Chicago's Wingman: July 2015

2015 Chicago Wingout Festival was located in the parking lot of St. Michael's in the Old Town Neighborhood. Fest took place June 6 & 7, 2015.

The Fest:

The 2015 Wingout Chicago Festival is here. This Inaugural event celebrates the best of Chicago’s chicken wings, put on by Green Curtain Events. Back to back wing fests! Last weekend, Milwaukee, this weekend its time to Wingout in Chicago. This two day event had limited tickets available, I got my tickets on Groupon. $35 for unlimited wings, 2 draft beers, and live blues. Tickets normally $55. Event was from 2-6 Saturday and Sunday June 6 & 7. Although both days sold out quickly, the event made a few tickets available at the door. Located in the parking lot of St. Michael's church in Old Town, this event was small, intimate, no lines and plenty of wings to go around. I was able to get up close and talk with the masterminds behind the wing flavors & recipes with the 15-20 local wing joints. The threat of heavy rain and thunderstorms on Sunday, kept at least two wing joints away. The aroma of wings, sauces, deep fryers, smokers, and hot grills are in the air as we approach the entrance. We showed up at 2, eagerly waiting in the line to get in. My mouth is watering in anticipation...gates open so lets eat. Being one of the first in the door, I was like a kid on a toy shopping spree, which direction and which wing joint to stop by first?? We grabbed a table right smack in the middle of the fest, so lets go get 'em.

The Wing Joints:
Like I said about 15-20 wing joints where there. Some I've been too but most I haven't. A few were at the 2015 Chicago Wing Fest. I made it to every wing joint, however didn't try every flavor. I'm going to highlight a few of the places that were my favorites and check out below for the winners.
- Old Crow Smokehouse. If you're a follower of my blog, you'll know I'm not a huge BBQ wing fan, but wow these are good. Going back for seconds. They also served up naked wings and just average buffalo wings. BBQ is the way to go if you ever visit the Wrigleyville spot. They also have another location in Schaumburg.
- Take Me Out, which is a Southside Chinese take out joint. They were serving a spicy Asian "lollipop" style wing. Again another first time I've had the pleasure of trying these, however these were on my list of wing places to check out. The lollipop was unique enough but the flavor awesome. A spicy sweet and sour glaze with just the right amount of heat. A must try I'll be heading to the Southside soon to get a full order of these soon.
- Monti's, located in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago, mainly known as a Philly cheese steak joint. They serve wings as an appetizer in the restaurant but today they are all about the wings. Monti's brought there buffalo wings to the fest. The wings were hot, breaded, fried, drenched in sauce, but the flavor was just ok. A little buttery, these wings would rated as just average. Average for me, but it was my fiancés favorite wing at the fest.

Jake Melnick's XXX (right)

- Jack Melnick's, one of my favorite wing joints was there and they brought the heat. Yes, there famous XXX wings were there for the tasting. I've been to Jake's several times but haven't yet braved the XXX heat. Self proclaimed as the world's hottest, these wings contain the world's hottest pepper the Trinidad Scorpion Pepper, which recently beat out the Ghost Pepper for the title of World's Hottest Pepper. I told myself to wait and try this wing towards end of the day, but I couldn't wait and went for it early. Hot Hot Hot, is really all I can say. I ate the wing very quickly and got it all down, then it begins...eyes watering, sweat pouring down, and mouth burning. The burn stayed for about 10 minutes too. Looking back, it was bad but would go for it again. Side note, Jack's also had the poncho wings and buffalo wings there...some of my favorites.
- Output Lounge is another of my favorite hot wings around. The only other time I've had these wings was at the 2015 Chicago Wing Fest, which took the crown in the hot category. Once again they didn't disappoint. I need to make a trip over there soon.

So many other wing joints served up great wings at this event and I can't wait until next year. I apologize for not mentioning all those that were there.

Most Unique Award:

1st: Take Me Out (lollipop Wings)
2nd: Jack Melnick's (Poncho Wings)

Hottest Wings:

1st: Jack Melnick's (XXX Wings, containing Trinidad Scorpion Pepper)
2nd: Output Lounge (High Output)

Best of Fest:

1st: Old Crow Smokehouse (All three flavors were delicious, even the BBQ.)
2nd: Jake Melnick's (A chance to try the XXX and enjoy the flavorful Poncho and Buffalo wings.)

Website: http://www.greencurtainevents.com/home/wingout-chicago/

It's been a busy summer. Although I haven't updated my blog lately, I'm still out there tasting wings from all over Chicagoland. I have a lot to catch up but check me out on Twitter as I continue to check out new wing joints.

Follow me on twitter @chicagowingman

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!