Buffalo Wild Wings

The Culinary Delights Wings Tour (CDWT) headed to another wings stop this week.  Buffalo Wild Wings was on the agenda.  Commonly known as B-Dubs, this is a chain restaurant known for its selection of chicken wings (http://www.buffalowildwings.com).   We ventured into the Dirksen Parkway location at 2808 N. Dirksen Parkway and were greeted warmer and seated quickly.


If you’ve ever been to a B-dubs, they are all pretty much laid out the same way with a main dining area surrounded by massive amounts of televisions and sports paraphernalia.   The televisions are all tuned to the numerous sports channels around the world and make for a very comfortable atmosphere.

Our server Derek (not to be confused with one of the CDWT founding fathers) was only on his second day, but efficiently took our drink orders.  After waiting the obligatory 10 minutes for one of the venerably missing CDWT members, we decided to order. 
 
It didn’t take us long to figure out we wanted the lunch special of 8 wings.  This came with our choice of wing’s style (traditional or boneless), wing’s heat, French fries and a drink for $8.99.  In addition, we were offered celery.  We weren’t clear if this was an extra charge or even why celery is offered with wings.  Nevertheless, we declined this offer.   Two of us ordered under the Hot category, while the other ordered the classic Buffalo sauce.  In addition, we decided to try an appetizer of the Ultimate Nachos on the “Shareables” menu.

Server Derek took our order and proceeded to rapidly and efficiently fill our drinks, while the restaurant filled with lunch patrons
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After a short period of time (how long does it take to put cheese and some meat on chips?), we challenged Derek about having our appetizer brought out first.  He indicated that he had placed the order in that direction.  Well, it didn’t take long for our entire order to be brought to the table.  So much for the appetizer coming out first!

The wings were hot and spicy.  And unlike some of the past wings’ reviews, these were not freezer burnt.  These wings weren’t as large as Hooters or Starship, but they held their own nicely.    Two of the CDWT exchanged wings and tried both Hot and Buffalo style.  The main difference between the two was the additional vinegar added.  The heat factor was still high on both versions.  Both sauces rated high on our subjectivity scale. 

After chowing down on the wings and fries, we tore into the nachos.  They had three different versions of nachos on one plate and all were nicely done.  These were a big hit with the group.
Our waiter kept our drinks filled and although it was only his second day on the job, he did a good job.  He did have a problem splitting the nachos for our bills.  After some time, we were each charged $12.35 for this big lunch meal.

The atmosphere, service and price were good, however the wings weren’t as large as others we tested.  The group decided it was time to return to Hoots, just to make sure we didn’t miss anything.  So, before we end the tour, you’ll see another review about Hooters.  Until then…

D'Arcy's Pint II

 

Today we made the trip to D’Arcy’s Pint for the next stop on our Wing Tour.  You can find D’Arcy’s Pint at 661 S. Stanford St. and online at http://www.darcyspintonline.com/.  You may remember our stop at this restaurant during the Tenderloin Tour of 2012. 

We were seated in the middle of the restaurant after no wait at all which is very odd for this restaurant.  We scanned the menu for the wings and found them in the starter portion of the menu only.  Your only option was to purchase them by the pound.  They were listed in 1 pound or 2 pound increments.  I don’t know if the Culinary Delights Team wasn’t into wings today or if the wings just weren’t looking good from the menu but we all decided to just purchase a pound of wings for the table and each of us get a Horseshoe.   I will explain a Horseshoe later.  Our sauce for the wings was Buffalo.

After a short time, the wings showed up at the table and we were shocked when we saw them delivered on a long, skinny platter.  It was as if we followed Alice down the rabbit hole and we didn’t get smaller as we fell.  Or, as if the Giant went down the beanstalk and stole Jack’s wings.  Or, as if Mini Me gave his wings to Dr. Evil.  Members of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee would call these wings just right.  If we had pterodactyl wings at other restaurants during this tour, we got hummingbird wings served to us today.  In case you haven’t picked up on my references, these wings were tiny.  I believe picking up and biting into these wings was referenced to the scene in Big when Tom Hanks was at the party and picked up the vegetable he thought was an ear of corn and started eating it as you would an ear of corn. 

The sauce had a gentle heat depending on the wing you ate.  Some were a neutral sauce and others had some heat.  There was a hint of the same bad flavor we had from ShowMe’s when we ate some of the drumsticks.  There were a few bad apples in the bunch. 

We didn’t even finish the platter of wings before our Horseshoe’s arrived because we were that disappointed.  So, a Horseshoe was invented in central IL and has been a local favorite dish ever since.  It started as a simple open faced sandwich but has evolved over the years to keep it fresh and enjoyable.  At its root, it’s a piece of bread with some kind of meat on it, topped with a cheese sauce, then French fries, and finally more cheese sauce.  It’s a true artery hardening, calorie stomping, fat producing meal.  In support of the Wing Tour, two of us had a Buffalo Chicken Horseshoe as our meal.  The Shoes were tasty even though the Buffalo Chicken isn’t my favorite specialty Shoe.  There was some discussion about the sauce and whether or not it’s one of the better in town.  The cheese sauce is really what makes the Shoe.

The pound of wings set us back $7.55 and the Horseshoes another $7.25.  The wings were a complete waste and I wouldn’t recommend you make a special stop to purchase them or that you even try them during a regular dinner visit.  The Shoes were good but I didn’t get my usual favorite.  Overall, this trip was below average even with the special delicacies and side option purchase we made to try to lift our spirits.  I think a case of spirits would’ve been the only thing to make this meal acceptable but unfortunately, we all had to go back to work after the meal.

Show-Me's

After the holidays the Hot Wing Tour finally rolled into 2013 with a trip to Show Me’s! (I’m not sure the name is grammatically correct with that apostrophe, but that’s the way it’s spelled on the sign).  They are located at 3101 S. MacArthur Blvd in Springfield, IL.  Their website is http://www.showmes.com/ and they are fashioned after the Hooters model.  You know, it’s supposed to be all about the wings…well, and the dress code the waitresses adhere to. 

Show-Me’s is a regional chain restaurant with sixteen locations around the Midwest.   Okay…back to that dress code.  Here they don dark shirts with bottoms more like bikinis instead of shorts.  Our waitress was appropriately dressed in the Show-Me’s Tee and short-shorts.  They’re motto of “When you have an appetite for fun” is a bit cheeky, along with the girl’s shorts, but it still works. 

Upon entering the establishment we were told to take any seat, so we sat in the middle surrounded by televisions showing tons of sports (what do you expect – talk shows or some other mid-day bullshit show).  Our waitress promptly took our drink order.  When asked about the rules for ordering the lunch special, she basically instructed us that it was 10 wings with one choice of sauce or you could get them naked with multiple sauce choices on the side.  Unfortunately, the only things naked here are the wings.  All we needed to tell her was boneless or traditional, fries or salad and the flavor.  So, three out of four of the group ordered ten traditional hot wings, while the hold out decided it best to order naked wings with both hot sauce and garlic parm on the side.   

After a brief moment discussing whether our waitress was real cute or if it was the blonde hair and deep tan that made her enticing to look at, our wings arrived and they appeared to be hot in temperature with steam rolling off.   The whole group ordered French fries and were somewhat disappointed the fries were a bit too fried.  They were very crunchy and one member hinted a seasoning on the fries.  We believe the flavor actually came from the grease though and not a special seasoning. 

The wings themselves were of good size, although they weren’t as big as Hooters or Starship Billiard’s wings.  They did have the appropriate spiciness and an extra amount of grease, which left your hands and face in much need of paper towels.  After launching ourselves into the wings, one in the group mentioned a strange flavoring, especially when you got down to the bone.  After much discussion, we wondered if the cooking oil was old or the wings were left in the freezer too long.  It couldn’t have been that bad though, as most of the group ate all ten of their wings.

Our waitress was very accommodating and continuously worked to keep our drinks full.   She was pleasant on the eyes even if it was blonde locks, a dark tan, and a nice bounce in her bra running a feint from her true beauty (or lack thereof).  In other words, the service was very good.  The price was decent getting you 10 wings and fries for about $8 if you drank water instead of soda or beer.

The wings were okay, but when compared to Hooters and Starship probably not up to their par.  Throw in a bit of ambiance and Hooters is winning the tour hands down.  This visit left us grading it average and wanting the joint to Show Me more.