Quaker Steak and Lube

Today we set out on the Wing Tour and visited Quaker Steak and Lube located at 1121 West Lincolnshire Blvd, Springfield, IL and at http://www.quakersteakandlube.com/Springfield_IL/.  At first glance you think the name is part of a famous brand of oil and the restaurant emphasized that throughout, though we'll go there in a bit.  We entered the premises and right away had to sidestep the TV built into the floor.  Are people seriously taking naps or standing around long enough to watch a TV in the floor?

Quaker Steak and Lube is not to be confused with Quaker State Lube Station although the name and colors are similar and the restaurant is automobile themed.  They have vehicle pictures and posters on the walls.  Racing gas tanks hanging from the rafters with the 21 sauce names on them, a dirt bike and rider breaking through a glass window high on the wall.  And don't look up because you'll find a stock car hanging upside down right over your head!  Their centerpiece vehicle is a 1929 JD Harley Davidson spinning around while it hangs from the ceiling.

After we got done taking in all the sights, we took our plastic seats at our round table.  They spared no expense on the seating arrangements.  We were quickly greeted by an energetic and happy waitress named Jeni.  She took our drink orders and informed us of the all-you-can-eat buffet.  Our attention was quickly grabbed when she informed us the buffet consisted of all you can eat wings.  The wings are naked with all the sauces available.  We were quickly in heaven as we could sample as many of the wing flavors for one low price.  The buffet also has a theme, which changes daily.  Today it was the Homestyle theme.  While we discussed the various sauces and opportunities they presented for our taste buds, Jeni delivered our drinks with long flexible straws twisted in childish curly Q designs.  So, I tongue whipped my straw to my mouth and took a big sip.

Enough of the Homestyle and straws though, we came to taste wings.  We left our table and quickly gathered around the naked wings, filling our plates high.  As is our test group, we all took a tub of the Hot sauce to compare against the other restaurants' hot sauces.  The Hot sauce had a similar flavor to the Starship restaurant sauce.  It had a hint of Tabasco along with vinegar.  It was spicy with a Scoville Heat Rating of 3,000 causing one of our participants to empty his sinuses and open the pores on his forehead.  The rest were mostly unaffected.

Other flavors we tasted were Parmesan Pepper, Premium Garlic, Haute Parm, Buckeye BBQ, and Arizona Ranch.  On the buffet, the only wet wings they had available were the Arizona Ranch and they were fantastic!  It was the gentle flavor of ranch with a sweet, spicy tang.  The other favorite of the group was the Buckeye BBQ.  This is considered the fourth hottest sauce they offer and it definitely had some zip, but the sweet BBQ flavor was what made it to die for.

As you can imagine, we made many trips to the buffet to get more wings and try new sauces.  We noticed the quality of the wings improved as we made our trips.  The first round, the skins were very crispy and not as juicy.  We figure it was because we got there just before the lunch crowd hit so the wings had probably been sitting under the heat lamps for a while.  The second round produced some large wings full of juices and softer skins.  The last round consisted of the best wings yet -- they were piping hot and spilling with juices.

With our appetites and taste palates finally sated, we asked for our bill.  The buffet was $7.99 for the all-you- can-eat buffet, which even includes the drink.  This is the best price so far, especially when you had salad, sandwiches, pasta, homestyle food, wings, and dessert available on the buffet.  We didn’t get charged for each flavor of wing we wanted like some restaurant in the distant past.  The waitress was attentive and engaging.  The environment was unique and dangerous with full size vehicles hanging over our heads as we ate.  If that wasn’t enough, our receipts were delivered with a “wing wag” for desaucification and a Twizzler as a parting gift.  Our experience was memorable and we would visit again if the wind blew us in their direction.

Starship Billiards Parlor

Vulcan Hot

Today we embarked upon an intergalactic journey to Starship Billiards Parlor crossing time and space to 2301 Adlai Stevenson Drive, Suite C in Springfield, IL.  They must be from a land far, far away because they don’t have a webpage.  Upon entering deep space, you must travel through the asteroid field of pool tables and make your way to the black hole of a bar area aptly named, The Enterprise.  The bar has a few low tables with 2 chairs positioned at each.  If you haven’t picked up on it yet, the theme of this joint is Star Trek.

We were rewarded today as we quickly learned the special of the day was $ 0.50 wings.  We immediately learned we could order as many flavors of wings we wanted as long as they were in half dozen increments and the wings were naked and therefore, not breaded.  None of us are Trekkies who speak Klingon so we had to ask the wait staff to translate the wing menu into normal terms.  He did a poor job of doing so as his explanation of one particular flavor was exactly as a different one was named.  Regardless, we chose the Vulcan Hot which was our base test flavor, Bones Honey Hot, and Neelix Lemon Pepper.  We ordered each by the dozen and a side of fries for two and tater tots for the other.

  

Neelix Lemon Pepper

We sat the next 20 minutes waiting for food and our drinks to be refilled.  There was only one wait person working and he was located behind the bar.  There was no crowd to speak of so it’s astonishing we weren’t given more attention.  I’m uncertain if he was also the cook.

 

Our wings finally arrived with a fistful of napkins and wet wipes.  We immediately realized the massive size of these wings.  They didn’t come from a chicken but more like a pterodactyl.  They were massive and meaty.  The waiter did his best to identify the wing flavor as he set them down in front of us.  Our sides quickly followed and we started to dig in.  We started with the hot wings as this is the test flavor to be compared from restaurant to restaurant.  The flavor was good and had a little heat to it.  There was certainly more heat to this wing than the Westwood’s wing.  When you picked up the Honey Hot wing, you immediately smelled the Tabasco sauce and the flavor didn’t surprise your palate.  We didn’t sense the slightest hint of honey in this flavor.  It was spicier than the Vulcan Hot and our nasal passages opening up was a clear indication.  The Lemon Pepper was a nice dry rub compliment to the wet sauces of the hot flavors.  It was a very salty lemon pepper.

Bones Honey Hot

 

The cost was $9.00 for a dozen wings and side of fries so it was a little pricey.  The restaurant was fun with the pool tables and Star Trek theme.  The lack of wait staff and time it took to have our food served was very disappointing.  The wings were massive and cooked perfectly.  Two of the three sauces were flavorful and relatively unique.  The hot sauce was good and flavorful but not too spicy.

 

The environments were equally interesting and the wait staff were equally disappointing though for different reasons.  The mass and girth of these wings along with the ability to order multiple wing flavors without penalty give Starship Billiards Parlor the lead over Westwood’s.  To infinity and beyond.