Bourbon Street Cafe
40-12 Bell Blvd.
Bayside, NY 11361
Jody and I set out on what we though would be an early Wednesday evening. We started at 6:30 and had plans of hitting two bars that serve wings, giving us two reviews and be home no later than 10 or 10:30 PM. Jeremy was stuck at work, so he couldn't join us. We had a location too, we were going to hit Brian Dempsey's in Little Neck. Some of you may remember
Brian Dempsey's from our first review almost a year ago, but that one is in Bayside. This one is a few miles away, but owned by the same folks.
After helping Jody put an air conditioner in his bedroom window, we set out for Little Neck, found a place to park, headed into the bar and ordered a couple of drinks. We then looked around the place an noticed how much smaller it was than its Bayside counterpart. It also is not quite as nice. There is a pool table and dart board, so it has that going for it. We then noticed something else, a severe lack of menus or anything advertising food. I asked the bar tender if they have a kitchen and her response was, "we used to, but not anymore." I really wanted to know why, but I didn't ask. We closed Jody's tab after 1 drink each and headed out the door. That is what happens when you assume something... you make an Ass out of Jody and myself (since it was my idea). It is now 7:00 PM, Strike 1.
We then decided to hit a spot that we knew served wings, but still wanted to do two reviews. So we decided to hit McFadden's in Corona, NY. I knew it was near Citi Field and we headed in that direction. The GPS on my Blackberry said it was on the corner of Roosevelt and 111th Street. So we mozied in that direction. We drove around for quite a while and then decided that my GPS was wrong, which is not too uncommon. It is now just after 7:45 and we have swung at Strike 2.
Jody's GPS, which is on an iPhone, sent us to 104th street and 41st avenue. Not too far from where I tried to get us, so we went there. We drove around for a long time looking for a place to park and when we found it, we set out on foot to find this mysterious McFadden's bar. We walked for about 3 blocks when we realized that his GPS was wrong as well. We just hoped that his car would not be on cinder blocks when we got back to it. After getting back in the car, getting flipped around in the chop shop laden streets of Corona, we were quite discouraged and set off back towards Bayside. It is now 8:15 PM, we have not found wings and still have no idea where Mcfadden's is located (It is AT Citi Field, Home of the NY Mets, and just opened this season. Having gone to only a single game, I did not even know. I do now.)... Strike 3, we are out!
By just after 8:40 PM, we end up on Bell Blvd in Bayside with broken spirits and empty stomachs. What a mess of an evening. Two hours and ten minutes after we started out on this journey, we finally find a place that serves wings! Bourbon Street Cafe to the rescue and that cannot be understated. We sat at the bar, watched the Mets shut out the Tigers and ordered up some beer and their Buffalo Wings. It felt really good to just be sitting down and enjoying good cold beer... at least mine was good, Jody's Bluepoint was less than desirable, like they had not changed the keg in a very long time.
Bourbon Street, as you may be able to tell, is a bit of New Orleans in Bayside, Queens and everything about the place screams Mardi Gras. There are beads at the tables, bright mask decorations everywhere and people flashing you left and right (ok, I made the last part up, but it would be nice if they did). The place is quite big and has a nice sized bar with plenty of table seating for more private dinners. The front of the place opens to the street, so you can see the crowds moving about Bell Blvd. There is usually live music at least a few nights a week and this was true when Jody and I walked in. The solo guitarist did a good Bob Marley (complete with Rasta dreadlock hat) and a pretty bad Rob Thomas, but even Rob Thomas is a pretty bad Rob Thomas, so I won't hold it against him.
I know what you are thinking... why the eff has he not spoken about the wings? I am getting to them. We ordered the Buffalo Hot Wings and did not have to wait too long for them to make their way to the bar. They showed up piping hot, and scalding to the touch. They looked a lot like regular buffalo wings, but there was a dry spice sprinkled all over them, the celery and the plate. After tasting it alone, I recognized it as Cajun spice, similar to what I tasted on the
Buffalo Grille's wings. The Cajun spice, added to the buffalo sauce, was a killer combination. They had a good amount of bite to them without being too spicy. They were large wings, well cooked to a crispy outside and juicy center. Bourbon Street makes a mean wing and I suggest trying these when you are in the Bayside area.
Look at the steam coming off those wings! Those are hot Hot Wings!Bourbon Street also is decently priced. The wings cost $7.95 for about 15 and the beer didn't cost too much either. The wings and four beers ran about $30.00 plus tip. You can do a lot worse in Queens. So after failing to find food at Dempsey's in Little Neck, failing to find McFadden's in Corona and losing 2 hours of the evening, Bourbon Street Cafe replenished our energy and Wingmen spirit. We then moved on to
Brews Brothers Bar, and Jody will fill you in on how the rest of the night went.
