February 20, 2008

Okay.  Through a confluence of fluky events, we weren’t sure we’d have a full cadre of reviewers today.  Concerned with making sure we provide you, the reader, with a well rounded perspective, we decided to take our “skeleton” crew to Decisions again.  Decisions was the early leader in Wingsday, so what better place to regroup.  Plus, we can see if the first visit was a fluke.  It wasn’t.  Bring on the reviews:

“Upon hearing my Wingsday Debut would be at Decisions, I couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. I’ve driven past this place more times than I care to count, and never gave it a second thought. However, my preconceived notions were all put aside when I arrived; greeted by friendly wait staff and entering a clean, well-lit “Bar & Grill” whose lunchtime ambience was pleasant and inviting. Aside from the typical bar paraphernalia adorning the walls, once I was seated and eating, Decisions bared more of a resemblance (in daylight hours) to a mom-and-pop diner than a true Bar.

Overall, the wings were very tasty; cooked through, crispy, and with just enough sauce to keep the meat tender and moist, without being a sloppy, dripping, suck-your-chicken-through-a-straw, sopping mess.

The Raspberry Wings had me torn. As much as I was (unsurprisingly) not impressed with my first bite, they were like a bad accident; I just had to keep going back. The sweet berry taste made a pleasant “palate cleanser” in between garlicy or spicy wings. I still stand indifferent on this particular flavor. If offered, I would gladly chow down on a few in between Hot Wings… however, ordering a plate solely comprised of these wings may leave you asking for the peanut butter and white bread – and asking your mommy to cut the crusts off your PB&Wing Sandwich. 2 Stars.

The Cajun Garlic Wings were very good. A dryer wing – but in a good way – enough flavor without having to drench the chicken in gallons of sauce. More “garlic” and less “Cajun” however; lacking the kick that I had expected. Overall, a definite re-order for me. 4 Stars.

The traditional Hot Wing served up by Decisions was excellent. Enough spice for a little kick – but not so much spice that eating them dulls your taste buds. There’s plenty of underlying flavor that does not compete with the spiciness of the sauce, making an overall great choice. I’d return for this wing alone. 5 Stars.

The Teriyaki Wing is the only place that I feel Decisions faltered. Not that they were BAD, but they just really didn’t do anything for me. Again, the wings themselves were cooked well, crispy, and eye-pleasing; but the flavor was just not enough to get me going. If you like sweet or Asian-style, these may suit you just fine. 1.5 Stars.

The final selection was recommended by our pleasant, talkative, attentive waitress. The Hot/Honey/Teriyaki concoction was a bit much at first bite. Rather than melding together, I felt the flavors almost competing in my mouth; as if it were an Immunity Challenge in Survivor: Tongue Island. [Alternate Joke: “as if Officer Krupke was breaking up a rumble between the Jets and the Sharks in the alley behind my lips.”] Both my first and second attempts at enjoying these wings were squelched by the flavor Battle-Royale which ensued. However, while talking with my fellow Wingmen, I realized that I had been instinctively eating these continually without a second thought – so I must have enjoyed them on some level. 2.5 Stars.”
–Scottie

“I originally was told we were going to Champs, which made me very excited. About 20 minutes before I left to meet the guys I was informed that we were going to Decisions Bar instead. I’ll be honest…I was a little disappointed when I heard the news because I haven’t been to
Champs in years and was ready to have a little rendezvous. Alas, I showed up to Decisions and was surprised that the atmosphere was relatively clean and smokeless, contrary to the gossip I had heard. As always, I was late due to a meeting at work, but the guys had already ordered and started in. We split something like 60 or 70 wings between us. Here is the official breakdown -
Hot: good flavor, not tangy (thats a positive statement), not enough sauce
Teriyaki: not going to lie, these sucked
Cajun garlic: I have a good benchmark on these due to Bedrock’s last week. These were much better.
Raspberry: This is a very interesting concept. Fry the wing. Coat it with Smucker’s…or something like that. Not great but also not awful. Maybe a good dessert wing.
Hot honey teriyaki: I actually liked these the more I ate them. Due, however, to the teriyaki not being that great, I think these would have been better if they were hot honey garlic. That way you have a spice, sweet, and savory flavor.

The wings at Decisions were nice and crispy. They were cooked really well. They told us that due to the Daytona 500 they ran out of their usual wings and were using something else until they restocked. I guess they were a little smaller, so they gave us more than we ordered, but I
have nothing to base that against. The server was very good. She wasn’t your typical suck up kind of server you find in a Chili’s or something. She actually had a personality…and could put up with all of are crap. As of yet, Decisions is headlining this Polk County tour
for wings. Why are we only in Polk County? Central Florida here we come!”
–Mike

“The discerning tastes of Wingsday.com reviewers was called into question indirectly by some “pro” food critic at The Ledger in the Timeout’s dining section Thursday, February 7th. We at Wingsday take offence and would like to set the record straight here. Allow me to rebuff one Lenore Devore’s review.

Decisions Bar & Grill remains top-of-the-heap in the Lakeland area for chicken wings. The fresh aroma delights the senses as soon as you walk in the door. The only thing smokin in Decisions are the hot wings and serving staff. They could not be more accommodating and friendly. The wings are made fresh, so each order takes a full 20 minutes to prepare. If you get them any quicker — send them back, you can never be too careful. Decisions offers many tantalizing flavors including raspberry, Cajun garlic, honey bbq, and teriyaki. The standard hot are the best in town, but the raspberry and Cajun garlic deserve honorable mention. Service always comes with a smile at Decisions, and I assure you that you’ll leave with one too. Vince and Sheila, to you we tip our hat. 14 stars.

Lenore, I’m not saying I don’t trust you, and I’m not saying I do. But I don’t.”
–Steve

I can’t help but think how happy I’d be if you showed up at my house with ANY of the wings Decision’s served us. Hot, fresh, flavorful; and different in a creative way (as far as their take on “hot” or “cajun garlic”). I have not had better wings than we had here. The competition will have to be pretty good to top this.

That’s it for this week! See you next Wingsday!

No Comments »

February 13, 2008Today’s adventure took us to the Bedrock Cafe on South Florida Avenue, about a quarter-mile south of Edgewood Drive.  Here are some of the reviews:

“I have been to this establishment a number of times, so today I decided to try something new. I went with the Garlic Cajun wing instead of the traditional buffalo. I was a little apprehensive when they were first brought out because they were covered with chunks of garlic. However, I found that with a gentle tap against the plate the garlic shook right off, leaving the wonderful flavor behind without the unnecessary chunkiness. The wings were very substantial in size and lacked a thick breading you may find on competitors wings, which was a plus for my taste. Overall, I was very satisfied. I will say, however, that the name may be a little misleading because one might expect a Cajun wing to be spicy – I found them rather mild. I would give this plate a 4 out of 5 rating.

The restaurant itself was very clean, and I liked the open atmosphere. Our server was prompt with service, but stayed away when she wasn’t needed, which made for a better dining experience. I hate when servers are constantly at the table asking if everything is ok and what I need. Trust me, if something is wrong or I need something I will let you know. I can confidently recommend Bedrock Café to anyone interested in eating a good chicken wing. I will return soon.”
– Mike

“I ordered the same flavor combo that I do every chance I get - Teriyaki & Garlic. In this case the garlic was, specifically “Cajun Garlic”, although it didn’t seem very cajun-y to me. Overall the wings were good. They had a lot of meat on them, even though some were a little tough. Maybe the strangest part was that after eating 10 wings I was still hungry (insert fat joke here).”
– Timm

“Finally, hot wings with some heat. Bedrock’s hot wings were hearty and well cooked. Finally, after weeks of searching, these wings showed some promise in the heat department. It was almost more of a cayenne pepper sauce than buffalo wing sauce flavor. They were not the best flavor in town, however, I’d eat there again just to enjoy the heat. I’m really enjoying this job. I think if my current gig doesn’t work out perhaps I could be a foodie. I can’t wait until next week to do it again.”
– Steve

“I must have driven by Bedrock Cafe (on S. Florida Ave in Lakeland) several hundred times over the years but never stopped in to consume any food. To tell you the truth I was excited to try something new, which would surprise my wife as I don’t like to try new things. I ordered 10 wings and split the order between hot and blackened, again it was great that they allowed my to do this and they didn’t charge me anything extra. The wings were quite large which was great because I was quite hungry. The first wings that I sampled was the hot and to be honest I was a bit disappointed not by the wing itself which had a great consistency but by the hot sauce. It had a decent kick to it (more medium than hot) but the sauce was sweet and didn’t taste anything like what I would expect from a hot wing. And no I didn’t have to consume large amounts of water as Travis may lead you to believe. It tasted more like Tabasco sauce than anything else and I wasn’t impressed at all. Next I sampled the blackened wings which were well seasoned but I wouldn’t have considered them blackened. In fact at first glance I thought I had been given the wrong wings. Regardless of my initial impression they were really good and I found myself wishing I would have ordered all 10 of them in this style. Bedrock Cafe was decent and the service itself was good but there was nothing that really made it stand out and it lacked some things when compared to some of the other wingsday day establishments that we’ve reviewed in the past weeks (I.E. Decisions, Beef’s). As big as the wings were, I was still left with a void in my gut. That was easily satisfied with a large chocolate milkshake from Checkers. In conclusion I give Bedrock 25 (oop’s I mean 2 and a half stars).”
– Shawn

As for me, I went with 10 of the Aloha Black, a blackened wing with some kind of pineapple-y sauce. They were really good, except for the fact that the ones on top weren’t as flavorful as the ones on the bottom (sitting in a pool of pineapple juice). I’d go to Bedrock’s again, based just on the service and portion sides; the wings were good, just not the best.

By the way, if you’re following us through an RSS feed, make sure to make the jump to see our new header (thanks Mike)!

That’s it for today. See you next week!

No Comments »

Today’s order:

• 10 Hot
• 8 Extra Hot
• 8 Sweet Jalapeño
• 8 Chipotle Lime
• 8 Parmesan
• 1 Basket of Curly Fries

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s is to chicken wings as McDonald’s is to french fries. They are perfectly consistent. They’re so well known for the quality of their wings that they to me are the standard baseline from which all other wings can be judged. Today was no exception. I passed on the hot, since I’ve had them many times before and opted for extra hot as my staple today. The heat was a welcome change from the milder wings of past weeks. The sweet jalapeño wings also very pleasantly surprised me. These might be my new Beef’s favorites — a must try. Chipotle lime was decent, but a little too tangy to eat a whole basket**. I would pass on the parmesan. Don’t know what they were thinking here, eeewh.

** Travis bet me $20 that I couldn’t eat 16 chipotle lime wings without taking a drink. I accept. Look for the review of that soon I hope. What do you think I should do with my twenty bucks???

– steve

 I thought that Beef’s had the best wings I’ve had SO FAR . . . That’s not to take anything away from the other wing establishments - it’s just to say that Beef’s was on their game.  Today.  My favorite were the Sweet Jalapeno and the Chipolte Lime; although, the sauce was a little heavy on the Chipolte Lime. Still, some of the best wings I’ve had. Oh, and to counteract Steve a little bit, the Parmesan Garlic were fine with me - they were crispy (not doused in sauce), and tasted as though someone dipped fried chicken in garlic butter. That’ll bless your heart.

At this juncture, it’s also important to note that we have very high standards here at Wingsday.com.  For instance, occassionally, one of our reviewers will be tardy with his or her review submission.  This will almost assuredly lead to untold ridicule for him/her.  As I know you, the fans, are dillegently waiting for our reviews, I’ve decided that the untold ridicule will come in the form of my writing the review for the absent reviewer.  I submit, for your reading pleasure, Shawn’s review:

“Beef O’ Brady’s was relly good.  I like them wings goodly.  Accept they burned my mouth because I are not very tough.  Even the mild ones.  Even the water.  Beef O’ Brady’s gets 19 stars.”
– Shawn

This week - Bedrock’s on S. Florida

No Comments »