[rant]This one not only do I not get, I don't even understand

Yeah there is this new place next to the gym. Well it's in between the gym, an "eyebrow threading studio" (whatever the hell that is) and a Round Table Pizza.

Okay it's... all... appetizers. That's it. Chicken wings. Not a single main course item on the menu. And it's actually open for indoor dining. I can sort of see picking up a bucket of wings on the way home from a beer run before the game, but on the other hand I can get hot wings at the grocery store where the beer is at. Which, coincidentally is on the other side of the gym.

Why? What's the attraction? You're going to go in to a restaurant, sit down at a table and eat f&#%*^#^$g APPETIZERS? The same thing you would eat in front of a TV, or on a bar counter, while drinking beer, and yet the place does not even have beer?

And what's up with the sides? They are ALL MO(*%&*#&&*($NG SIDES!!!!!!!!!!

I dunno, I used to think those Korean era vets that start their day at the VFW hall when the bar opens, and end their day at the VFW hall when the bar closes, are at a low place in their life. Then, I see this place. Honestly though, I don't think I've ever seen anyone walk in or out of it, so I don't even know how they stay in business. I suspect it may be a front for prostitution. If so, that is a good business model. The County has pretty much shut down all the illicit massage parlors. Or so I've heard.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not totally anti-appetizer. Like I said, hot chicken wings are really great with beer, and they make you want to drink more beer, so bar owners like them too. When I was a starving student at the university, we would sometimes go out to a local Mexican bar and grill that had spicy chicken wings for their happy hour appetizers. Free happy hour appetizers. So we would nurse an overpriced beer for the entire two or three hours, or however long it was, and get stuffed on VERY HOT chicken wings, and pay for it the next couple days in the restroom. But see, there was a financial necessity there. There is no financial necessity to go to a place that only has wings, when you have to pay for them anyway.

It's a store front setup in a strip mall barely wider than an ATM kiosk. I have never been inside, but the only view you're going to have is of the parking lot. And it is not facing the airport, so it's not like you are going there for a session of indoor plane spotting.

 

You should go in and check it out.....

 

Since when are wings an appetizer only...?

 

No, but you can steal WiFi from the Starbucks next-door and watch the live stream of Plane Spotting on Youtube while you enjoy your side of Wings with your side of fries....

 

Let me guess, you probably think pizza is a pie...

 

Wings, like lasagna, are in their own food group.

Boneless wings are an abomination.

 

Nobody tell Buffalo Wild Wings that their restaurant concept won't work because wings aren't an entree, lol.

 

I've seen a sign for the place on the 80 somewhere around Fairfield-ish but it's never been on my radar to check out. I'm too lazy to Google it right now but I'm assuming it's the same venue since you bring it up. All appetizers, no food, but maybe they have alcohol or something but still, why....

No siree Bob.

 

BWW has burgers, a few different sandwiches, and I think tacos, at least from my memory.

 

Again, I just don't know. If they do, great. Fine. Why not label them Buffalo Wild Burgers or Buffalo Wild Sandwiches? It seems more descriptive. One might infer they might have wings, if one cares enough about wings. On my laundry list of appetizers, they aren't very high up there.

 

So you're saying that you prefer low wings to high wings?

 

BWW is a sports bar, so it's primary focus and name is based on people drinking and snacking and watching a game. It has wings, alcohol, and some other lunch/dinner items.

 

That would be an accurate assessment.

Well alrighty then. But our aforementioned WS has neither alcohol nor TV. Well, they do not have alcohol on the menu. I seriously doubt they have a TV. But what if they did? How many reruns of the Maury Povich show can you watch?*

*i don't even know who the guy is. Just seen the name in TV ads. Much like my knowledge of BWW.

 

I tried wild wings when I found myself with enough time to grab lunch before a meeting, in an area where my options were mcdonalds, taco bell, and wild wings. Compared to the other two, even it only had wings, I figured it would be better, and it was. I realize that's not saying much. I wasn't impressed enough to seek one out again, but if I had to make the same choice again I'd make the same one. It's a chain restaurant, it isn't supposed to be very good.

 

I am now craving KFC.

And they even have cole slaw.

 

new place and no alcohol might mean waiting for their license from the governing board. Happened to a chef I knew

 

Check to see if you have a Bonchon near you:
https://bonchon.com/locations

 

No, I'm going off their corporate menu. It's one of those mini storefront franchise deals.

 

That looks halfway interesting and there is one not too far away, but we have several good Korean restaurants here.

 

But do those other Korean restaurants have coleslaw like Bonchon?

 

One has a shredded cabbage in sauce as a bonchon that is pretty close to it! I like my lettuce wrapped bulgogi, but I might try that place for its Korean Fried Chicken.

 

Front for prostitution?……yeah, Thigh Bites on the menu.

 

If you happen to find yourself in San Diego. Best wings I've ever come across.

 

As Americans realize tapas have been around for centuries.

 

It’s all about the quality of the wings,not the establishment that’s serving them.

 

Re tapas - this is the country where a "small" soda is usually around a pint or a pint and a half, and the petite fillet is usually over a half pound.

 

Sounds right to me.

 

"Old man crawls out from under rock, shakes fist at sky, news at 11."

 

Or Hooters or any of the dozen other similar chains.

 

Except that Buffalo Wild Wings (and Hooters) HAVE entrees. And even if they didn't, they are still sports bars. Food wise, Hooters has microwave trailer park fare. Staff wise, they probably live in the same trailer park. At least that was my experience with the one here.

 

When will someone invent a wing place that makes buffalo style wings using full size drumsticks?
Bigger TVs. Bigger Beers. BIgger wings. Its a winnging combination. Make it a breasturant and you will do great business.

One of you rich pilots go start that place. I'll pop in for some playoff games.

 

Wings are cheap; drumsticks are expensive. And wings are popular. But there is a place in Dallas that sells giant wings

 

Have you priced wings and drumsticks lately? I'm seeing a bit over $1/lb for drumsticks when they are on sale and around 3x-4x that for wings, which almost never go on sale.

 

"Wings" are a generic term that also include drumettes. I like drumettes more better than I like wings. I like drumsticks more better than I like drumettes. I like thighs more better than I like drumsticks.

What's left? The breast. Right. I'm kind of all over the board on that. Chicken breasts are easy to overcook and dry out. So, I generally like leg quarters better than I like breasts, just because the are more juicier and more tenderer, and harder to f*** up on the grill or in the oven.

I mean let's do the math here. There are pretty much two of each on any given chicken. Why do we have big plates of wings and drumettes? It's because people generally like the drumsticks, thighs and breasts more and they are a throwaway product, but cleverly recycled as a bar snack.

Oh by the way, one thing we generally do not eat here in the United States (with some exceptions) is chicken feet. Foster Farms and Tyson send big shipping containers of chicken feet to China.

 

Here drumsticks and thighs go for around $2.99 to $3.99 a pound, breasts $4 and up, but sometimes the store has sales where there are say, leg quarters or bone in split breasts for around a buck a pound. Whole roasting chickens go for $.97 to $1.57 on a bad day. And guess what, you get a couple wings. So I normally get those. Couldn't tell you what wings go for. I never look at them to price them.

I however have learned to cook the wings and drumettes separate on the grill. Usually what I will do with the whole roaster is cut it in half and grill it as two halves, but the wings are burned beyond recognition. So I now clip them off, and pull them off the grill fairly quickly. Win win baby.

 

The way I learned it is that one "wing" consists of one "drumette", one "flat" and one "tip". Only a few people I know bother eating anything off the tip.

My preference order is:

1. Thigh
2. Flat
3. Drumette
4. Drumstick

One way I do them is to debone them, remove the tenders, butterfly them and then pound them flat (reasonably thick like a fluffy pancake, not paper thin like a crepe). Salt and season it prior to pounding to get the flavor to penetrate a bit. It becomes super easy to cook at that point: if it looks done on the outside then it's extremely likely it's cooked on the inside.

 

That is an interesting preference order. I get the terminology of "flat" but consider it to be the "wing" as I throw the "tip" away. I do however think I would prefer to grill/cook them boned and then deal with it later, rather than pounding it in to submission. Just me though.

 

2 bucks a wing. Wow. I guess I haven't gone out for wings lately.

Start old-time reminiscing...

I remember going out with my brother when I was in my late teens for wings. They were 10 cents a piece. We would literally order 100 wings, i.e. $10.

This wasn't quite ancient history - 1992 or so. That's obviously way more than inflation, maybe wings just weren't a popular thing back then. But it really does make me feel like I'm saying "back in my day, we could fill up the car for a nickel and still have money left for lunch!"

Edit - I just checked, and apparently the restaurant is still around! Wings there are now $11.50 for 10. Which is (math) $1.15 a piece, better than $2 but still 11 times the 1992 price.

 

Having only eaten at 4 Hooters restaurants, for a grand total of 7 times in my life, I'm no expert on them.
But my food was always good, and service was wonderful.

 

Just get Nuggets and you don't need to worry about which part is best.