Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been surprised!
Tonight our trio was minus one, Dad and I went on a wing recon by ourselves to Buffalo Wild Wings on Mckinley Pkwy in Blasdell. As I am sure alot of you know this is a pretty large chain of restaurants across the country, boasting lots of tv's, gametime specials, and a very friendly atmosphere. As with other similiar restaurant chains who offer gimmicks to distract one's attention from the horrible service and nasty food, Buffalo Wild delivers!!!
We were greeted by a friendly hostess, and were shown to our table straight away. The restaurant had a great sports bar atmosphere with more tv's than you'd think to find in such a place! The music was great, they had hockey games showing, and all kinds of games to hold one's attention. A fully stocked bar adorned the back wall, with every type of liquor you could want, and plenty of beautiful waitresses to take your order. The seating was open and airy, with a nice patio off the side, which we couldn't use because of the wind and rain(the patio ALSO had tv's!)
Arriving at our seats out waitress took our drink and appetizer orders, which were brought out to us very quickly. Dad had ordered the wings just as he always has, mild, crispy and with little sauce, I had the Big Jack Daddy Burger(yes i know, not wings but i had to try something new).
When the food arrived I was very impressed, the wings were almost perfect, they could have been a bit crisper and possibly served in a bowl with a rack to keep them from soaking in the sauce at the bottom. My burger was mouth watering, in a word..colossal. Aside from the 1/2 pound patty, it had barbeque pulled pork, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and all the trimmings on it, with a side of crisp onion rings and a juicy pickle! Overall the wings were great, cooked almost to order and they were nice and meaty with great flavor and just the right amount of heat to them. My burger was everything a burger should be, juicy, flavorful, with nice crisp veggies. Now i know pulled bbq pork is a little odd on a burger, but whoever came up with that is a GENIUS!!!! It was the mose unique and delicious burger I have ever tasted, and I will definitely be going back for more!
But there is a little rain on this parade, our server, she started out great but the quality of her service had deteriorated over our time there. It became increasingly hard to locate her when we needed another beverage or to even get our check at the end of the meal. We ended up waiting fifteen minutes just to get our check, but I think with a few little server training tweaks Buffalo Wild Wings will be at the top of anyone's list for a fun night out!
Friday, March 2, 2012
Hello again Buffalo, it's J back with another two posts for you this evening. First up on the list is Riley's Bar in Orchard Park, and then onto Buffalo Wild Wings on Mckinley Pkwy in Blasdell!
Upon arrival at Riley's it has your typical hole in the wall type feel to it, it is centrally located among other various businesses in the area and easily accesible. There is plenty of parking and the do have a nice patio off the front of the building for those sultry summer nights to enjoy an ice cold beer.
Inside was where I was a bit disappointed, it is roomy with good seating available at the bar or at a table of your choice. They have several televisions to enjoy Sabres or Bills games, whatever your pleasure may be, the major downside for me was the very dreary and dismal lighting in the bar. Now I understand a bar is supposed to be a little darker, it adds a little mystique I suppose, but I was trippin over chairs trying to get to the patio!
Once seated we had ordered our usual, three beers and a bucket of mild, slightly crispy and not too saucy. I should let you know up to this point I was not holding out much hope for this bar given the setting and general feel of the place. When the wings had finally arrived they looked FANTASTIC, crispy with a nice light coating of sauce, and steaming hot. The wings tasted even better than they looked, first bite was juicy and just loaded with flavor, with a nice crispy skin that gave a delightful crackle when you bit into it. Top notch wing cooking in my opinion!
Getting onto service, the poor bartender looked as tired as a dog, her and the cook were the only two employees I saw working on a Saturday night. I wasn't very impressed with the service, honestly the scheduling could have been better prepared, but I do give kudos to the bartender for working as hard as she did.
As I mentioned before the overall feel of the bar was your atypical dive bar, not many people, not much to do, but they have excellent wings and ice cold beer. For a late night wing craving or for a beer after work, stop on in, I'm sure you'll be surprised.
Upon arrival at Riley's it has your typical hole in the wall type feel to it, it is centrally located among other various businesses in the area and easily accesible. There is plenty of parking and the do have a nice patio off the front of the building for those sultry summer nights to enjoy an ice cold beer.
Inside was where I was a bit disappointed, it is roomy with good seating available at the bar or at a table of your choice. They have several televisions to enjoy Sabres or Bills games, whatever your pleasure may be, the major downside for me was the very dreary and dismal lighting in the bar. Now I understand a bar is supposed to be a little darker, it adds a little mystique I suppose, but I was trippin over chairs trying to get to the patio!
Once seated we had ordered our usual, three beers and a bucket of mild, slightly crispy and not too saucy. I should let you know up to this point I was not holding out much hope for this bar given the setting and general feel of the place. When the wings had finally arrived they looked FANTASTIC, crispy with a nice light coating of sauce, and steaming hot. The wings tasted even better than they looked, first bite was juicy and just loaded with flavor, with a nice crispy skin that gave a delightful crackle when you bit into it. Top notch wing cooking in my opinion!
Getting onto service, the poor bartender looked as tired as a dog, her and the cook were the only two employees I saw working on a Saturday night. I wasn't very impressed with the service, honestly the scheduling could have been better prepared, but I do give kudos to the bartender for working as hard as she did.
As I mentioned before the overall feel of the bar was your atypical dive bar, not many people, not much to do, but they have excellent wings and ice cold beer. For a late night wing craving or for a beer after work, stop on in, I'm sure you'll be surprised.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Alright my next blog as promised, my next place up on the list is Mammoser's Tavern and Restaurant on Buffalo Street in downtown Hamburg.
Mammoser's is set down off a little roundabout in downtown Hamburg, parking is a little tight with not many spaces in the lot across from the bar. The exterior is well kept and inviting, upon entering the lack of space is the first thing you confront with not much room between the patrons sitting at the bar and the wall to the left. It has a very nice and well stocked bar that stretches from one side of the room to the other, with plenty of stools to sit at. Aside from that the first thing I noticed was the greeting and hospitality from the bartender and the waitstaff, they were exceptionally friendly and welcoming. Being a Saturday night we had to wait 45 minutes for a table in the dining room which was very cramped, but well furnished with plenty of televisions for watching the Sabres games. We had a few drinks while we waited and the bartender made sure to keep our drinks full and the conversation flowing, the service here is top-notch. The restrooms are located downstairs for the men and off the dining room for the women, so after a few drinks guys make sure you locate the handrail before attempting to relieve yourselves,lol.And for us somkers we unfortunately have to sit in the elements.
We had ordered two double orders of mild and crispy, while my brother had ordered a single of barbeque. The excellent service continued aas we waited at our table for the wings to arrive, the waitstaff coming by every few minutes to make sure we didn't need anything or to just shoot the breeze.
Upon arrival the wings looked great, meaty, cooked to perfection and waiting to be devoured. The only suggestion I have for Mammoser's would be to add just a touch more sause to the wings, they were a touch on the dry side. The order of barbeque my brother had was perfect, rich and dark barbeque sauce glistening on the wings looked really great and according to him they tasted just as good. The mild was cooked to perfection, with a nice crispy exterior and juicy meat within, it didn't take us long to devour them all.
Overall I would definately recommend Mammoser's to any wing lover and bar lover, excellent service, great wings, ice cold beer, and a very uplifting and friendly atmosphere make Mammoser's a great place to spend a Saturday night.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Ok so as I mentioned we have three places so far that we have been to for wings, Limericks Bar on route 20 in Hamburg, Mammoser's in downtown Hamburg, and Riley's on Orchard Park Road in Orchard Park.
First off Limerick's, I had been going there for quite a while with my father up until three weeks ago when we decided to start this blog. The location is pretty good with off street parking right off route 20, and plenty of parking for 20+ cars. Upon entering it is a typical bar scene, it does have a feel of being slapped together with the pool table, dart board and digital jukebox crammed into one small area in the back of the bar. Seating at the bar is pretty cramped with tables right behind the patrons who like to sit at the bar, which can make getting to the restroom quite the adventure! They do have a decent sized dining area to the right of the entrance as you walk in, but in all my visits it was rarely if ever used. If you happen to be a smoker there isn't much options for you besides standing in the parking lot.
The service at Limericks is good, with the bartenders being friendly but slightly stressed seeing as they also do all the cooking. Even amidst this there is good communication between the bar staff and customers, there is minimal wait to get your drinks which is a definite plus in my book!
Now onto the wings, they were VERY dry, no sauce at all. I had ordered them mild and a little crispy, what I had recieved was a dried out wing that crackled when i picked it up, biting into it was worse than the visual. It tasted burnt, no hint of mild sauce whatsoever, and tasteless, I might as well have been eating a piece of drywall...thank god for the beer!
Overall it was cramped, with typical bar lighting, boring but not coma inducing. Basically a good place to go if you just want a quick beer after work, I would not recommend it for the chicken wings at all( but I hear they make a mean burger, which I will have to try in the near future)
First off Limerick's, I had been going there for quite a while with my father up until three weeks ago when we decided to start this blog. The location is pretty good with off street parking right off route 20, and plenty of parking for 20+ cars. Upon entering it is a typical bar scene, it does have a feel of being slapped together with the pool table, dart board and digital jukebox crammed into one small area in the back of the bar. Seating at the bar is pretty cramped with tables right behind the patrons who like to sit at the bar, which can make getting to the restroom quite the adventure! They do have a decent sized dining area to the right of the entrance as you walk in, but in all my visits it was rarely if ever used. If you happen to be a smoker there isn't much options for you besides standing in the parking lot.
The service at Limericks is good, with the bartenders being friendly but slightly stressed seeing as they also do all the cooking. Even amidst this there is good communication between the bar staff and customers, there is minimal wait to get your drinks which is a definite plus in my book!
Now onto the wings, they were VERY dry, no sauce at all. I had ordered them mild and a little crispy, what I had recieved was a dried out wing that crackled when i picked it up, biting into it was worse than the visual. It tasted burnt, no hint of mild sauce whatsoever, and tasteless, I might as well have been eating a piece of drywall...thank god for the beer!
Overall it was cramped, with typical bar lighting, boring but not coma inducing. Basically a good place to go if you just want a quick beer after work, I would not recommend it for the chicken wings at all( but I hear they make a mean burger, which I will have to try in the near future)
Why I am doing this.
Well to start I think that chicken wings are a very integral part of being a Buffalonian, we have more bars and restaurants than cities twice our size. Everything from fast-food chains to family owned bars, diners and even five star restaurants, so I thought it to be a good idea to give a sort of guide to newcomers and lifers here, a go to guide for wings. Personally I like to go out for wings and beer with my father and brother every weekend as a sort of stress relief from the daily grind, so far we have three places we have analyzed for this blog. It breaks down into a few easy categories: location, establishment comfort, service, and bang for your buck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)