Buffalo Wings & Rings - Naperville

44 franchise locations in 12 states.  With 3 in Illinois, I went to the Naperville location recently.

The Wing Joint:

Naperville, IL

A corporate America wing joint is how I would describe this place.  This is your typical store front in your typical strip mall.  Walk in, you're met by a host/hostess to seat you in the restaurant area or to the bar on the left side.  The lights are bright in here.  Sure there are big screen TV's and the sound for the Blackhawks game is loud, but the vibe I'm getting is a slightly upscale wing joint.  Put it this way, it's not a place I would hang out regularly.  There are a lot of National wing chains out there, but I'm not seeing anything personal about this place, just cheesy wall art issued by corporate, right down to the posters and clever quips (see picture below).  A couple of large tables with 2 draft beer taps that seats 8 people are smack in the middle of the bar area.  That's pretty cool, but Bud Light and Coors Light are the beer choices.  I'm a craft beer guy first and Miller Lite is my domestic go to brew.  I was impressed with knowledge the server had on the decent craft beer selection.  There is a few arcade games in the corner of the restaurant area which is currently hosting a kids birthday party, second time in as many visits.  Geared more towards families maybe?  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  Is this why on a Saturday night with a Cubs, a Blackhawks, and a Bulls games on this place is dead?  I came here an hour before the Hawks game thinking this place would pack 'em in but there is more noise coming from the birthday parties than Hawks fans cheering.  This might be the "bizaro world" of wing joints.  And yes that is my second Seinfeld reference.  Maybe not the best spot in the Naperville area for watching games but lets order up some award winning wings.

The Wing Review:


Xtra Hot Buffalo order

You heard that right, Buffalo Wings and Rings have claimed some local awards recently.  The Chicago location took home the Best of Festival and Best BBQ at the 2015 Chicago Wing Fest.  In the Hot category they placed 2nd in 2012 and 3rd in 2011, respectively.  Although the Chicago location was the winner, the server said all locations have the same menu and sauces.  Talk about options...they offer 13 sauces, which you can order 5 different levels of heat.  Mild, Medium, Hot, Xtra hot, and Atomic.  Like most joints they have traditional, boneless, and tenders, but most places don't offer grilled wings.  I love grilled wings, but I skipped this time around.  Like sauce?  You can order your wings extra wet.  The wings already come pretty well sauced, however.So here is my wing order, as always its all traditional wings for me.  5 Xtra Hot Buffalo, 5 Hot Peach Habanero, 5 Mild Garlic Parmesan.  Mistake number one, I should have ordered the of Peach Habanero Xtra Hot, to match the level of heat with the buffalo order.  The waiter even told me I should.  Anyway, here we go.

Temperature Served (3 Stars):
So my friend and I ordered a total of 25 wings in 5 different sauces and they came out within minutes.  Is this a fast food place?  They either have the wings ready to go or they are constantly just making wings just waiting for sauce selection to come in.  In any case, I like to know my wings are being cooked to order, not just waiting for what sauce I pick to be tossed on.  They are served hot sure, but I fear the heat lamp might have helped keep them hot.
 Size & Texture (4 Stars):

Garlic Parmesan

The wings are jumbo to medium.  I didn't go for any grilled wings this time.  The meat was plentiful and juicy.  Juicier than most I have to say.  Cooked just right, but that crispy crunch is missing.  Careful, all that sauce makes these guys slippery, they almost slip right out of your hands. 

Sauce Coverage (4 Stars):
Even though you can order an extra side of sauce, which is a pretty nice option, they already come nicely sauced.  The garlic parm is nicely covered in melted parmesan cheese.  A nice balance of garlic and parmesan. 

Flavor & Heat (4.5 Stars):
You can pick between 5 levels of heat and 13 flavors.  Enough said.  The wings I ordered were tasty, spicy, and packed with good flavors.  Here is what I think of each of the wings I ordered:


Hot Peach Habanero

Xtra Hot Buffalo (4.5 stars) - the heat is more of an after burn, great taste.  3 wings in and a nice sweat is building.  The flavor is a bit above the average buffalo sauce and damn tasty.  I would order this combo every time.

Hot Peach Habanero (4 stars) - I should have listened to the server, who recommended I stick with the same heat level as the buffalo flavor order.  Heat was decent.  I thought the habanero would kick it up a notch but didn't deliver, so went with the mid level flavor.  Sticky sweet peach flavored glaze is delish.  Now if only I got the heat right.

Mild Garlic Parmesan (4 stars) - Garlic parm is one of my favorite wing choices out there.  These were crisp covered with melted parmesan cheese and hints of garlic.  Lately, I've tasted all different kinds of garlic parm wings and these are close to the top of my list.  Even with just the mild flavor, these are a must try, especially if you like garlic parm as much as I do.

Wing Night: None

Side Notes:
+A ton wing flavors and heat levels, caters to all wing lovers.
-A bit pricey, 10 wings for almost $12.00
+/- Great family friendly atmosphere.  Video games and kids birthday parties going on while trying watch the Hawks and Bulls game.  Take that as positive or negative but should be noted.
*I also tried one wing each of the Mild Buffalo and Sweet Thai Chili, but not enough to provide a fair review.  I will say that I'm not big of the Sweet Thai Chili sauce.

Moment of Truth and Why:

Overall: 4 Star Wings 

Buffalo Wings and Rings had a great showing at 2015 Chicago Wing Fest, taking home 2 of the 6 awards.  I know because I was there and ate the award winning wings.  That was also the Chicago location.  The sever claimed it was all one in the same.  I like the fact you select from 5 heat levels, because some days I'm not feeling the heat...not often but a nice option.  Wings aren't perfect but close with you basically customizing your wing option.  This is a great option to check out on wing night if you haven't been.  Kids will love it.  One complaint, they need to bring out an extra bowl or basket for the chicken wing bones.  I was putting my discarded wing bones back into the bowl with fresh wings.  It was that or the table.  I shouldn't have to ask for this.

Website: www.buffalowingsandrings.com

 

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!



Mild Buffalo

Wing Menu - Naperville location




Sweet Thai Chili

Example of the wall art I mentioned

 

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

 

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!

Hooters - Bacon Wrapped Wings

The Hooters in Aurora, IL was the only location in the Chicagoland area to serve the Bacon Wrapped Wings.

The Wing Joint:

Menu

Its Bacon Fest Week in Chicago and I thought, what better time to write my review on the Bacon Wrapped Wings Hooters offered during the Madness of March.  Congrats to Duke by the way for winning and beating my Utah Utes in the Sweet 16.  I mention this because during March Madness, I ate a ton of wings and watched even more basketball.  Hooters caught my attention actually on Twitter.  They announced for a limited time, at only select locations, they would be testing the market with bacon wrapped wings during the tournament.  Yes bacon is everywhere; seems you can get anything wrapped in bacon these days.  Its not everyday you find a place that serves bacon wrapped wings, at least not in Chicago.  Need less to say, this place jumped right to the top of my list of wings joints to review.  Love 'em or hate 'em, every wing eater out there has their own opinion about Hooters wings.  For me, Hooters was never been my go to wing spot, in fact I couldn't even tell you the last time I even went before this limited time offer was announced.
My Hooters history started when I was a young wing eater.  My first impression wasn't good.  I remember this because it was years later I gave them a second chance.  It was co-worker in 2008 that  convinced me to go back.  He raved about the Three Mile Island Sauce several times before I decided to try the wings again.  Now, Three Mile Island sauce is the only sauce for me on the rare occasion I go.

14 sauce options

Select locations indeed and believe me these bacon wrapped wings were not easy to find.  I called 3 locations closest to my house before one of the managers knew exactly which location in Chicago had them.  I must not be the only one calling.  Aurora, Illinois was the only location and it all had something to do with corporate locations verses the franchises or something, I don't know.  Anyway so off to Aurora I go.  Hooters its self, in my opinion of course, has gone down hill.  Not that its the classyiest of places to begin with but I found the Aurora location a little dirty and under staffed.  Service was slow and why in the world are they blasting club music on a Wednesday night at 6pm?  I could say more about the place itself but again, I'm here for one reason only...bacon wrapped wings.

The Wing Review:

12 Bacon Wrapped Wings w/Three Mile Island

Since this was a first for me, I was curious about the prep that goes into these wings?  So I asked.  I was told the cook wraps the naked wings the night before, only making 20 orders a day.  All drumsticks, 6 wings is considered an order, so I'm glad called ahead to make sure they had some left.  Not your typical heavily breaded and fried Hooters wings.  You do get to select any of their 14 sauces or 2 dry rubs.  Yeah Hooters does have 14 sauces now, which surprised me when I looked over the menu.  6 wings for $9.99 is pretty expensive but are they worth it?
I put in for two orders of 6.  Six wings didn't seem enough to fulfill this highly anticipated wing adventure.  The wing size is medium, not your typical jumbo sized hooters wings.  Temperature is warm, but not steaming hot, so I had better eat them quickly.  They have heat lamps for a reason.  The sauce is tastier and hotter than usual.  Maybe because their normal wings uses a lot of batter, which wings soak up what little sauce they use.
Now lets talk bacon.  The crispy bacon covered the entire wing and the meat was still tender and juicy.  Wow what bite.  Salty as hell, but the mixture of bacon, chicken, hot sauce, is literally in every bite sending my taste buds into a frenzy.  The bacon was wrapped nicely and actually stuck to the wings.  One bite didn't pull the entire piece of bacon off and didn't fall apart on the plate.  This is well crafted as far as wings go, I feel that these wings brought out the best in Hooters wings, of course for a limited time only.  Haha, I couldn't resist.  Maybe they should add the naked wing option.  I also get now why they only serve six wings in an order, these are filling!  After only 8 wings I was stuffed, but that only means I have some to take home.

Wing Night: None


Side Notes:
+14 sauces and 2 dry rubs, does that surprise anyone else?  I was.
-6 wings for 9.99.
-Hooters itself has really gone way down hill.

Moment of Truth and Why:

Close Up

Overall: 3.5 Star Wings 
Temperature: 3.5
Size & Texture: 3.5
Sauce Coverage: 2
Flavor: 5
Heat: 4

I know what your thinking...how can a chicken wing, bacon, and hot sauce combo not be a 5 star rating?  Well for one its Hooters.  Second, its very salty.  The bacon wrapped wings are good, not great.  The flavor and taste are intense for sure, but after 3 or 4, it starts slowly losing its appeal. Its not an order of wings you get every time but a tasty treat every once in awhile.  If I ordered these again, it would be to share that order of 6.  I don't think these last on the everyday menu.  I would be curious to find out how successful or unsuccessful the wings actually did at the Aurora location and across the country.  Hooters if you read this, please Tweet me and let me know.  We all know Hooters wings aren't known for being drenched in sauce, always heavily breaded and deep fried, but my suggestion to Hooters is to test the waters on naked wings.  For those I would return for.  That is all.

Website: https://www.hooters.com



Warmed up the next day

Follow me on twitter @chicagowingman

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

Normal Hooters wing order



Another Close Up



Bayou Hot Wings - New Orleans, Louisiana

Bayou Hot Wings is located in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans, LA

The Wing Joint:

6221 S. Claiborne - New Orleans

My recent travels have brought me to New Orleans.  In the weeks leading up to my family vacation, I had only two short days to try and find the best wings in New Orleans.  I read a lot of reviews and did a lot of research to find where locals go for wings.  Majority reviews and listings had Bayou Hot Wings as one of the best places around and a must try for out of towners.  You won't find this joint downtown or in the French Quarter.  You'll have to go a bit off the beaten path to find this place.  Check out there website, the Travel Channel's own Man vs. Food host Adam Richman, said these were the "best wings in the world."  I tweeted Mr. Richman a few weeks prior asking if these wings were really the best in the world?  He quickly replied "In my opinion, the Bayou Hot Boy & their sauce is amazing".  Sounds like I know where I'll be heading.  I land in New Orleans and take a cab straight there.  Located about a block away from the Tulane University campus, this place is in a small strip mall and its your a simple store front location.  Known mainly as a carry out place, there is some counter space to eat at with a 8 bar stools.  Not the most comfortable or inviting space to eat but I don't have much of a choice.  The walls are covered with photos of those who attempted the Bayou Beast hot wing challenge, local news articles, and of course pictures of when Adam Richman visited.  As if I need to say it, but I went with the Bayou Hot Boy sauce.  Rated "3 peppers" on their menu.  If your up to the challenge the "5 pepper" Bayou Beast challenge awaits.  I was excited to be trying possibly the best wings in the world, so ordered up my wings and the smell of the wing sauce and anticipation intensifies as I wait.

The Wing Review:

Bayou Hot Boy Wings

Bayou Hot Wings has 9 sauce options.  I thought about splitting my order between Bayou Hot Boy and Bayou Sweet Heat but at the last minute my thought was, if I am about to eat the best wings in the world why try anything else?  An order of 10 Hot Boy wings it is.  Just by looking at the pictures you can tell these look amazing.  The wings themselves were medium to small in size.  An order of 10 did the job, but  if your hungry go with the next size up.  15 wings seems like a lot but would have filled the appetite.  Cut the annoying uneatable wing tips off!  Other than the unimpressive wing size, everything else about the wings were amazing.  Fried to perfection, these wings came out of the kitchen steaming hot.  They are battered, fried and sauced and the sauce was plentiful.  The meat was so tender and juicy, that each bite was an eye closing, shaking your head, mmm mmm good type of bite.  Yes, I actually did that several times.  The exterior is a crispy treat of goodness yet easy to eat and not tough or over cooked.  The sauce was delicious!  Its made with a local favorite, Louisana Crystal Hot Sauce.  Just look at the pepper and spices that are nicely distrubted on the wing.  A lot of care went into this sauce recipe.  The heat was just what the doctor ordered.  Cleaned out my sinuses but didn't leave me sweating.  If you're an avid reader of my blog, I usually make my marks on the wing as a whole.  I have deducted rating points for small size wings but these are 5 star wings hands down.  This is perfect balance of heat, flavor, sauce, served steaming hot, and crispiness...everything I look and hope for in my wings.  Best in the world I cant say yet but a serious contender for my Best of 2015 award.

Wing Night: None


Side Notes:
+ Hot Boy Sauce is an award winner, well it damn well should be.
+ A good local joint that's off the beaten path, however...
- ...not the easiest for travels to get too, waited about 30 minutes for a cab to pick me up.
- Not really a dine in place, mainly take out.  Seating isn't comfortable.

Moment of Truth and Why:

Overall: 5 Star Wings
Temperature: 5
Size: 3
Texture: 5
Sauce amount: 5
Flavor: 5
Heat: 5

I may have to work on my rating system a little.  I have deducted for small things like wing size but the Bayou Hot Boy is too amazing.  Hey its my review and I can do it how I want.  These wings have perfect amount of heat and sauce coverage with extra sauce at the bottom of the basket.  The temperature was steaming hot.  If the wing size was jumbo it just might be the best wings in the world, but I have a lot more wings to eat before deciding that.  If you are ever in New Orleans I recommend making this joint a must stop.  It's a trek to get there, but trust me, it's worth it.  Thanks Adam Richman and Bayou Hot Wings.  If you ever jar this sauce, I'll be one of their first customers.

Website: www.bayouhotwings.com

 

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!

Adam Richman was here.

Menu

Wing Zone - Bolingbrook, IL

61 locations in 22 States, including 5 new Illinois spots.  18 international locations in 8 countries, I went to the newly opened Bolingbrook location

The Wing Joint:
With the 2015 NCAA Basketball tournament kicking off tomorrow morning, I wanted to tell you about my recent trip to Wing Zone, the wing joint that delivers.  Yes, delivers.  Hot tasty wings on demand delivered to your door step without missing a minute of tournament action.  You don't see too many wing places that offer delivery.  For me, I am out of their delivery zone but I took a drive out to Bolingbrook and checked out this newest location.  This location looks like a typical mall store front,  but inside a wing chain that is rapidly growing.  I never heard of Wing Zone until a few weeks ago and they are about to open a 5th Chicagoland location already.  You read correctly above, there are 18 locations in 8 other countries.  Going to Moscow, Russia, Panama, Saudi Arabia, or Malaysia any time soon?  Well they are there for those wing cravings.  Inside, the dining room area of about 20 tables, has a new sleek modern dining look.  Ok, maybe that's over kill, but its comfortable and clean, like really clean.  Staff was very friendly.  They even have wall mounted TVs with sound on for the games.  I love the fact that Wing Zone doesn't consider their wings as fast food.  The sign on the order counter reads that Wing Zone prides themselves in fresh never frozen wings and all food is cooked to order.  Wing orders may take 15-20 minutes.  I have no problem waiting for steaming hot wings.  The wall painting says, "flavorholics unite" so let's put these flavors through my taste test.

The Wing Review:

Hot Shot Buffalo

The Bolingbrook menu offers 17 different wings flavors.  Each location has a separate online menu so I wonder if some flavors are not offered at all locations.  They use a heat index rating for each sauce, rated 1-4 peppers on the menu which helps select the heat level for you.  I ordered Hot Shot Buffalo,  Mango Fire, and Blackened Voodoo which is a dry rub.  Hot Shot and Mango Fire each have a heat index of 3 and Blackened Voodoo is a 1.  To be honest, I only tried the Blackened Voodoo, because I was heading to New Orleans just weeks before coming here and this flavor is described as a New Orleans Cajun dry rub.
Lets start with the wings.  Like I mentioned, before they are cooked to order so they came out of the kitchen steaming hot.  The sauce coverage was nicely done.  I love seeing that puddle of extra sauce at the bottom of the basket.  The wings were cooked well, exterior had a nice crunch.  The wings are medium in size and clearly aren't the meatiest, but at least they wwere tender. 
The Blackened VooDoo dry rub wings were cooked just right, tender and juicy with an excellent deep fried crunch.  I think the dry rubs are starting to grow on me more and more, every time I order 'em.  The flavor dry rub described as "Cajun flavors of New Orleans" was just ok.  A little bland.  I failed to find that Cajun spice New Orleans style taste they described.  Looking up close you can see the salt, pepper, and spices so I expected a tasty flavor blast that just didn't come.  After returning from New Orleans this week and eating all sorts of cajun inspired dishes, this flavor definitely needs some work.

Mango Fire

Holy butter Hot Shot Buffalo sauce.  At least that's what it should be called.  Did they add an extra stick of butter to the sauce?  The butter taste over powers this everyday average buffalo sauce.  The 3 heat index rating was generous.  I would rate the heat of this sauce more like a 2.  There is some heat but not enough to get my taste buds warmed up.  I wouldn't order any of the buffalo flavors here after having this taste test, there are to many other flavors on the menu to choose from.
The Mango Fire was the my favorite and made up for the disappointing buffalo sauce that lacked heat.  These wings have a nice spicy kick, which would make the average wing eater sweat.  The taste ain't too shabby either.  These wings are nicely glazed with a sticky mango sweet orange chicken flavor sauce.  In comes the heat kick which makes this is a great combination.  Must try.




Wing Night: None


Side Notes:
+ Wing Delivery!  Where has this been all my life?
+ Cleanliness and customer service go a long way in my book.
- Not sure how good a burger could be at a joint specializing in chicken wings and tenders.
- Stay away from the buffalo sauce.

Moment of Truth and Why:

Blackened Voodoo

Overall: 3.5 Star Wings 
Temperature: 4.5
Size & Texture: 3
Sauce Amount: 4
Flavor: 3.5
Heat: 3.5
Individual Sauces:
Hot Shot Buffalo: 2
Mango Fire: 4.5
Blackened Voodoo: 3.5



17 Wing Sauce Creations

Clean, friendly customer service, and cooked to order food are the smaller things that often get over looked but goes a long way.  This is what stands out at the Bolingbrook location.  This is a wing chain that's clearly trying to cater to every wing eater with a great variety of sauces.  So many times I have come in to these wing chains types, that offer a dozen sauces that all sound so good, but serve just average buffalo hot sauce.  Here is no different.  Look, the buffalo sauce isn't terrible but come here for the unique sauce creations they offer and leave the buffalo hot wings for another day and another wing joint.  Mango Fire was seriously good and highly recommended.  Ill definitely be back for those Mango Fire wings again.  I am curious about the Nuclear Habanero sauce too.  March Madness is upon us, so stay in, watch 12 hours of basketball a day, and order some wings for delivery.

Website: http://wingzone.com/

 

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!

Gator's Wing Shack - Palatine

Gator's Wing Shack Grill & Pizzeria is located on Rand Rd. in Palatine, IL

The Wing Joint:


1719 Rand Rd. Palatine, IL

Coming off yet another win in the mild wing category at the 2015 Chicago Wing Fest, Gator's slogan says it all, "All you need is wings."  I don't get up north to Palatine, IL very often, but on my way home from a snowboarding trip to Alpine Valley, Wisconsin, it was "conveniently" on the way home.  Gator's has faired very well in past Chicago Wing Fests, taking home 14 first place awards and a 4 time winner of best of festival since 2001.  This place was high on my list of wing joints to check out and after a cold day on the slopes, some hot wings would really hit the spot.  Do you smell that?  The smell of garlic is in the air, literally.  You can smell the garlic wings before even walking in the door.  The wing joint itself is simple, tables are close quarters but comfortable.  As you walk in, the bar to the right, dining room tables to the left.  Chicago sports memorabilia covers the walls of this popular, busy Saturday night wing joint.  Its all about the wings here and as we are being seated, that's all I see.  Wings!  Wings everywhere.  Everyone here is eating wings.  Even the birthday party gathering a few tables away, besides a few sides dishes, they ordered easily over 100 wings.  I'm surrounded by wings and wing eaters, is this heaven?  Now that I've caught a glimpse of my next meal, my mouth begins to water, so lets get to it.

The Wing Review: 

Garlic Buffalo

Gator's offers 12 sauces or get 'em plain.  My selection: 10 Garlic Buffalo and 10 Jalapeño Buffalo.  As usual lets start with the wings themselves.  Mainly jumbo in size, as you can see by the picture, wing tips included.  Why do some places still include the wing tip?  Is there any bigger waste sauce?  anyway, the temperature was hot and cooked to order but not quite the steam rising  hot I look for.   With jumbo wings comes the meat, which is tender and juicy.  Wings are drenched in sauce but careful, slippery when wet.  You can order more for a dollar extra.  With the amount of garlic and jalapeno's in the sauce, each bite gives you a tasty, meaty, saucy bite.  I've been plenty of places that coat only one side of the wing, here it's nice distributed over the wing.  The only thing really missing is that crispy crunch, but there's more positives to make up for the lack or crispiness, like the sauce.

Garlic buffalo flavor is one of the more popular sauces.  You can even buy it by the jar; available in local grocery stores or online.  Little bits of garlic soaked in the near perfect mild buffalo sauce.  First thoughts, with that much garlic, will it be a bit over powering?  I mean since the whole places smells like garlic.  However, it was just right, nicely spread over the wings so it wasn't to much.  Is there is such a thing as to much garlic?  Yes and the garlic wings Gators brought to Chicago Wing Fest, had a little too much garlic, even for me.  A little under cooked too, but in the restaurant they are nicely done.  Award winning flavor, in my opinion, earning 5 star flavor.

Jalapeno Buffalo is nicely covered with diced jalapeno's mixed again with the award winning buffalo sauce.  Looks good right?  Yes, these wings are as tasty as it looks.  I did expect a bigger blast of heat which never arrived.  A friend of mine, who cant handle much heat at all, ate one with no problem.  Maybe the jalapeno pepper just doesn't warm me up like it did in my early hot wing eating days.  A bit disappointing, but again with the award winning mild sauce helping, its still not bad.

Wing Night: None


Side Notes:
+Award winning sauce is also available in local grocery stores or on Gator's website.
+Even on Saturday night, walked in and got a table.
-$1.49 extra for celery?  Yes, seriously.
-Also ordered an Italian beef sandwich and fries which is average.  Stick with the wings.

Moment of Truth and Why:


Jalapeno Buffalo

Overall: 4.5 Star Wings
Temperature: 4
Size & Texture: 4.5
Sauce: 4.5
Flavor: 5
Heat: 3

Individual Sauces:
Garlic Buffalo: 5
Jalapeno Buffalo: 3

I've had gator's wings twice in February.  Once at the restaurant and once at Wing Fest, in which I went back to Gator's booth twice.  These wings are good, I don't live close but it was worth the trip.  Garlic Buffalo was better than most garlic buffalo sauces I've had.  Jalapeno Buffalo was a little disappointing.  Gator's needs to work on a buffalo hot sauce.  I didn't try the Mexican Hot Buffalo, so maybe that has the heat I seek.  There's always next time, and yes there will be a next time.  The mixture their awarding winning mild sauce with the garlic and jalapeno's, make both my wing choices delicious.  See you soon Gator's and congrats on another win at the 2015 Chicago Wing Fest.  The Italian beef sandwich and fries aren't bad either.

Website: http://www.gatorswingshack.com/

 

Follow me on twitter @chicagowingman

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

Italian Beef Sandwich with Fries

Tap House Grill - Westmomt

The Tap House Grill has 9 Chicagoland locations; I went to the Westmont location.

The Wing Joint:
The Tap House Grill; Addictive Food and Creative Brew is the slogan you'll find on the cover of this typical bar menu.  I hope its true, because the bar itself isn't much to look at.  That doesn't stop the family diners who take most of the tables tonight.  Must be about the food.  This laid back bar does try and class it up; a fireplace surrounded with couches and a wall mounted TV highlights the center of the dining area.  Large comfy booths along the wall with some small lamps and plants around to give it somewhat that homey feel.  Maybe I'm just trying to be nice.  Anyway, they have a ton of beer options and a even a beer club.  The beer of the month, Laginitus IPA on tap for $3.75, yes please.  In total, 36 draft beers, 8 bottles and 26 can options.  For $1 you can sample any of their draft choices too, except their featured drafts.  The menu is your typical bar fare filled with burgers, sandwiches, wraps, appetizers, and several side options including 4 types of fries.  But lets get to the only thing that brought me in, the wings.  With the 2015 Chicago Wing Fest right around the corner and there Sriracha Sweet Chili wings taking the crown in 2013 for best of festival and best exotic wing category, I had to try 'em...so lets order.

The Wing Review: 

Exotic (Sriracha Sweet Chili)

There are 4 wing choices: Samual Adams BBQ, Mild, Buffalo Hot, and Exotic (Sriracha sweet chili sauce).  So I went with Buffalo Hot and Exotic.  The plate of wings presentation looks delish and can't wait to dive in.  As always, the wings first.  The crispy breaded chicken wings are jumbo, meaty, and tender.  Nice and moist.  Temperature served was of course hot and right out of the kitchen, but not the steaming hot I like.  The sauce was coated on the wings nicely but that was all, hardly a drop of extra sauce on the plate, especially the Buffalo Hot.  More sauce please.  I would have asked for more, but the service was slow and didn't feel like eating cold wings.  Now for the flavors/sauce.  The Buffalo Hot is nice flavor and that's generous.  Its a little different then the average sauce and Ill give it an extra 1/2 star for going outside the norm.  The heat is low for a "hot" wing.  Sure the heat is there, but is it enough to be considered hot?  Not really.  Lets call them medium.  Additionally, all the tables do have Tap House Grill hot sauce you can add, but I didn't try it.  Maybe I should have, but I don't know, when the bottle looks sticky and like its been sitting on the table for awhile, doesn't look all that appetizing.  Moving on, to

Buffalo Hot

the award winning Exotic flavor is different.  The description is a Sriracha Sweet Chili sauce, its not to shabby.  I would describe it as a sweet mango sticky with a little bit of spicy.  The little spicy makes this a better wing flavor.  Not sure I would call these award winning but they are good.  I think if I ever came back, it would be for the Buffalo Hot.
Oh yeah, we also ordered boneless Mild sauce and its very average, but do yourself a favor and don't even order the boneless.  It was all breading and little meat.  Stick with traditional wings here.

Wing Night: Monday nights: Wings-Suds-Spuds 10 wings and fries for $5.00!


Side Notes:
+Another location with a great craft beer selection.
+Join the beer club for discounts.
- Service is a bit slow, had to ask 3 times for water and bill took awhile to arrive
-If a customer has had to much to drink, stumbling, talking obnoxiously loud and knocking his bar stool over multiple times, you may want to call him a cab and not serve him another drink.

Moment of Truth and Why:

Wing Order: Buffalo Hot (left), Exotic (right)

Overall: 3.5 Star Wings 
Temperature: 4
Size & Texture: 4.5
Sauce: 3
Overall Flavor: 3.5
Overall Heat: 3.5
Individual Sauces:
Buffalo Hot: 4
Exotic (Sriracha Sweet Chili): 3.5


There was a lot of hype walking to this joint, a previous Chicago Wing Fest winner for the Exotic wings, I expected something great.  Quite frankly I left a little disappointed.    If I was in a jury room, I can tell you these wings wouldn't walk away winning anything.  Wings clearly look great, but "don't judge a wing by the picture."  Buffalo Hot is the way to go.  Its not that the exotic was terrible, but does live up its award winning past.  I didn't have a chance to order the BBQ, perhaps next visit.  I live near by the Westmont location and drive by all the time, and this was still my first visit.  Does that say something about the appearance of a dark average looking bar on the outside?  Maybe...but like I said the only reason I came, was the wings.  Next time I'm on my way home from work and get the sudden wing craving, I would stop by again.  Sure, if I was on right street in the town of Westmont on Monday for wing night.  Hint hint, it would take a lot of circumstances for me to come back.  To harsh?  Let me know what you thing.

Join their beer club

Website: www.taphousegrills.com

Follow me on twitter @chicagowingman

Find me on the Untappd App "Chicago's Wingman to see what beers I'm drinking to wash down the wings I'm eating.

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.  See you at Wing Fest 2015.