McCabe's Irish Pub and Grill- Guelph

Location:
9 Wyndham St N, Guelph, ON N1H 4E5

Date of Visit:
December 29th, 2015

Menu
http://www.mccabesirishpub.ca/Guelph/menu/MCG_menu.pdf

Price per pound: $3.6/lb (10 wings)
Price per wing: $0.36/wing
Price without discount: $9.97/lb (12 wings)
Price per wing without discount: $0.83/wing

Quick Notables
-36 cent wings! Three Pounds for 10 dollars!
-Great bar, great service
-Medium sized wings but the sauces were fantastic

In between 2 and 5pm every day McCabe’s offers 36 cent wings, which I think is a great way to get people in during that usually slow time. Even if you miss that deal though, the wings are still only 83 cents/wing, which I believe is the best deal I have written about so far. Not only are the wings reasonably priced, they taste very good and the bar has a great atmosphere.

Cajun Butter

I ordered Slow Heat, Honey Garlic and my girlfriend got Cajun Butter. Some of the wings were a bit fatty unfortunately but many were meaty and delicious. A medium sized wing, they were cooked well and falling off the bone, but the ends were crisp. There was a separate subsection on the wings section on the menu for butter sauces, which my girlfriend loved. She is not a big fan of very spicy sauces, but I convinced her to try a very different type of butter sauce that I have never seen before.
I tried three of my girlfriends Cajun Butter wings and was overloaded with flavour on my palate. The rub was a fresh wet rub that included paprika, fennel, garlic and rosemary. They were very flavourful and I cannot say I have tasted a wing like this ever before. The classic butter taste was delivered but it was missing the vinegar tang expected from a classic butter sauce. The Slow Heat sauce was like a sweet, tangy Buffalo sauce with a warm, medium heat aftertaste and they did build on each other living up to their name “Slow Heat”. They really get a good kick to them over time! I was pleasantly surprised to find you could actually taste the real honey and fresh garlic in the Honey Garlic sauce. This sweet Honey Garlic paired well with the savory Slow Heat. Both these wings were slathered in sauce like I like them, with a crispy breading underneath.

Honey Garlic (Left) and Slow Burn (Right)

Overall, these wings are losing some points due to their size and the fattiness, but the price and the sauces are fantastic and almost outweigh the cons. The bar is classic, has good view of TV’s, and during the summer the garage door windows are lifted up for the fresh summer breeze to roll in. If you have a chance to stop in between 2-5pm or any other times, get the wings and a beer, it will be hard to be disappointed.

Chicken Wing Score 3.5/5

Heat Level 3/5

Overall 4/5

Turtle Jack's- Richmond Hill

Location:
11740 Yonge St, Richmond Hill, ON L4E 3N6

Date of Visit:
July 11th, 2015

Menu
http://turtlejacks.com/menus/yonge-st-menu/

Price per size:
Small: $12.49
Large: $24.99
Price per wing: $1.56/wing

Quick notables
- Many different options for wings
- They serve fried, convection and or barbecued methods of cooking wings
- Big ol' wings that tastes great
- Classy sports bar with a cottage like feel

This place is great. It is nice inside, the TV screens are subtly placed but easily seen if you are interested in seeing a game, and it also brings a bit of a cottage feel to this more modern establishment’s décor. What really impressed me about this place is the menu. They have many options for the non-wingers but for the people who love wings, the selection is very, very good. You can choose between roaster or fryers, dusted or regular, method of cooking and a choice of 14 different sauces. That is a lot of customization for one restaurant that does more than just offers wings.

I got the large order of roasters, dusted, fried with two sauces, Red Thai Chili and House Signature NY Butter Sauce. The Red Thai Chili might be the best Thai sauce I have had. It was spicy  with the right amount of sweet to taste with minimal flakes with in the sauce. The House Signature NY Butter Sauce was mediocre. It was not quite like other NY butter sauces I have had, as it missed that cayenne flavour, and they were not generous enough with lathering it on the wings. Other than that the large robust wings were crunchy and juicy which sported a nice breading with pepper and salt within that batter that you can really taste.

Overall these wings being over the $1.50/wing make them quite expensive but in my opinion worth it as the various amount of choices you can have and the taste of these wings are very good.

Chicken Wing Score 3/5

Heat Level 2/5

Overall 4/5

Anchor Bar- Buffalo, New York

Location:
1047 Main St, Buffalo, NY 14209

Date of Visit:
March 22nd 2015

Menu
http://www.anchorbar.com/menu

Price per pound: 10 to 11 USD/lb
Price per wing: 1.32

Quick notables
-The ORIGINAL Buffalo chicken wing
-Non breaded wings
-Small selection of sauces but they are done right
-Recommend the medium sauce

After a great trip to Arizona, my girlfriend and I landed at the airport in Buffalo and had to make a stop at the Anchor Bar before crossing the border back to Canada. Anchor Bar is the home of the original Buffalo chicken wings. The wings were great for the price we paid and it was very cool to get a chance to visit the place where this great tradition started. We had a platter of the Mild, Medium and BBQ. I wouldn't say they were the perfect 5/5 chicken wing we all seek, but maybe that’s because I like a bit of breading on mine. If you are like my girlfriend though and prefer unbreaded wings this is a great place for you to try. I must say the sauces were on point, and the medium there is my new all time favourite medium sauce. Luckily for me and those of you who want to sample this sauce without driving to Buffalo, you can order bottles of their sauces from their website for less than 5 US dollars. They have many other options on the menu that are not chicken wings which I didn’t have time, or stomach space to try, but I’ve heard they make a decent pizza. Overall, if you want to go where it all started and experience the original I would recommend spending a few hours in Buffalo, NY in this little bar if you have the time.

Chicken Wing Score 2.5/5

Heat Level 2.5/5

Overall 3.5/5

Moose Winooski's- Kitchener

Location:
At Sportsworld Crossing
20 Heldmann Road
Kitchener, ON
N2P 0A6

Date of Visit:
October 20th, 2015

Menu
http://moosewinooskis.com/menu/

Prices per size:
Snack                                                                                 House
5wings  $7.99    $1.60/wing                                                  8wings  $11.99  $1.50/wing

Jumbo                                                                                Party Platter
14wings $21.99 $1.57/wing                                                  20wings $29.99 $1.50/wing

Average Price Per Wing: $1.53/wing

Quick notables
-Large Wings and Good sauces
-It has that Muskoka cottage feel
-Large TV’s

Ever since I was a kid going to Sportsworld Water Park, getting a bite while going to hockey tournaments, many birthdays, wearing the antlers and getting pies in the face, this place has been a great sports bar to go to. The wings are double breaded and helps their robust size. Similar to Shoeless Joes, the wings are crispy on the outside and juicy inside. The sauces are very good and achieve the right spice range in respect to a medium being a medium and a hot actually being a hot…etc.

I had the Jumbo size, which allowed me to have two different sauces, anything below that you can only try one sauce. The sauces I chose were Forest Fire Hot and Honey Garlic. Forest Fire Hot had a hot heat with a maple syrup flavour, that was an appealing mixture of heat and sweetness. The Honey Garlic was good, and tasted even better with the crispiness of that wing.

Overall, the prices are higher than average but are a great option for lunch while if you are shopping near the outlets or are at the new hockey arenas. The wings are very good so the price can be justified.  It’s too bad this location does not have any wing night deals like many other restaurants.

Chicken Wing Score 4/5

Heat Level 4/5

Overall Experience 3/5

Shoeless Joe's- Guelph

Location:
5 Clair Rd W,
Guelph, ON N1L 0A6

Menu:
http://www.shoelessjoes.ca/daily-specials/
http://www.shoelessjoes.ca/menu-wings/

Dates of Visit:
December 7th, 2015
December 22nd, 2015

Price per pound: $8.99
Price Per Wing: $1.12

Quick notables
-Many Locations
-Great wings
-Half Price Tuesdays

I have been coming to this location for Half Price Tuesdays for many years. Their chicken wings for me are my baseline for my grading among others. They have large wings, crispy outside, juicy inside, great sauces and they allow you to choose between breaded or original. The only downfall to this location is that their hot sauce is more of a medium heat and not as hot as I would like. On the plus side though there are locations all over Southern Ontario so you can depend on this joint for good wings even when out of town. They also do fight nights and hockey games on their big screens.

The wings as previously described are excellent, the sauces including honey garlic, Frank’s red hot sweet chili, Joe’s signature buffalo butter and Frank’s red hot extra hot, are all fantastic choices for a wing. If you want a wing that tastes very like the original Buffalo wing from the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, try Joe’s signature buffalo butter with no breading. You will not be disappointed!

Chicken Wing Score 4/5

Heat Level 2.5/5

Overall Experience 4/5

Beertown- Cambridge

Location:

Beertown Public House Cambridge
561 Plaza
Suite 1A, 561 Hespeler Rd
(519) 629-0288

Dates of Visit:

November 11th 2015
November 21st 2015
December 18th 2015

Menus
http://www.beertown.ca/menus

Price per pound: $12.99/lb or 22.49/2lb
Price per wing: $1.30/wing +/- 30 cents
The wings vary between the sizes that they get in the kitchen. I think they weigh them to ensure you are getting a pound.

Quick notables
-Great location and great atmosphere
-Good wings
-Interesting selection of sauces
-An extensive and ever-changing list of different beers to pair with your wings!
-Try the 18-hour Brisket Poutine

Since coming here on a lazy night off from school, I have been back to this location multiple times.There are also restaurants in Waterloo and London which I haven't visited.  I really like the hip, welcoming atmosphere they present the customer, even holding the doors for you as you walk in and leave. The chef changes up every two weeks or so but they do a great job keeping the classic menu items that sell while allowing for very different creative dishes and sauces to be added to the menu. The downfall to this is that there can be a gamble for what quality of chef you can get, so the repeatability of your meal might not be the same every time you go to a Beertown.

The wings are very good here. On my first visit, I tried the Spicy Pineapple Hot Sauce, and the Classic Hot Sauce the first time I was here, and I wasn’t disappointed. The Spicy Pineapple actually tasted like real pineapple flavour and not the cheep plasticy artificial one, and then hits you with a flavourful spicy hot sauce. The Hot Sauce was great as well, everything you expected a hot sauce to be was delivered.

The next time I came I ordered the Hot Butter Sauce and House Chilua Hot Sauce. The Butter Sauce tasted just like the original Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, which if anyone who has been there knows that is a great wing. The House Chilua Sauce was a great mix of lime and raw, tangy heat. The only problem we experienced was a mix up with my sister’s wings and mine from the kitchen. As a result, we were given two pounds for free which was unexpected as we didn’t really care if we got them for free. Which is great as we all know free wings taste even better, am I right?

During my most recent visit to Beertown with a few classmates, celebrating the end of the semester, I ordered the Honey Garlic and Dry Cajun and was impressed. Both were evidently made from scratch right on top of a crispy chicken wing. There was a problem with my classmate’s Suicide Wings and jeez were they ever spicy! Beertown really delivered on the heat, he was expecting the Wild Wings heat which is toned down and he was rudely awakened by the spices on these wings. They didn’t look very appetizing, they looked like a dry pasta sauce that was just sloughed on the wings. My classmate did not enjoy the wings and our server without us even asking or complaining just gave the wings for free as he felt the standards weren’t par with my classmate’s wings. Again free wings are even better!

Overall, Beertown is a great place to try a different brew every time you go, their service is excellent and other than their great wings they have amazing selection of other great menu items.

Chicken Wing Score: 3.5/5

Heat Level 5/5

Overall Experience 4/5

The Fat Duck- Guelph

Location:
The Fat Duck Gastro Pub
210 Kortright West
Guelph, Ontario N1G 3Z1

Dates of Visits:
October 31st, 2015
December 5th, 2015

Menu
http://www.fatduck.ca/menu

Price Per Wing: 1.86 when buying seven jumbo wings
Price Per Wing: 1.67 when buying twelve jumbo wings

Quick notables
-A strange fusion of South-East Asian and high end English Pub’s cuisine
-Good service
-An ever changing menu

Hot, hot, heat!

My girlfriend’s family visits this pub quiet frequently and often takes me out for dinner there. It is very close to their home making it very easy to walk down and have a pint or a bite to eat. A cozy pub, it’s menu sports a very bizarre mix of Indian Cuisine and Pub Food that confuses me, but it works. My girlfriend says this combination of cuisine is very common in Irish and English pud fare.This fusion transfers itself into the sauces they serve with their wings. Unfortunately, they do not allow you to try more than two or more sauces unless you buy two sets of seven wings (which in my opinion is a little ridiculous). The wings are very expensive compared to most other pub wings.

When going to this pub on Halloween I bought seven wings with the Honey Hoisin sauce. The wings themselves were large, crispy and perfectly cooked. The sauce was mediocre to my taste but then again I do not know much about what an Asian hoisin sauce should taste like.

On my most recent visit to the Fat Duck I was feeling brave. I had just visited Wild Wings two days before where I got very hot wings at the restaurant, this made me feel confident enough to try suicide wings from the Fat Duck. When receiving the wings and taking my first bites I could not believe how much they hurt my mouth, even drinking beer was painful. I was definitely sweating, but I got through four of my seven wings before I could not continue! I took them home with me to finish the next day. The server and I joked about how hot these wings really were. She said that the suicide wings are always changing their heat levels depending on whatever the kitchen has that day. That night ghost peppers were the hottest things they had on hand! I can honestly say it was as hot going in as it was coming out, which I have never felt that before.

Overall, this pub is a good place to hangout but the wings are a too expensive to be more than a rare treat, unless you really enjoy having a burning good suicide sauce on your wings and holes burned into your pockets.

Chicken Wing Score: 2.5/5

Heat Level: 4.5/5

Overall Experience: 2/5

Wild Wing- Kitchener

Location:
Wild Wing Kitchener
715 Fischer-Hallman Rd,
Kitchener, ON, N2E 4E9

Menu
http://www.wildwingrestaurants.com/menu/wings-101/

Date of Visit:18th November, 2015

Price per pound: $7.89
Price per wing: $.72

Quick notables
-The McDonald’s of chicken wings
-Lot’s of different flavours
-Has all of the Wing amenities
-Half price Wednesdays

I have been to many Wild Wing locations, countless times. However, my most recent visit occurred in between another long break between classes, when a group of us went to the Wild Wing in Kitchener for the half off wings on Wednesdays. As for most wing deals you have to eat them all and cannot take them home, they even ask you if you can eat that much as a liability. They do a great job labeling the degrees of heat of their flavours but there is so much selection it is almost overwhelming. I have tried many different sauces from Wild Wing and have found that some of them taste pre-packaged and plasticy but during my latest experience and choices were very good.

I chose two pounds, one "Chiquita in Paradise" and one  "I am Canadian". I was happy with my choices. My first choice ended up being a garlicly, sweet hot sauce that was flavourful and delicious. The "I am Canadian" tasted just like a barbecued maple syrup sauce that was tasty and paired nicely with the hot garlic wings (Chiquita in Paradise).

Overall, if you don’t have a good wing place nearby or you want to try a bunch of different flavours, this is a place to go.

Chicken Wing Score 3/5

Heat Level 3/5

Overall Experience 2/5

The Bomb Shelter- Waterloo

Location: 
The Bomb Shelter or the “Bomber”
University of Waterloo
200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 

http://bomber.ca/Menu/Bomber-FullMenu.pdf

Date of Visit: Friday November 13, 2015

Price per pound: $10.99
Price per wing:  $1.37
Parking: $6

Quick notables
-Tough to find + you have to pay six dollars for parking
-No longer participating in a wing deal on Friday
-Good wings but they were smaller compared to the average wing
-Great spot for a Waterloo Student

After class a group of us were very hungry and wanted to head out for lunch. We consolidated our wing finding websites and chose The Bomb Shelter from KW Wing Night’s webpage, as they appeared to have a good Wednesday special. We had to pay six dollars per vehicle for parking, which was a little disheartening as we made the effort of driving for 30 minutes, then we had to hike another ten minutes just to find the pub. Apparently, if you are you are not a student from the University of Waterloo, finding the “Bomber” is a difficult task. At one point, the place was so well hidden I really thought we were participating in some sort of comical scavenger hunt. Once we finally arrived and navigated some of my other classmates to pub, there was a wait to be seated for about 25 minutes (even though the hostess claimed a maximum of 10 minutes). Perhaps I was a bit “hangry” at this point, I totally understand that another 15 minutes isn’t bad, and in some places you should be grateful even just to get in on a Friday night in Waterloo. However, when you have spent close to 45 minutes just to get to the place, let’s just say you have to put a fake smile on and laugh it off until you get those glorious wings in your hands. After being seated, the server was great and very attentive. She even convinced one of us to get a bucket of beer for $10 and got me to buy a flight of Mill Street for $10. 

When we came to order the wings, I asked what the deal of the day was and she said there was none! We told her about the website and she said they used to do a deal on Friday’s but that meant they could only serve wings on Friday's, but now they serve wings all the time. We should have looked harder on their page as they have since updated this error but still say there is a deal. I got a pound of Sweet Chili Thai wings which were very good but the wings very small respectively. The breading was very nice, I could taste the black pepper, salt and garlic powder within the breading. My other peers also got the Wet Cajun and medium wings. Not very appetizing names come to think of it. Their appearance didn’t wow very much as they were small and lacked colour and both sauces tasted the exact same. Although they tasted the same, they were decent wings. My recommendation next time or if any of you are ordering from The Bomb Shelter and you like Cajun order the dry Cajun instead of the wet.

 Overall, spending all that time and money for smaller sized chicken wings for a high price was not ideal, but the experience at this place was positive made by the people I was with. Unless you are a student going to Waterloo or live in close proximity to the university campus, I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to visit this pub.





Chicken Wing Score: 2.5/5

Heat Level: 1/5

Overall Experience: 2.5/5

The Rabid Fox- Kitchener

Location:

The Rabid Fox
123 Pioneer Dr, Kitchener, ON N2P 2A3

http://www.therabbidfox.ca/food.htm

Date of Visit: Wednesday November 11, 2015
Price per pound: $7.00

Price per wing: $0.70
Price for Boneless: $10

Quick notables:
-Rabies Special: One random beer every Wednesday $4.50/pint
-Fairly priced wings during the all day Wednesday special
-Decent wings- Try the Maple Syrup Chipotle
-Looks can be deceiving, the outside does not represent how nice it is inside

We start our adventure together at a surprisingly nice location just down the street from Conestoga College main campus in Kitchener. The restaurant’s quirky name caught my eye while driving by one day and stuck with me until a group of friends and I were looking for a place to grab lunch. Their discounted wings on Wednesday’s offers ten wings for seven dollars and for you who like boneless, ten dollars for a decent amount of chicken. When we arrived, the outside appearance of the bar wasn’t inviting and didn’t have the best appeal to a new customer. It honestly looked more like a corner store than a bar. However, once inside we were pleasantly surprised that this wasn’t the dive we were expecting, but instead boasted a large, well-lit interior with a mix of booths and tables. An aesthetic similar to chains like Shoeless Joe’s or Turtle Jack’s with big screen televisions ideal for fight nights or to watch sporting games. The service was great, and our server let us know about a nice addition called the “Rabies Special” where one beer on tap per week costs only $4.50 a pint. We were in luck as one of the group’s favourites, Mill Street Organic, was their “Rabies Special” that day!

Now for the good stuff. There was a mix of 10, decently sized wings and drumsticks that had been deep fried and breaded. The wings were coated in a standard flour breading that managed to stay crispy and not soggy or oily. The meat was extremely fresh and tasted just like they received their wings that day. This is refreshing as many establishments obviously buy their wings frozen in bulk. When it came to sauce choice, we all played it safe and stuck to the home style sauces, which ended up being a great choice. I had two pounds, one Sticky Thai Sriracha and one Maple Syrup Chipotle. Both were not quite as hot as your average medium but they were still very tasty. The Maple Syrup Chipotle was sweet but lacked the kick of chipotle spice it promised. The Sticky Thai Sriracha just tasted like your average Thai wing sauce. My friend ordered the 40/ Garlic Lemon Pepper boneless wings. The sauce was extremely flavourful but the citrus tang was almost too potent for me and there was an overwhelming punch of garlic.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by my experience and would recommend this as a good local lunch spot for fellow Conestoga College students or anyone in the area looking for a low-key brew and average pound of wings. Don’t be fooled by it’s humble exterior, the Rabid Fox does not disappoint. Next time we’ll have to get our shots before the Rabies Special!

Chicken Wing Score: 3.5/5

   

Heat Level: 1/5



Overall Experience: 3.5/5

Wing Hunting Resources

Welcome fellow wingmen and wingwomen, the goal of this blog is to tell you where to get the best priced, tastiest wings and of course a good brew. I also give points for a overall experience and atmosphere. I hope to share a few of my own creations too that you can try at home. So if you are looking for the best deals and quality on chicken wings, stay tuned and check out my posts about once a week.

I’d love to hear from you in the comment section if there are any suggestions for spots in the Kitchener Waterloo or Greater Toronto Area for me to rate and try. In the meantime, two of my go-to resources for finding nearby hot-spots are these two great sites linked below. I will be using them to search out wing joints so they are definitely worth taking a few minutes to check out

KW Wing Night

http://www.kwwingnight.ca/#!wing-nights/ccf8

        WingsNBeer.com

https://wingsnbeer.com