I'll check it out.  Hope this helps and enjoy.  Eat more wings!