Hot n' Saucy Wings

Atomic Wings (@ Blue Room) - Upper East Side, NYC

It's impossible to talk about Buffalo Wings in New York without mentioning Atomic Wings.  Atomic is the only restaurant franchise in the city devoted to chicken wings.  They do a hell of a job...although I disagree strongly with some sentiments expressed on their website:

...to a true connoisseur it seemed criminal that in a city that has everything, there was not an authentic Buffalo Chicken Wing in sight.

This may be true if we only consider a true 'Buffalo Chicken Wing' to be made with chickens raised in Buffalo, NY.  The chain boasts using fresh chickens from upstate.  But does the origin of the chicken really make the wing?  And is Buffalo really the home of the finest chickens?

An interesting thing about Atomic is that they're a franchise that has two types of locations.  One type is a restaurant with a fast food atmosphere (small, orange walls, no alcohol), but some locations are situated in the kitchen of an independent bar.  So my visit to Atomic Wings this week brought me to a bar called The Blue Room.  The kitchen is a separate enterprise; I was billed separately for my beer and wings.  Good thing Atomic Wings can boast a surprising level of consistency between all of its 8 Manhattan locations!

The Blue Room is located right at the Manhattan entrance to the 59th St. Bridge to Queens (also right next to the massive ski-lift that brings folks to Roosevelt Island).  The bar is small, a pool table takes up a lot of the standing room, and the place smells like hot wings...mmmmm.

Atomic offers several sauces.  The 'Sane' can enjoy Mild, Medium, Hot, Honey Mustard, BBQ, Jerk BBQ, or Teriyaki.  The 'Insane' (like myself) can try Abusive, Nuclear, or Suicidal.  I've eaten at Atomic many times, and for this review I chose Nuclear, their second-hottest offering.

The wings were all choice, with a lot of meat on each one.  And they were cooked very well, quite crispy...at first.  I was a little disappointed when I saw the amount of sauce the day cooks had put on them.  I knew that pleasant crisp wouldn't last too long; and despite efforts to put a few wings in quarantine on the side of my plate, my last few wings were on the soggy side.

The sauce, however, is very good.  It's an absolute standard Buffalo sauce, without any frills.  The sauce is smooth, light, and perfectly piquant.  It really is a nice blend, even if it lacks any particular personality of it's own.  If the goal is textbook Buffalo (and it is), then the sauce is a major win.

As for heat, it's probably time for me to move up to the Suicidal wing, as the Nuclear just isn't spicy enough anymore.  I hate it when the spiciest offerings still aren't enough...it makes me feel like some sort of spicy-food-mutant, which is a terribly lame superpower.  For those of you who enjoy milder sauces, I'd take this with a grain of salt - I'm sure the lower indexes are fine for you :)

Coupled with draught Sierra Nevadas at the bar, friendly staff, and a pre-season Red Sox/Mets game on the tube (the good guys won), it was a great low-key meal.  For a wing tour of NYC, I strongly recommend checking out one of the standard-setting Atomic Wings locations.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

...And Be Sure To Add A Second Blogger For Extra Spice

Hot n' Saucy Wings is about to celebrate it's 4th Anniversary.  That's four years following 'a man's consuming passion and obsession with chicken wings.'  I've been salivating since the first post, enjoying the educated reviews of wings all over the northeast.  Now I'm excited to announce that I've been invited to join HSW as an author, reviewer, and all-around online wing commiserator.

I'll start by mentioning that I'm related to this blog's founder-and-still-main-author.  Now before you cry 'Nepotism!' allow me to attempt to validate myself...besides, screaming 'Nepotism!' at a blog is a very silly practice anyway.

As a child growing up in New England, I was under the impression that my favorite food was lobster.  As it so often turns out with that popular crustacean, my fascination with it was more a fascination with clarified butter...which I would later learn is an essential part of a classic Buffalo sauce.

My father opened a chicken wing restaurant about halfway through the presidency of the first George Bush.  He offered about 14 sauces and rubs, and four of the recipes were baked, not fried.  This is where my obsession with wings began.  I spent a lot of time in the kitchen preparing wings: hand-turning baked wings with tongs, frying the others to a timer and shaking them in durable plastic tupperware containers with sauce (two squirts for every 10 wings).  By the time the restaurant closed (bad location...at least the old man broke even!), I was proud to list the chicken wing as my favorite food.

That was years ago.  Now I live in NYC, and enjoy wings several times a week, without fail.  There's a lot of options here in the city, and I can't wait to start sharing them with the readers here.  We've got tons of bars & restaurants, chains, and foreign options.  The biggest city in the country is about to be shared with the society of wing lovers.

All hail the mighty capsaicin!

The Alchemist - Waterbury, VT

An extremely popular watering hole, The Alchemist is a brew pub that offers up delicious locally sourced food to go along with its amazing hand-crafted beers.  It is a favorite after-work spot of the locals and on a Friday night in the winter when you have end-of-the-week workers congregating along side the incoming weekend skiers, things can get pretty crowded.  Even during the week, it is surprisingly busy for a restaurant in the relatively quiet little town of Waterbury.

Since I work across the street from it, I've had the opportunity to sample much of its beer and several of its menu items.  However, until last night, I had never had their wings (I know - shame on me). 

I have been missing out.

The wings come from Misty Knoll Farm, a local chicken farm, so they are super fresh, flavorful and juicy. They come in two styles: spicy dry rub or buffalo style.  I haven't had the buffalo style, opting for the dry rub.  Next time I'll go for the buffalo style, but they will be hard pressed to top the dry rubbed version. 

The dish arrives with the wings arranged around a small container of blue cheese dressing and covered with a light sprinkling of crumbled mild blue cheese.  As the plate is placed in front of you, the aroma of paprika and spices mixing with the richness of the blue cheese wafts into your nostrils. The wings are cooked just right, with light, crispy skin that holds the rub perfectly.  The flavor of the rub is a perfect balance of heat, sweet and savory.  Unlike some other dry rub wings, these don't lose all their flavoring as you eat them, and it doesn't overpower the taste of the chicken.  I can say that these are easily some of the best "dry-style" wings I have ever had anywhere. 

It is right down the street from The Reservoir, which means that Waterbury, Vermont has two locations that start to make it a wing-lover's destination. 

The Reservoir - Waterbury, VT

The Reservoir in Waterbury, VT used to be called Waterbury Wings, so they have a strong wing heritage.  When they changed their name, they also changed their menu to offer a wider selection of food, but it is still a good 'ol pub type of place, with the usual Vermont spin: tons of craft brews and use of local food. 

There are nine different styles of wings offered, mostly consisting of varying levels of heat intensity, along with a Teriyaki style, Chipotle, Honey BBQ, Spicy Honey BBQ and a spicy horseradish.  All of them are available either "crispy" (fried) or grilled.  They also have frequent specials for additional wing flavors.

Their crispy style are quite good, but I have a preference for the grilled option, which come out nicely blackened and flavorful with a nice light rub.  Straight up buffalo style ("hot") is quite good.  The horseradish is interesting, as it is kind of a wet rub style with fresh horseradish, which isn't as hot as you might think.  However, my two favorites are the Teriyaki style, especially served with the grilled wings, and one that they only offer as a special: Southwestern style.  The Teriyaki are served with a thick sweet and tangy glaze that has plenty of garlic and Chinese five spice flavor in it.  They are a mess to eat, but well worth it.  The Southwestern style come highly recommend if it is available - it is a wonderful combination of savory spices, heat and a little sweetness that just sings when paired with the grilled wings.  It would make even Bobby Flay proud!  

My only sticking point with the wings here is that their crispy style wings sometimes come out a little tough - the flavor is great and they are nice and juicy, but the meat itself is a little tough.  Perhaps they are cooked at too high of a temp or just a bit too long. It is a minor quibble, but one that I feel is worth mentioning.  My solution is to go for the grilled version!  Overall, a great place for wings and if you're also into great beer, terrific burgers and fantastic french fries (they might be laced with crack, they are so addictive), then it is well worth a stop for a wing fanatic.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Big Tony's - Providence, RI

Wings from a pizza place are always a crap shoot.  It is never their expertise, and since you usually get take-out from a pizza joint, there is plenty of opportunity for the wings to get soggy and gross. We got take-out from Tony's while at the house of friends' and they said the wings were pretty good, and we decided to try them.

Tony's solution to avoiding the soggy wing issue?  Embrace it.  The wings arrived practically swimming in sauce.  There was no hope of these wings being crispy, but the skin wasn't tough or rubbery either - basically, the whole skin/meat part just slid right off the bone. 

The sauce was fairly spicy, with a sweet undertone that helped to mellow out the heat and add depth of flavor.  Not unlike Tony's in general, I would say that the wings are worth getting if you're nearby, but not worth going out of your way for.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

Texas Land & Cattle - Arlington, TX

These wings were an unexpected surprise in an otherwise fairly generic "pseudo-Western" steak house chain along the lines of Longhorn or Lone Star.  The rest of food was good, but the wings wereaboe average. 

They have a pleasant smoky flavor and are clearly actually smoked using, you know, real wood and stuff.  THe skin is tender and somewhat crispy for smoked wings, and the sauce is spicy, balanced with some nice sweet BBQ flavor.  The only two issues is that the wings a bit puny, and the sauce is salty.  However, I would have them again if I found myself at the restaurant in the future.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

United BBQ - Providence, RI

United BBQ is a small little restaurant on the East Side of Providence that does mainly take out - they have only a few tables and some bar stools that allow you to eat on a ledge looking out the window.  However, they do some authentic barebcue, as evidenced by the visible smoker and the penetrating smell of real wood being burned. 

For wings, they offer two variations: one with a traditional buffalo style suace and one with with their spicy BBQ sauce.  Both have wings that have been smoked, not fried.

Whenever you have smoked wings, they run the chance of being fatty and/or having tough skin.  In fact, I've had some pretty gross barebcued chicken wings.  However, United does a good job with theirs, cooking them until the fat is rendered out, and keeping the skin fairly tender.  It isn't crispy like a fried wing of course, but it also has more flavor, thanks to the smoke and rub. 

I tried the spicy BBQ variety, since I know what buffalo wing sauce tastes like.  The sauce lives up to its name - it is a very sweet, but nicely spiced sauce.  It won't blow you away with heat - if you're a chile or pepper-head, this may not be your choice - but it does have a lot of flavor and it is two staged, with the sweetness hitting you up front, but the heat coming in after and lingering for a bit.

Overall, these are some really good wings.  Not the best barbecued or grilled I've ever had, but maybe they would be better with the buffalo style sauce.   I wouldn't object to trying them!

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

Anchor Bar - Buffalo, NY (Update)

I previously reviewed the Anchor Bar, but a short business trip gave me the opportunity to revisit this mecca of buffalo wings.  I stand by my original rating, though I will expand upon it based on a few more years of wing experience.  I think the key to the success of the Anchor Bar's wings is that they are fresh - nearly all wings are frozen now, and the Anchor Bar's wings have the juiciest, tastiest chicken meat I've ever had at any restaurant.  The skin is perfectly crispy but the meat retains all of its natural juices.  I guess when you fry millions of wings a year, you get really, really good at it and you have the supplier pull to get super-fresh chicken wings.

A new item on the Anchor Bar's menu is Buffalo Chicken Soup.  The best way to describe it is to think of a New England Clam Chowder with chicken and buffalo flavors instead of clams, bacon and potato.  It is very, very thick and creamy - perhaps almost too much so; it borders on gelatinous.  It could also use just a bit more heat in my opinion.  It is a very intersting concept with some potential I think.

Barley's Smokehouse - Columbus, OH

Needing a welcome respite on a three-day marathon business trip, I chose Barley's for some good beer and food.  The beer was indeed good, and the food was good overall, though the ribs were a bit dissapointing (see full review here on Yelp.com).  The highlight of the visit, however, were actually the wings. 

Billed as their "famous grilled wings" I simply had to get them and chose to go with their buffalo sauce.  The wings were delicious - lightly seasoned and then grilled enough to get some flavorfull char, with all of them being juicy, tender and surprisingly crispy.

But a well-cooked wing is only half the battle, right?  The sauce is the other half, and it is here where these wings really stand out.  At first taste, I was worried that it was going to be another round of sweet BBQ sauce being passed off as wing sauce.  Then I tasted the garlic... then the heat hit me.  It is a late heat that allows the other flavors to come through and when the heat does come, it is just the right amount.  The heavy hand with the garlic in the sauce (visible pieces int he sauce I believe), was a nice touch.  It was an intersting and flavorful sauce and would love to get my hands on the recipe!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!!

Bones Grille - Lansdale, PA

I had been to Bones Grille once before and wanted to try their smoked chicken wings, but couldn't that last time.  This time I didn't have to worry about messing my shirt up before a meeting, so I went for them.

The description on the menu says they are "appled brined chicken wings, dry rubbed and slow cooked in the bones hickory pit."  I couldn't pick out any particular apple flavor in the meat, but it was tender and juicy.  The wings were plump and good size and well cooked.  When I first looked at them, I was afraid that there couldn't be any crispiness to them at all, but there was.  My biggest issue with the wings is that they were slathered in a sauce that was nearly all sweet and no heat, and for a "smoked" wing, there was really no smoke flavor to speak of.

Overall, it was just kind of lackluster, but not bad. 

RATING: 2.5 out of 5 stars