Hunter's in Glen Cove Decimated By Fire

According to Glen Cove Patch, another potential wing establishment has burned down.  Hunter's Grill in Glen Cove was located on Forest Avenue and was known for its hunting lodge atmosphere and barbecue cuisine.  The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

For us wing enthusiasts, Hunter's menu boasted "Smoked BBQ Wings: Flames that roast pieces of fresh cherry wood, create smoked atmosphere for our savory wings that cook to a perfect temperature with the addition of a homemade BBQ sauce (choice of Sweet, Hot and I Dare You!)."  Just reading that, I want to try them, and I have never been a fan of BBQ wings.  This is a shame, let's hope Hunter's can recover and re-open soon.

Keep checking with the Wingmen and the Glen Cove Patch for more information on this story as it develops.

Smokin' Al's Famous BBQ Joint

 4847 Merrick Rd.

Massapequa Park, NY

Website

This past Sunday, as we sat at Jeremy's house and watched the Jets shock the Patriots (while eating mediocre wings), our friend Pat asked us why we haven't tried Smokin' Al's wings yet.  Well, I had never heard of the place before, but tucked it away in my memory.  When it came time to choose a place to go for our Wednesday wing meetup, I threw out Smokin' Al's as a suggestion.  Knowing that Massapequa is a hike for me, Steve suggested Sly Fox Inn by St. John's University.  We decided to make our choice based on the menu.  I copied the descriptions into an email and sent them to Jeremy and Steve.  Sly Fox Inn offers "Jumbo Buffalo Wings... tossed in pepper sauce with bleu cheese dressing".  Smokin' Al's describes their "Some Like it Hot" wings as "Chicken wings, rubbed, smoked and then smothered with Al's Famous Rattlesnake Sauce". Steve's reply:

Rattlesnake sauce! We HAVE to go there!

Sorry Jody... My vote is for Smokin' Al's!

Fair enough, it's tough to argue with that. So I walked to the subway station, took the A train to Penn Station, took the LIRR to Bayside, walked home, got in my car and hopped on the Grand Central Parkway.  About two hours later I was in Massapequa ordering a Sierra Nevada and wings.

The waitress warned us that they didn't serve traditional pub wings.  They are conjoined, smoked and coated in BBQ sauce and she didn't want us to be disappointed.  We assured her that this wasn't our first rodeo and we knew what we were in for.  The wings came out very quickly and were as advertised.  I'd put them in the same category as Virgil's wings, which I really liked.  

Jeremy rolled up his sleeves and dug in first.  He gave his stamp of approval almost immediately.  The wings were cooked really well.  They are smoked for hours, seasoned with a dry rub and drenched in BBQ sauce.  They have just enough char on the skin and are moist and tender in the middle.  They were conjoined, pretty large and had a good amount of meat.  They offer two choices of sauce: regular and rattle snake.  As far as we could tell, the only difference between the two is some crushed red pepper in the rattle snake to give it a little more heat.  It didn't make it all that hot, so if you tend to shy away from very spicy foods, don't worry, you can probably handle the rattle snake.  I felt the sauce was strong on the vinegar and maybe a little thin.  Steve thought it was too sweet, which I agreed with.  Jeremy was the biggest fan of the three of us and didn't have much in the form of criticism.  Small critiques aside, we had no problem polishing them off.

Instead of ordering another plate of wings, we decided to mix it up and get a haystack and burnt endz.  The haystack is an obscenely large portion of fried onion rings piled about ten feet high on a plate.  Seriously, the three of us went to work on it and didn't even come close to eating half.  I'm not a fan of the huge portion.  I feel like it's gimmicky and most of it ends up wasted.  No question it was a tasty appetizer, but I'd say it would take about 6 hungry guys to polish it off.  That seems excessive to me.  The burnt endz were much more manageable (although they were served on a bed of haystack!) and we took care of them no problem.  These are the seasoned, crusted, burnt ends of their brisket that they chop off after smoking for 12 hours.  They are of course coated in their BBQ sauce. Unlike a lot of imitation BBQ places, the smokey flavor really comes through at Smokin' Al's.  I guess that's why Zagat voted them best BBQ on Long Island six years in a row.

Overall, I'd say they're a few notches below Virgil's but a solid choice if you're on LI and need some BBQ.  They also have a location in Bay Shore. Check them out.  Make sure you're hungry.  Really hungry.

Longhorns Saloon and Barbecue

Longhorns Saloon & Barbecue

12 S. Park Avenue

Rockville Centre, NY 11570

516-245-9191

Map and Directions

National Buffalo Wing Day Week continues as our adventure at Paddy Power brought The Wingmen to Longhorn's Saloon & Barbecue. Caitlin Nicole, on our Facebook page, suggested it a few months back and we finally decided to take her up on her recommendation. Since this "saloon" seems to celebrate the Old West, please indulge me as I add in some western slang and phrases (in italics) to the post. If you would like to understand what I am saying, go to the Old West Writer's Guide.

Our posse rolled up to Longhorns in the early evening to hang around and gabbed a seat near the front of the saloon by the wide open front windows. It was a small place with huge tracks of land and western themed decorations and license plates all over the walls. A bit rich, but it worked.

Longhorn's has one of the best wing specials we have come across to date, Monday through Thursday from 5PM until 10 PM wings are just $.25 each, and is not afraid to play to the gallery. In order to get multiple flavors, you must order them in groups of 20 and you get just one bleu cheese per 20. Extra carrots and celery are $2.50 and if you add an extra $.10 per wing they will make them honey wings. "What are honey wings?" you ask, well, good question, we had to ask ourselves. The waitress told us that they take whatever sauce you want and add honey to them. Who knew it would be such a simple answer?

We ordered up 20 Buffalo Hot Wings and 20 Chipotle BBQ Wings. We knew forty wings may be a heap for us, but since we had to try at least 2 flavors, 40 was the minimum for us on this night. Although Jeremy wanted to try the honey wings, he was out voted 2-1 and we had honey-less wings. We decided to bend an elbow and then waited for our forty wings to arrive.

When the wings arrived the first thing we noticed was how large the wings were and usually being a good thing (and still is) but after eating three orders of wings at Paddy Power, these large wings were very daunting. But we are The Wingmen, damn-it, and we will persevere! I'll start with the Buffalo Hot Wings. These large wings were a bit shoddy. They were juicy on the inside, but not as crispy on the outside as we would have liked. A wing that is not crispy seems unfinished, but the buffalo sauce was exactly what you would have expected it to be. Butter, butter and more butter with tons of hot sauce added. If you ask me, it may have been a bit too much of the butter and I am not going to soft solder them too much, they were good, but could have been better. The three of us polished off about 15 of them... yes, I know, we left wounded soldiers in the field.

As for the Chipotle BBQ Wings, well, I think an explanation of what "chipotle" is in order first. I have found that not many people actually know what chipotles are, other than being a burrito place that until 2006 was pretty much owned by the McDonald's Corporation. Chipotles are smoked, dried jalapenos which are brownish in color and shriveled up (kind of like sun-dried tomatoes). They vary in variety and spiciness. Now, when it comes to barbecue sauce, I can be a real croaker but at Longhorns, the chipotle is put to good use making their BBQ sauce very unique. The Chipotle BBQ sauce has a smokey, spicy flavor with very little of that over-the-top sweetness that many of the other barbecue sauces that we've tried have had. We were very pleasantly surprised. They were hot as a whorehouse on nickel night and flavorful and meaty and juicy and crispy... Longhorns did a bang-up job. We also polished off about 15 of these guys which made us all a bit sad. We wanted more, but our bellies were full and no matter how hard we fought the Kilkenny cats, we just couldn't finish them.

Longhorns is a decent place to find wings and I highly suggest that you try the Chipotle BBQ sauce. If you like barbecue, smokey flavor and spice in your wings, you won't be disappointed. Longhorns is definitely aces high and Wingmen approved... Bully for you! Thank you, Caitlin, for the suggestion!

Paddy Power!

Totally kick-ass mullet

Totally kick-ass boom pole

Last week, on National Buffalo Wing Day, The Wingmen were all set to embark on a new feature of the blog to enhance your reading pleasure. We were going to shoot our first semi-sort of professional video review. We gathered a bunch of ragtag video equipment (including a boom pole made out of a painting pole, curtain hook, rubber bands and tape - eat that MacGyver), met up nice and early and promptly got the phone call informing us that the shoot was a bust. But we're professionals now, we improvise. With a majority of the day ahead of us, we decided to go on a 3 stop wing mission - the old fashioned way.

So, for National Buffalo Wing Day, we'll post each stop over the course of the next three days. First up for The Wingmen's National Buffalo Wing Day Week is: Paddy Power!

Paddy Power

70 Merrick Ave.

Merrick, NY

516-223-3900

Website

Maps and Directions

During the colonial period, Merrick became a trading center because vessels could enter Jones Inlet and sail up deep channels to docks beside what is now Merrick Road. During the War of 1812 these channels, canals and coves made Merrick a haven for buccaneers who preyed on merchants in search of wings (probably true). Pirates (one eyed Willy) in whaleboats once robbed prominent landowner George Hewlett and two friends while they were duck hunting (for wings), ripping the silver buttons from their coats (so they can play a few songs on the juke-box). At one point, residents armed with muskets captured one bandit leader and shipped him to New York in irons for trial because he would not share his wings (probably true as well).

Paddy Power is a bar located in the town of Merrick. Just along other shops and stores, Paddy Power provides a nice Irish tavern appeal that seems to bring in a local crowd. Throughout random conversations with my neighbors, they all suggested we try this place out. Bottom line....worth it. The bar set up was perfect for whatever mood you are in. If you feel like sitting at the bar, it is l-shaped and goes throughout the entire pub. In addition, there is a long bar set up in the middle of the place as well as tables for a more private option to your outing. There are an abundance of televisions as well as games available.

The Hot Wings at Paddy Power- what can I say, as good as buffalo wings get. Images of the BBQ and teriyaki can be found on our Facebook account.

Now for the wings: simple but good. Paddy Power provided you with flavors such as BBQ, teriyaki and buffalo. All excellent, especially since I'm not a teriyaki fan and they were great. My fellow wingmen were fans as well. The meat to bone ratio was just right with enough crisp on the outside as well as moistness on the inside. All in all....spectacular. This place will be my new towny spot, replacing Cassidy's. Cassidy's is great but this place offers a better variety and is just as convenient to get to. Go there and let 'em know The Wingmen sent ya!

Dixie's Smokehouse

Dixie's Smokehouse

"Texas BBQ and Rotisserie"

12 Indian Head Road

Kings Park, NY 11754

(At the LIRR Station)

631-292-2520

http://www.dixiessmokehouse.com/

Maps and Directions

Jimmy Junior, let me get this straight, you suggest Dillinger's Pub and Grill, and Jody does the review. You suggest Cabo, A Taste of Mexico, and Jody and I do the review. Now there is a review of Dixie's Smokehouse because you suggested it? Are you kidding me? You are 3 for 3 son... we must really like your suggestions! Don't worry everyone else who suggested places, we really do have a list and we will get to most of them (we don't have a travel budget yet [the FoodBuzz advertising checks have not come in yet], so those of you across the state line, it may take us a bit longer to get to you), but we truly appreciate the suggestions! Now to Dixies...

Dixie's Smokehouse Texas BBQ and Rotisserie is settled in a small shopping center just south of Northern Boulevard on Indian Head Road in Kings Park, NY... yes, the same Kings Park where Craig Biggio of the Huston Astros went to High School. It is a very small smokehouse with limited seating and a small bar. When I got there, it was pretty packed and it was a week night. I had spoke to my Uncle Carl that evening and he said the ribs were really good, but I was not there for ribs, I had three flavors of buffalo wings to conquer!

Cowboy Mike's Famous Chicken Wings come in Hot, Honey Mustard and Dixie's Smokehouse Texas BBQ flavors and are served in orders of five (5) or ten (10) wings at a time. The five size is perfect because it afforded me the opportunity to order 5 of each of the 3 flavors! I placed my order, tried a sip of a new beer they had on tap, Honker's Ale, decided I didn't want one and grabbed a Blue Moon instead. I then waited, and as I did, I read the placemat.

As I read, this caught my eye: "The Secret to True Pit Smoking- It's about time, temperature and heat source. At Dixie's Smokehouse, our smoker requires no electricity or gas to cook our meats. We smoke them using indirect heat from burning hickory wood at low temperatures over long periods of time. There are no shortcuts in our smoking process 'low and slow.'" Now that is cool and made me wish that I had ordered something smoked, not fried. But alas, my wings were on their way, and I couldn't have been more excited!

My wings arrived all on one plate and ready to be consumed. I took my usual picture and the family next to me started whispering about how weird that was. I tried to explain that I blog about wings, but I still think they walked away thinking I was a complete weirdo. Some people, I mean really. I then went back to the wings and tackled them one flavor at a time, starting with the hot.

Bottom left- Hot

Bottom Right- Honey Mustard

Top Center- Dixie's Smokehouse Texas BBQ

The hot were not overpowering and the heat did not blow me out of the water by any stretch. What they did have was late blooming spice that got stronger as I hit wings number two, three, four and five. The sauce was not your traditional butter and hot sauce, but it was very tasty. I know there was cayenne pepper in there, but the other flavors I could not place. They are worth ordering again.

I then moved on the the honey mustard and just looking at them I was a bit disappointed. The fatal flaw with these wings were that they were fried first and then tossed in the honey mustard. If you want the sauce to permeate the wing, you really need to fry them after they are dipped in the honey mustard and then toss them again in the sauce. What saved these wings was the fact that the honey mustard they use is very good and they used a lot of it. There was a decent puddle of it on the bottom of the plate and you know I sopped up the last few wings in it. Again, I'd order them again.

I finished the night off with the Dixie's Smokehouse Texas BBQ sauce. Anyone who knows me (or has read previous reviews) knows I don't like BBQ sauce on wings. It is usually too sweet and is just not for me. Dixie's BBQ is really no different. The wings were drenched in it, which is a plus, the smokey flavor in the BBQ sauce was a nice change from the norm and they had a bit of a kick, but they were still too sweet for my liking. If you like BBQ sauce, and you like the taste of smoke, then you may enjoy these, but they just are not for me.

These wings were all cooked to a nice crisp, retained they juiciness on the inside and just as Jimmy Junior said on our Facebook page, they were a bit small in size. They are a decent deal though, five (5) for $4.49 and ten (10) for $7.49, so my fifteen (15) wings set me back $11.98 or $00.80 per wing. My beer was $6, so I was sated on $17.98 + tip worth of wings and beer.

The only side note I have to this review is the day after eating these wings I was not feeling too well. Those of you who know me, know that I have a bit of a weak stomach at times, and those of you who don't know me, well, now you know too. I am about 99.99% sure that the food was not the issue and it was too many incredible flavors for my weak stomach to handle. I have to tell you about this aspect of the experience because if the same thing happens to you, then our readers need to know!

All in all, give Dixie's Smokehouse a try when you are in Biggio's backyard! I can't wait to go back and try the ribs and brisket!

Virgil's Real Barbecue

152 W. 44th St.

New York, NY 10036

website

map

Dear BBQ Wings,

It's no secret that you and I got off to a bad start. You're generally too sweet... too tangy... and pale in comparison to the myriad other varieties of wings available. I've said some bad things about you, publicly. I've embarrassed you and called you mean names to our readers. While sometimes you do deserve it, I have to admit that my feelings have changed. I think we're turning over a new leaf you and I. Ends up, I was just at the wrong places at the wrong times. I've been enlightened though. My last two experiences have been wonderful. We got off on the wrong foot, but I think we can turn this around. I'm willing to give it a try if you are.

Your new friend,

Jody

Yeah, that's right. I now like BBQ wings and I'm not afraid to say it. After having a pretty satisfactory batch at Canz in Astoria, I followed the recommendation of reader Rebecca Podniesinski and visited Virgil's Real Barbecue in Times Square. We've really been trying to hit all of the recommended places lately, which is really great for us. We used to actually have to do research and whatnot to try and come up with places to go. Now we just work our way down the list. Keep 'em coming. The other day, I found myself in Chelsea with some time to kill, so I hopped on the 1 train and headed for 42nd St. I'm pretty sure that most of our readers are either from NY or have been there, so you can appreciate the amount of dedication it takes to brave the perils of Times Square. You're welcome.

Luckily, I went late in the afternoon, after lunch but before the PM rush - it was fairly empty. I found a spot at the bar and put in an order for wings. Like I said, I did like the BBQ wings at Canz. However, they're not even in the same league as Virgil's. Canz has wings with BBQ sauce on them. Virgil's has real, smoked, BBQ wings. There's a huge difference. While sitting and waiting for my wings, I read that they're smoked over a combination of three different types of wood which, obviously, impacts the flavor of the meat. I'm just an amateur foodie, but from what I know there are basically two schools in the BBQ world. One is all about the sauce. The other casts the sauce aside in favor of a dry rub... and never, so I thought, the Twain shall meet. Not the case at Virgil's. The wings were coated in sauce as well as a mixture of spices. I loved this. Between the smokey flavor, the taste of the sauce and the accent from the spices, these wings were among the tastiest I've ever had. They were excellent. They looked great too... there was a Midwestern tourist couple sitting next to me. They weren't hungry, but popped in to grab a beer and escape the heat for a while. After seeing my plate of wings, they were convinced to come back later to try the food. I hope they did.

I tried the chipotle ranch dressing. It was good, but unnecessary. These wings were fine on their own.

I know we usually look for the perfect char or crisp on the skin but, since these were slow cooked, I didn't feel bad making an exception. They were so tender that the meat basically just fell off the bone. I don't think I even needed my teeth. As for the price, here's your tip of the day: sit at the bar. On the menu, it lists wings at $13.95. However, everything on Virgil's "bar bites" menu is $8.95. There were about 8 full wings to an order, which means 16 when broken into the wings and drums. That puts them around 56¢/wing, which is a pretty good price... but in Times Square that's basically free.

One of my favorite side notes was the "napkin". Normally, you'd go through a whole stack while eating these wings. Virgil's thought of that and, instead of napkins or paper towels, they give you a full sized kitchen towel. When you're done, you get a wet, steaming wash cloth instead of a wet-nap. Classy.

If I had a washing machine in my Co-op, I might do this every night at dinner.

Well, consider me a convert. I'm a fan of a good BBQ chicken wing. Now I just have to convince my colleagues. Jeremy, Steve... maybe Dinosaur BBQ?

Epilogue: I did have leftovers. After writing this review, at about 1 am, I'm heading to my refrigerator to crush the survivors. Mmmm.

Canz a City Roadhouse

40-11 30th Ave

Astoria, NY 11103

Website

For those of you who read this blog often, you know we already visited the Canz out in Westbury. Recently, they also opened a location in Astoria, Queens and we had to give it a try.

Right off the bat I liked this location better. First of all, it's in Astoria which means I didn't have to drive anywhere. I'm a fan of public transportation, especially when drinking is involved. Second, it has one of those storefronts that completely opens up - giving you the feel of sitting outside without having to bake in the sun. There was also another outdoor section in the back (sans TV's though). It was a perfect day for Wings Al Fresco. One odd similarity was the waitress. What are the chances of having the same waitress the only two times you go to two different locations? Probably pretty low, but we had the same girl as last time. I believe Steve called her "less than polite" in the earlier review. I'm happy to report that she was a little happier this time around - a bit frazzled at times, but friendly none-the-less.

The open, airy eating area in the back.

We ordered two different flavors from the last visit - Asian and BBQ - and made sure to stay away from the Dirty Canz wings. Hey, I'm willing to try a lot for this site, but I'm not dumb.

The Asian was ok. They were cooked really well and had a nice amount of meat but were a little on the dry side. They were really similar to the Teriyaki, which I guess makes some sense. Overall, pretty forgettable.

The BBQ was totally surprising. By now you probably know about our indifference towards BBQ wings. It's pretty well documented. Most of the time we just stay away from them, unless we're out of flavors to try. Well these were, by far, the best I've had yet. I loved them. They were plump, well cooked and coated in a nice, thick and gooey sauce. They weren't overly sweet like most BBQ tend to be. They actually reminded me a lot of the BBQ chicken I grew up eating off the grill in my back yard. Steve wasn't able to make this outing, but I texted him to tell him I actually liked a BBQ wing. He didn't believe me. He'll just have to make the trip and try them out for himself. If anything, these wings inspired me to expand my horizons in the BBQ category. I'm now looking forward to places like Virgil's and Dinosaur BBQ, which I'm sure will blow Canz away.

If you're looking at what I like to call the "full spread photo", you may be asking yourself, "what are those things in the middle?" They are the Canz Buffalo Bitez, a boneless chicken "wing". I know, I know... it's not a wing if it doesn't have a bone in it. Steve, Jeremy and I actually had a talk about these guys and decided to ban them from the site. We just didn't feel right about them. However, BJ (a friend of ours that I was with this night) ordered them kind of spur of the moment. I didn't know they were coming. But, with apologies to the traditionalists, I liked them. They're crispy, tasty and obviously their meat to bone ratio is unbeatable. I'd eat them again and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

The full spread shot. Yeah, those are boneless "bitez" in the middle.

So yeah, maybe this place is a little schticky. A modern day Hooters. But the wings are actually pretty good and worth giving a shot. They also have all the games on and a huge selection of beers both on tap and in cans, er, canz. It rides the line between chain-y franchise and cool neighborhood hangout, but I like Canz and I'll probably be back.

Dillingers Pub & Grill

Dillingers Pub & Grill

46-19 30th Ave.

Astoria, NY 11103

www.dillingersny.com/

One of the pubs on our ever growing list of your recommendations is Dillingers in Astoria. Spots that were recommended by you guys are usually my favorite. It means someone has already been there and liked the wings enough to suggest them to us. It's a much better system than flying blind.

Well Jimmy Junior, thanks for the heads up. Dillingers is a great spot to dig into some wings. They have a Tuesday night special with 25¢ wings and $10 pitchers starting at 6 PM. There are four different varieties: buffalo, teriyaki, BBQ and Dillingers. I was immediately intrigued by the Dillingers sauce - nice, something different. Just as quickly, I dismissed the BBQ - save it for the ribs and brisket. I ordered one plate each of buffalo, teriyaki and Dillingers (don't worry, I had help).

It wasn't all perfect, so I'll start with the bad. The Buffalo was a bit dry. They were cooked alright but they just didn't have enough sauce. I feel like there are two ways cooks can go here. They can put the sauce on before the wings hit the flames, or they can toss them in the sauce after. I prefer them to be tossed after, but these seemed to have been prepared the other way. You can see in the "after" picture, there are still plenty of wings left on the plate.

The Buffalo weren't terrible, but the other flavors were much better.

Now that that's out of the way, on to the teryaki. These were much better. The sauce itself was on par with most teryaki sauces out there, but they were coated much more thoroughly. To me, if you don't have to lick the sauce off your fingers or at least go for a napkin before you pick up your beer then there's not enough sauce. Unless of course you're a Trongs user, then that theory flies right out the window. These passed the test. They were also nice and crispy without the meat being dried out. Overall, a good wing.

Don't worry. I took care of that last teriyaki wing after I snapped this shot.

How about the namesake wing? They're probably the best of all three. The flavor was tough for me to place. I'm on the fence between a carefully constructed concoction of garlic, citrus, a little sweetness and possibly a touch of Thai seasoning - OR - they just took all of their sauces and mixed them together. Either way, I liked it and it was refreshing to have something different. I'd recommend giving this sauce a try.

Sorry, the light wasn't great. Luckily the new iPhone has a built in LED light!

Anyway, these are the Dillinger wings.

Although the wings were definitely a plus, the real draw of Dillingers is the pub itself. It's the model local neighborhood pub. It's small, laid back and had a welcoming vibe. They had good beers on tap and all of the food coming from the kitchen looked great. The service was an A+. Everyone was very friendly. Flat screen TV's played all the local teams in action. What else do you need?

We crushed the Dillingers flavored wings... whatever they were.

1849

1849

183 Bleecker St.

New York, NY 10012

www.1849nyc.com

Last Friday, Steve schlepped into the city and met me at work. We wanted to hit a couple of top notch wing spots - no, the best wing spots. Whenever I ask Google to tell me who has the best wings in New York City, I end up seeing a slue of different pubs and dive bars. It's a little daunting. There are 23 square miles packed with all kinds of places to choose from, and everyone has their favorite. I did seem to notice a couple of places that were mentioned more than others though. My less than scientific research told me that if we were to hit two places that night (and that was our plan), we should try 1849 in The Village and Blondie's on the Upper West Side. We didn't exactly make it to Blondie's. We actually ended up at Manny's on the Upper East Side which used to be Blondie's but...well, Steve will tell you all about it. He's got that review. First though, we hoofed it over to The Village to check out 1849.

As you can probably tell by the name, 1849 has an old Western gold rush theme. It might sound a little gimmicky, like something you'd see in Times Square, but I thought it actually worked well and was a cozy place. Instead of a bunch of tables set up outside of the bar area, 1849 has plush couches and ottomans set up in circles. It was a little more comfortable than your standard pub and probably not a bad spot to settle in for the night. Adding to the mood are buffalo heads mounted on the wall and antler chandeliers dangling from the ceiling... so, you know, they've got that going for them.

On to the wings. We started out slow. If we were going to sample multiple spots, we'd have to pace ourselves. We ordered a plate of the "Gold Rush" wings and a couple of beers. It's worth pointing out that the waitress was pretty helpful here. Steve is a big fan of Hoegaarden, which is a wheat beer and not all that common on tap. He asked the waitress what they had that was similar and she gave a couple of recommendations. I always like when you can talk beer with a bartender/waiter like people talk about wine because, well, you should be able to do that. Anyway, the wings came out and they had a very familiar taste.

They were tender, well cooked, flavorful and lightly breaded. Yup, we each took one bite and thought, "Hooters". I do think they're a little better than Hooter's wings. The breading is a little lighter and they are not as greasy. So for all of you guys who tell your GF's/wives that you only go to Hooters for the food, you may not want to mention this place to them. Better wings, no orange shorts. But if you don't like Hooters wings, or just breaded wings in general, you're probably going to want to stay away from these. I do like breaded wings though - I know, I know... blasphemy. Don't worry, I think they're better "naked" as they say, but it's nice to mix it up every once in a while. We both enjoyed them and should have stopped there and moved on to Blondie's, er, Manny's. But of course, we didn't.

The lightly breaded Gold Rush wings.

Against our better judgement and our prior experiences with BBQ wings, we decided to order a plate of their other flavor. This is where Steve and I have differing opinions. He thought they were too sweet and pretty awful. I thought they were the best BBQ wings we've had so far. I also believe that the best BBQ is still worse than the worst Teriyaki (maybe a bit of an exaggeration) but all-in-all I still thought they were pretty decent. I definitely prefer the Gold Rush, but I'd eat the BBQ again.

Our nemesis, the BBQ wing. I thought they were ok... Steve? Not so much.

Were these the best wings in NYC? Probably not. But they were good, the beer selection was large, flat screen TV's were showing all the local sports teams in action, the juke box was playing good music and it was an overall cool environment. I'll be back. That's the thing though... it's probably going to be impossible to find the best wings in NYC. But we sure can have a good time trying. Would Manny's be any better? We grabbed our metro cards and headed out the door to find out...

And now for something completely different...

We've spent the last few weeks critiquing buffalo wings made by various cooks in and around the greater NY area.  I kind of feel like a New York sports/talk radio guy, like Chris "Mad Dog" Russo.  You know, those irritating guys that flap their gums all morning about football when they've never touched an actual football in their lives.  

It's kind of the same for me.  I had never actually cooked a chicken wing before (even though I got a deep fryer for my wedding over 2 years ago that's still in the box), yet I've been giving my 2¢ about how professionals are doing their job.  I don't necessarily think you need to be a good cook to be a good eater, but it can't hurt.  And since I'm not totally lost in the kitchen I figured I'd try my hand at cooking my own wings.

Being that this was my first attempt, I decided to play it simple.  I'd go with the classic wing sauce mix (equal parts Frank's Red Hot + butter) as well as BBQ (store bought).  I figured it was more important to focus on the chicken.  Besides, if this hot sauce mixture is good enough for Anchor Bar in Buffalo then it's certainly good enough for me.  As for cooking method, this was the perfect opportunity to christen my deep fryer...but of course I didn't do it.  Instead, I opted for the dual cooking method of baking then grilling.  My goal was to get nice moist meat with crispy, even charred, skin - a la Mike's Place.

I started by brushing the wings with a light coat of vegetable oil and a pinch or two of salt and pepper.  I put them on a baking sheet and threw them in the oven at 350 until they started to get a nice golden brown color.  In the meantime, I was making the hot wing sauce in a frying pan on the range.  First I melted the butter, then added the Frank's sauce until I was happy with the color (I think I use color as a measuring stick way more than time or other actual measurements).  I took the wings out of the oven and brushed on a thin coat of the sauce, which I was hoping would burn just a little, then tossed them on the grill.  When I was happy with the look, I took them off and tossed half of them in hot sauce and the other half in BBQ sauce.  Then, time to chow down.

First, the important part, the meat.  I was half successful in my goal.  I got the meat perfectly moist and tender, but I wasn't happy with the skin.  I really wanted more crisp, but it wasn't there.  The sauce was tasty but basic.  I do wish it was a little thicker though, it ran off the wings a little.  The BBQ was what it was.  Just a store bought brand so not much to report.  I think I'd give myself a C+.  They were flavorful, tender wings but had plenty of room for improvement.  And I do plan to give it another go...I already bought the wings.  This time I think I'm going to try a more complex buffalo sauce.  For the second option, I'm going to ditch the BBQ and go for a Thai Peanut sauce - I think that could catch on!  Also, I have to finally take that deep fryer out of the box and do this right.

So, does anyone else have a recipe for buffalo wings that I can try out?  I know the other guys are into trying some recipes themselves and it could be fun to expand this blog into a place to get/give/trade recipes for wings and sauces.  I know Steve's dad has a kick-ass wing recipe.  He made them for Steve's surprise 30th Bday party, and they were good.  REALLY good.  Let's see if we can get him to give us a tutorial.

Croxley Ales

Croxley Ales

Ale House and Eatery

12 South Park Avenue

Rockville Centre, NY

Jeremy and I ventured out to Croxley's in Rockville Centre, NY a couple of weeks ago. I work in the area and Jeremy lives pretty close. Our buddy, and fellow wing enthusiast, Lee, met us there to take advantage of their $0.10 wing night special. Mondays and Wednesdays are wing nights and they choose a specific beer to be $4.00. This particular evening Hofbrau was the four dollar special and it was music of the 90's night (Lots of Soundgarden, 311, Pearl Jam, The Breeders, Alice In Chains, Sublime, Bush, Danzig and others... I felt like breaking out a flannel and a ratty old sweater).

We ordered up 30 Hot and 20 BBQ to start off the evening. We asked the bartender how hot the hot wings were and she said "not very hot." She did mention that she could bring an extra hot dipping sauce with the order, so we took her up on that offer.

As Jeremy and I waited for the wings, I noticed that they sold Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale. Jody had seen this at a beer distributor a few weeks back and had sent me a text message with a picture of it. Being huge fans of the Monty Python, I had to try it. It was a pretty good beer and went very well with the hot wings. Both Jeremy and Lee, when he got there, ordered them as well.

The BBQ wings were nothing special. They tasted like BBQ wings, but were a bit overcooked. Lee said they were "too tangy," and when Lee speaks, people listen. If you like BBQ wings, I am sure that you would enjoy them. They were not for me, but hey, someone somewhere may enjoy them. Lee said they were "too tangy."

The hot on the other hand were really good. They were cooked perfectly with the right amount of crisp on the outside and juicy-ness on the inside. The bartender was correct when she said they weren't hot but they had a very tasty flavor to the sauce. I am still searching for that wing that is perfectly hot and perfectly tasty. It seems that if a wing is hot, it does not have as much flavor and if they are flavorful, then they are usually not too hot. Croxley's fit the latter. The extra hot dipping sauce helped a lot, but still did not give them overpowering heat.

All in all, we were very impressed with Croxley's. The wings were good and inexpensive, the beer selection was very extensive and the atmosphere was pretty cool. The place was packed, everyone seemed to be having a good time and lots of wings were being ordered. It reminded me a little bit of Dempsey's in Bayside (our first review) because wing night there is always packed and people generally have a good time. The Wingmen are looking forward to making a return trip to Croxley's and the Rockville Centre area soon.

The Waterfront

Last week, I also had the opportunity to visit the Waterfront in New Rochelle, NY. This bar is located right off the water with an excellent view. This gathering happened to be a little get together with various people who work in the Bronx. Every now and then we get together and hit up wing places as well besides me being a wingman. Anyway, we ordered the BBQ and the Hot. The only other flavor that was available was the medium. Both of the orders were great. Both sets had a good amount of meat on them and the flavor was excellent. The hot actually had some kick to it while the BBQ was pretty tangy. Excellent stuff, not too mention that their jacked potato skins gave you a recharge and went in for more chomping.

Foster's Grille

Foster's Grille

5007-E Westone Plaza Dr.
Chantilly, VA 20151

In late September I ventured down to my brother's house in Centreville, VA to meet up with a bunch of his friends from college. We still all get together to play a version of fantasy football called Strat-O-Matic Football. It is hard to explain, but think about it this way... Dungeons and Dragons for sports nerds, but instead of Funions and Mountain Dew, we have wings, chili and beer. Yes, let the sarcastic comments commence. Are we done? Ok, now I'll review the wings.

We ordered take out from Foster's, which my brother and his wife have been to before and had enjoyed the food. The first knock on the place was the cost of the wings. They were $00.72 a piece! Fifty wings for over $36.00!!! That is way too much money. But we ordered 50 anyhow and hoped that the flavor would over-power the hole in my brother's wallet (Mikey, who is from Pittsburgh, had already left and taken my wallet with him, so I was penny-less and Jeff had to pay for the wings). Heather, Jeff's wife went to pick up the wings and brought them back. She also took the above picture, Thanks Heather!

So, Jeff, Heather, Matt, Zak and I decided that we would get 30 hot and 20 BBQ wings. When they arrived, we all sat down and started in on the hot. I don't know if they lost their crisp in the Styrofoam container, but they just had very little crunch to them and we all noticed. Things do tend to get soggy when taken "to go," so I will not say that this was their fault, but, however, they were not hot at all, and that is their fault! I was very clear that I wanted HOT wings on the phone, not mild, but they were very mild. They tasted good, but I wanted my mouth to burn a bit and to possibly break a sweat. These did neither. Overall, the hot wings were quite a disappointment.

The BBQ on the other hand, although also soggy, tasted amazing. The BBQ sauce was flavorful, tangy and really complimented the wings quite well. In fact, I think it is safe to say that the BBQ was everyone's favorites. The wings were a good size, cooked well and left you needing a wetnap.

So, to finish this mini-review, I'd go back to Foster's for the wings to try them in the restaurant. Ordering "to go" may not have been the best option. I will definitely get the BBQ again and may shy away from the Hot. Where is the fun in hot wings that are not hot? So if you are in the Chantilly area of Virginia and you have a lot of money to spend on wings, head on it to Foster's.

Oh... A Foster's just opened up in Nesconset, NY. So a follow up review may have to be put on the Wingmen Agenda!