Miller's Ale House

Miller's Ale House

3046 Hempstead Turnpike
Levittown, NY 11756

The latest stop on our tour to sample the tastiest wings around was Miller's Ale House in Levittown, NY.  I'll just get right to it -- they were damn good.  I don't think I'd be going out on too much of a limb here by saying they were the best we've encountered on our young mission.  

Miller's offers 8 different varieties of wings:  4 of the 'hot' category (mild, medium, hot and Mt. St. Helens), garlic, bbq, sweet and sour and honey mustard.  Since Steve was running a little late (Congrats Aunt Lauren) Jeremy and I did the ordering and went with Mt. St. Helens (of course), garlic and honey mustard.

First, the Mt. St. Helens.  Finally, a hot wing that was hot.  I don't think a hot wing should be so hot that you need to sign a waiver to eat one...however, sweat beads on your forehead after you've stacked a couple of bones in your bowl is a must and Mt. St. Helens delivered.  It took Jeremy about five wings to break a sweat while Steve was perspiring after a couple of bites.  Some might call him lesser of a man, but it was humid out so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.  I think I came in somewhere in the middle.  Aside from the heat, the Mt. St. Helens had some great, peppery flavor, a solid amount of meat and were nicely cooked -- crispy outside with a moist and tender inside.  They had a generous coat of sauce that formed a dipping reservoir in the bottom of the bowl for those looking for a little extra kick.  I'm not really sure what else you can look for in a wing.

Next up, the garlic.  This wing had a very potent flavor that hit you in the face before the meat even touched your lips -- I mean, it's garlic right?  Although Jeremy and Steve really seemed to enjoy this one (am I right guys?), I was a little more on the fence.  I love garlic, so it definitely had that going for it...but it was very buttery/oily.  Think of it as a buffalo wing scampi.  If you like a scampi where you need your napkin after every bite, or spaghetti and broccoli where the olive oil is running down your fork hand, you'll love these wings.  I liked them, but they were my third favorite of the night.  I also thought, in contrast to the very wet coat, that the wing itself was a little over-cooked and dried out.  I'm going to assume that this isn't the norm though since the rest of the wings were cooked just fine.

Finally, the breakthrough performer of the night.  The dark horse.  The surprising upset.  The honey mustard buffalo wing.  They were meaty and dripping with honey mustard and I couldn't keep my hand out of the bowl.  They were awesome.  I was honestly craving them the next day.  The flavor was so good, they were large and cooked just right.  I could go for a dozen right now, my mouth is watering.  I guess this goes to show us that it doesn't have to be off the charts on the Scolville Scale to be a good wing.  Lesson learned.

As for the other factors, it was pretty crowded but we had no problem grabbing a couple of seats at the bar.  Once the bartender realized we were there, she was on top of things and made sure we were taken care of.  I think there was a 30 minute wait or so for a table though.  The Yanks/Sawx game was on, so that might have had something to do with it.  Pricing was so/so.  I think an order of 50 (which can only be broken up into different flavors as 25/25) was around 26 bucks.  Not breaking the bank, but not 10 cent wings either.  

Alright Nassau County, you're on the map and, so far, topping the list.  But don't worry, there's still lots of time for another pub to knock Miller's Ale House off of it's throne and steal the crown (I'm looking at you, Grumpy Jack).