Blackbird's in Astoria

41-19 30th Ave.
Astoria, NY 11103
Website

This trip started with an email I got from our correspondent in the field, BJ:

"Meant to text you yesterday, but I went for a nice long walk yesterday, ended up at a place called Blackbirds, solid place, nice, laid back (at least during the weekend/day), also there was a really cute bartender, she looked like a redheaded Amy Poehler. 

Anywhoozles, she and a couple of patrons told me that they believe the wings there are the best in NY.  I said, “Best in NY?  That’s bold, are you sure you don’t mean best in NYC or Queens or Astoria?”  They assured me that they meant best in NY.  So, challenge thrown down…"

I agreed. That's a mighty bold statement. To say you not only have the best wings in NYC, but all of New York is pretty gutsy. You don't need me to tell you that Buffalo, home of the hot wing, the Mecca, falls into this jurisdiction. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the magnitude of this claim. For me, if you're saying you have the best wings in all of New York, you might as well be saying you have the best wings in the country. And if you're saying that, you might as well be saying you have the best wings in the world. Wow. Could it be possible that the best wings on the face of the planet were right under our noses in Astoria? Obviously I assembled a team to find out.

Original tipster, BJ, fellow food blogger, Lee (2plus2 NYC Review) and I met at Blackbirds on a Wednesday night. Wednesdays are great because they have half priced wings and four dollar draught beers served in mason jars. Already I liked their style. Bring on the wings. As per usual, the BBQ did nothing for me. I had to test them out though, for science. They were just your typical, sweet, slighlty tangy wing that I've never been too fond of. I will say though that there was a nice coat of sauce, so if you're into BBQ there's a good chance you'll like these.

They also offer mild, hot and Nuclear. Since BJ is a huge wuss and can't take the heat, we ended up going with mild. These were solid. The flavor was a very traditional hot sauce and butter concoction. It was a bit tangy, which I like, a tad salty, which I also like and, considering we ordered mild, there was a decent amount of heat. It was still enough to make BJ sweat, although he'd break a sweat if we replaced the sauce with ketchup so I don't know if that's saying much.

In general, the wings were cooked pretty well with a great crisp but they were a little on the skimpy side. The flavors were solid but nothing ground breaking. Would I eat them again? Absolutely. Were they the best wings ever known to mankind? Probably not. Blackbirds was a pretty cool place though with a good beer selection and friendly service. Plus I always like hanging out in that part of Astoria. I can recommend it as a good place to meet up with some friends and catch up over a cold beer and some wings while watching the game.

Studio Square

35-33 36th St.

Long Island City, NY 11106

Website

Recently, I met up with friends of The Wingmen, Lee and BJ, at Studio Square - the "new" beer garden in Astoria (actually Long Island City). We've been to Bohemian Hall, the original, a bunch of times and it's always fun, so I was excited to see how the new one would stack up.

It's tough to judge. I'm not sure if it's a beer garden or a hip bar with a really large outdoor drinking area. Although it's missing a lot of the charm that Bohemian Hall has, it's still not a bad place to grab a beer after work.

As for the wings, I was not impressed. They were meaty, and they were certainly crispy but the flavor was generic. They were breaded and coated in a basic traditional sauce and reminded me a lot of the wings at Top Bunz. They may both get their stock from the frozen food section in Costco, who knows. I'm not saying I wouldn't eat them again. Hell, I could down a plate of frozen Costco wings with no problem - they're still wings. They're just not worth going out of your way for. If they're just something to pick at while you guzzle pitchers of beer and watch the game on the gigantic screen they have set up outside, well, then they're perfect. Eat them fast though. They seemed to get rubbery as they got colder. I'd really like to compare them to the wings at Bohemian Hall.

Eh. I'd eat them again if I end up there. I'm not going out of my way though.

I've heard a lot of negative comments on the overall atmosphere of this place. Apparently it gets pretty Bro'd out. Like Jersey Shore Bros. We showed up around 7 on a Wednesday and it didn't seem too bad. There was plenty of open space (the place is HUGE), the Yankees game was on the 1,000 foot (give or take) screen and there was absolutely no line for beer or food. So I guess if you want to avoid the hair gel and wife beaters (as well as tight white tank tops), it's probably best to go during the week and earlier in the evening. If you're a Bro, well, go whenever and have at it.

Ok, maybe it's not quite 1,000 feet but it was pretty big.

This has nothing to do with wings, but check out this space-aged, laser sighted hand dryer. I think it took a couple of layers of skin off.

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.