This week, the Wingsday crew took on “The Winner’s Circle,” which is a nice little sports bar on South Florida Avenue. I’ll let the reviewers give you their take before I give you mine:

“I was left numb after tasting 9 distinct chicken wing flavors in one lunch this week. I could not even muster up the words to review them until Thursday. To generalize a bit, I thought all the chicken wings were a bit soggy but overall good quality and value. The breading absorbed lots of the wing sauce leaving all candidates feeling a tad pasty. The sweet tea was undrinkable here. Antifreeze would have quenched thirst better. For the sake of brevity, I’m going to employ 5 word reviews for each flavor sampled:

Hot - medium heat hint of sweetness
Bourbon - very sweet would eat again
Taco - best of show meaty goodness
Roasted garlic - super strength garlic birth control
Parmesan - fork and knife Italian meal
Chippy - chipotle soul sweet heat delicious
Vegas - lemon lime tequila unexpected surpriseCajun - pass, not your mamma’s jambalaya
Caribbean jerk - Simon & Garfunkel reminiscent, Scarborough Fair  

”
–Steve

“I’ve been to Winners Circle a few times but never ordered any food so I wasn’t sure what to expect. They’ve also recently relocated which was a good move because the new place seems quite a bit larger and cleaner. You can order 20 wings form $9.95 which is one of the best deals we’ve run across. Since the price was right and we were all in the mood for variety we ordered a total of 100 wings in 9 different flavors. Here’s a break down of how I rated each wing:
Hot (2.5 out of 5 stars) – This wing had a sweet taste but was very deceiving. Once you actually swallowed it left a burning sensation in your mouth that was intriguing. After about 4 consecutive hot wings you start to sweat and look for your favorite beverage. I wasn’t super impressed with the overall flavor so they ranked a little lower on my list.
Parmesan (4 out of 5 stars) – Wings had marinara sauce with some parmesan cheese. They tasted a lot like chicken parmesan and were quite tasty.
Vegas (1.5 out of 5 stars) – Wings were described as having a citrus flavor and seemed to have a hint of lime. Most of the group raved about how good these were, however I wasn’t impressed they tasted a little stale to me.
Taco (3.5 out 5 stars) – Wings had taco seasoning on them and tasted pretty good.
Chippy (Chipolte)/Cajun/Caribbean Jerk (2 out of 5 stars) – For me all these wings tasted like they were doused with a bunch of different grill mate seasonings (a little overboard) and I didn’t really get anything from them. Some of them tasted OK but none of them stuck out for me as tasting good.
Bourbon (2 out of 5 stars) - I was expecting something like you get from a Chinese restaurant just in a chicken wing. I was disappointed as I thought the flavor of these wings was somewhat sour and didn’t taste anything like what I expected.
Roasted Garlic (4 out of 5 stars) – We had a choice to go with Garlic or Roasted Garlic and we all decided that the Roasted Garlic sounded much more appetizing.

The wings certainly had enough garlic on them and they tasted really good.All of the wings were cooked well and they were probably medium in size. 40 to 50 minutes must have passed between the time that we ordered and when the wings started coming out to the table, which seems a little long. When I take the wings, service, and overall atmosphere into consideration I give the whole experience 3.75 out 5 stars.”
–Shawn

“Winner’s Circle is another place I’ve been to a few times before, but without such a discerning tongue. The easiest way to ramble through the cornucopia of flavors we sampled is to just go one at a time:
Hot: Halfway decent. More of a “sweet” hot than the traditional “vinegar” hot… but personally I don’t prefer hot/sweet. These’ll sneak up on ya… the hot takes about 45 seconds to hit. 3 Stars.
Roasted Garlic: Overdone. Unfortunately for my wife, I’m still belching garlic, hours later, after only two wings. Tasty, but too heavy on the minced garlic. 2 Stars.
Taco: Holy Frijoles! These tasted more like warm ground beef than chicken — very delicious. All it needed was some cheese and sour cream. A must-try wing for the curious! 4.5 Stars.
Vegas: Very tasty, but wing-to-wing, the flavor varied a bit to me. There’s a citrusy undertone… well, it was an undertone on the first Vegas I tried… and an overtone on the second. I think the latter wing was covered in more sauce, sitting at the bottom of the pile. Either way, not a bad wing. 4 Stars
Jerk: The key to this wing was the fresh Rosemary that was sprinkled on the wing. Tasted like biting into a fresh herb garden — delicious, different than traditional “jerk” recipes, but packs a ton of good flavor. 4.25 Stars.
Parmesan: Again, a must-try for the person who must try everything. Red marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese… on a wing! The Winggods have smiled upon me with this one. 4.5 Stars
Cajun: Typical. Spicy. Tasty, but nothing to write home about. You can find these wings in dozens of bars. 2.5 Stars.
Chippy: (Chipotle) Not my cup of tea. Probably the worst wing I’ve had in a while. -1 Star.
Bourbon: Again, not for me. I love whiskey… but not in my food. 1.5 Stars.Overall, the place was friendly and inviting, with lots of TVs adorning the walls and plenty o’ darts. The waitress seemed somewhat disinterested in us, and the food took quite a while to appear. However, for the money, the wait was worth it. Some of the least expensive wings we’ve seen. The wings themselves were somewhat tiny and a bit over-breaded, but the sheer quantity of flavors available makes this a must-visit… However, I wouldn’t say they’re in the Winner’s Circle, by any means.”
–Scott

“I graced good old Winners Circle with my presence once or twice back in my college days, but hadn’t been to their new location located within the Dixie Land area of Lakeland. I must say that I was happily surprised when I walked in. Cleanliness that the old Winners would have never had. ::side bar:: I use to take my wife to this same exact building when it was a little Italian restaurant for lobster ravioli. ::end side bar:: Anywho, I sit down with my friends (I’m the last one there as usual) and find out that we all ordered 20 wings, split into 2 flavors of 10 wings. Now right here, at any other establishment, I would have freaked out about the cost of 20 wings, but I was promptly informed that 20 wings was only 10 bucks. WOW! What a super deal!

We are now waiting. And waiting some more. We talked a bit, continued to wait. Finally, after a gut wrenching half hour the first set of wings arrives. Over the course of maybe 5 minutes all our platters of wings arrive and we begin our duty. Remember that word right there. Duty. I decided to go round robin on today’s event. I started with the Vegas wings. How delicious. The Vegas wings had a nice hint of citrus to them, almost like a tequila lime or something. Right from the start I was impressed. This was a very good wing. Next, I moved around the circle to Taco wings. I kid you not, these things smelled like tacos, and even tasted more like beef than chicken. Scary thing was that once again this piece of chickeny goodness was delectable. Ok, 3rd was “chippy,” which to a normal person was chipotle. These were ok. They had a nice flavor to them, and just enough kick for a good spice factor. Then garlic, bourbon, and cajun. Don’t kiss your wife aftereating garlic…although very good flavor, cajun was just ok, and I wasn’t a fan of the bourbon. They tasted like I was eating them out of a Jack Daniels bottle.

The hot wings were something to write home about. They were very good. They were also just like Jerry. They snuck right up on you. Initially they were sweet, and no matter how long the meat was in your mouth it was sweet. as soon as you swallowed, however, pull the fire hose out ’cause these things scorched. They were good but not as good as the hot wings from Kau Kau Koner. I also was able to partake in the jerk wing. It had a nice level of heat, along with some herbs and island flavorings. Lastly was the parmesean wing. This was very much like eating chicken parmesean at an Italian joint. With the grated cheese and marinara sauce, I half expected these to be served with side order of angel hair pasta.

I won’t comment this week on the weight staff. (my mom always said that if you don’t have something nice, don’t say anything at all) All in all I would seriously recommend this place for a good order of wings. Is it the best in town? It’s hard to say. I guess we’ll just have to keep atit next week.”
–Mike

To summarize, the “niche” wings (taco, parmesan, jerk) were so far to the ‘nth degree on the flavor scale that they became too much; I equated it to eating jelly belly gourmet jelly beans: the taco tasted like a ground beef taco. If I want a ground beef taco, why on earth would I order wings? The prices were excellent, and the quality of the food was good, if the service was a bit slow. I’d say I’d go to Winner’s Circle again; however, if I wanted wings, I’d go to Beef’s or Decisions . . .

See you next Wingsday!

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This weeks adventure took us to downtown Lakeland, home to Palace Pizza and the Black and Brew and Harry’s. It’s a neat environment, clean and walker-friendly, and that’s where we found, The Gym. I’ve probably been past it a hundred times and never noticed it. Actually, maybe I did notice it and thought it was a gym. I’m not that smart. Anyway, the Gym is a sports bar, with plenty of TV’s and excellent viewing angles for watching (in this case) the tip-off of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. On to the reviews:

“I have been to The Gym many times, but never for wings. First of all I love the atmosphere. Its a very clean, t.v. infested sports bar. The staff is always pleasant and fun to just chat around with. The Gym is owned by Molly McHugh’s, and is located directly across from it in downtown Lakeland. I ordered 10 hot wings, which the waitress told us weren’t hot enough. She was brutally honest, but very accurate. The wings themselves were alright. They had a good flavor, consisting of more sweetness than heat. I was definitely disappointed in the size of
the wing, but its hard to find a good sized wing once you’ve been to Decisions. I’d give them 2 stars out of 5 and I’d definitely go back…but probably not solely for wing consumption.”
–Mike

“The Gym in downtown Lakeland provided decent wings in an excellent environment. The service was relaxed and slow but very friendly and honest. The chicken wings were not hot at all here. I sampled the blackened wings as well as the hot wings. We watched the tip off of the NCAA basketball tournament on several of the TVs that surround the room, including two big screens in the front. They offer sidewalk dinning — great for people watching in Lakeland’s bustling downtown. The blackened wings were quite good. They reminded me of grandma’s home-style fried chicken. They may have even used some Old Bay seasoning on them. The standard hot wings were nothing to write about. I’d surely go back, but probably stick with the blackened wings, and avoid the sweet tea and curly fries. As with all downtown eats, good luck with parking on weekdays at lunchtime.”
–Steve

“I’ve been a semi-regular at The Gym since my college days. I started coming here when I “outgrew” the Kau’s life and wanted to just relax and have a drink, rather than get swarmed by 1,382 intoxicated college freshmen.

Many a night I’ve dined on their loaded fries while watching a game and enjoying a brew, but until today I had never sampled their wings.

Let me start with the things that were better than average: Cleanliness of the establishment. TV-to-table ratio. Openness and ample seating. Attentive, friendly, TRUTHFUL waitstaff.

The waitress was dead-honest… steering us clear of the opened 2-liter bottles of Nestea they pawned off as “sweet tea” in your glass and warning us about the mildness of the “hot” wings. Points for that. Those are really all the great things I can say about today’s experience.

I ordered 10 “Blackened” wings, and sampled a few of the “hot” wings. Neither were truly up to my ever-rising standards. The “Blackened” wings (Yes, I just lifted my hands from the keyboard to use air quotes) were not really blackened at all… merely a dry-rub concoction of possibly Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, Old Bay, and Garlic Powder. Again, I stress these wings weren’t black at all – they were whiter than a Welshman. They tasted a staggering “OK” on my personal scale. However, they were served piping hot and they were very crispy.

The again-air-quoted “Hot” wings were… not. Mike pointed out a slightly sweet taste to them, and I couldn’t agree more. These were probably the mildest hot wings to date. With the sauce, they were noticeably soggier than the dry-rub blackened wings. The caliber of the wings coupled with the small size of the chicken and the high prices for “add ons” ($3.00 for fries?!) left a somewhat bad taste in my mouth.

Overall, the dining experience itself was pleasant… but the food was par at best.

At least the celery and bleu cheese comes free here.”
–Scottie

All in all, we agreed that this was a decent sports bar, worthy of watching a game. But, as a wing establishment, the Gym leaves a lot to be desired!

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Due to circumstances beyond our control (read: my daughters Easter party at school), Wingsday has been postponed until today.  I apologize for screwing with your calendars.  Stay tuned for our review of another Lakeland landmark!

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This week, we tackled one of the big “wing-chains” (not to be confuse with “wang-chun”). The WingHouse. The reviews:

“I had very high hopes for Ker’s Winghouse Lakeland since they are a large chain and because their name implies that wings are their specialty. I was let down. I ordered 10 breaded hot wings with their “WingHouse House on Fire® Sauce”. Winghouse’s heat scale goes like this: mild, medium, hot, house on fire, eXXXtreme. Give me a break. My 4-year old could have eaten the house on fire wings. If I go back, I’m ordering the extreme sauce. But that’s a big IF. Here’s why. Out of 10 wings, I bet five of them had broken bones. This does two things. First, it makes the wings difficult to eat because there are splintered bone fragments to contend with. Second, it makes me feel bad for the poor chickens and who needs that guilt? I want my chickens living a happy life just prior to being fried in boiling hot oil. It also occurred to me that maybe the restaurant’s focus is more on their service by the famous Winghouse girls. Service was average at best. The atmosphere is cool, if you don’t mind a restaurant where the patrons are 98% male. To quote Randy Jackson of American Idol fame, “It was just ayaught for me dog.”
–Steve

“To be honest, my entire review can be summed up in one word: “Ehh”

First off, the ordering here is just complicated. Even the menu agrees with that – it gives a detailed step-by-step “Instruction Manual” on the proper way to order your wings. Any food that requires more than one step to order correctly is just cumbersome.

The “House On Fire” Hot Wings (rated Four Fireballs out of Five by WingHouse) were just… sissy. I don’t even know if that word applies to food, but that’s the best way to describe them. This second-hottest wing on their menu was milder than most establishment’s “medium” wings.

The portion size also left something to be desired. Those who ordered “naked” wings – without the breading – were left with tiny piles of sticks… and that was before they were eaten. Additionally, the wings themselves were full of broken bones. I believe WingHouse orders their chickens directly from a Paraplegic Chicken Rescue Farm. (editor’s note: I don’t think this is offensive, so I left it in here. If it offends you, let me know)

“Value” is not a term I would associate with WingHouse. For around $12.00 (including tip) I received 10 measly wings and a soda. Want anything additional and it would cost you – 1.50 for all drummies, .79 cents for bleu cheese/ranch, and .99 cents for dressing AND celery. Listen. Don’t nickel and dime me, scantily-clad waitress.

I’m not even going to get into how much of a Hooter’s knock-off this place is.

The only semi-redeeming quality of WingHouse was the [over-]enthusiastic staff. We were greeted by the hostess upon entering, our waitress was attentive, the manager asked how our meal was partway through, and both the hostess and manager opened the doors, asked us again how the meal was, and wished us a pleasant day. Oh, and the blackened wings were tasty, despite their miniscule size.

Overall – 2 stars.”
–Scott

“Expectations were high today as we were going to WingHouse a place that is known for, well, their wings, as well as a few other things. I can sum up the entire experience in one word “Average”. The staff was friendly (attractive), the restaurant was clean and well laid out, and the food arrived in what seemed record time. I ordered 10 wings blackened (naked), all drumsticks which is a nice option. They tasted OK but the cook went a little overboard on the spices and I’m pretty sure I got my daily intake of sodium in the first bite. The drumsticks were also a little small in comparison but were cooked to a good consistent texture. I wasn’t impressed at all with the “House on Fire” wings that I sampled as they were a little soggy and didn’t pack much of a punch. In summary nothing really stood out about the whole experience so I give it 3 out of 5 stars.”
–Shawn

Sounds pretty mundane to me. I actually was the only one to sample the Dallas/Hot combination that another guy ordered - really good, although, I have to agree with the other guys on the brittle/size points. All in all, it wasn’t that it was bad, more that it wasn’t awesome.

That’s it for this week. Until next week, Follow our favorite fast food establishment’s slogan and Eat More Chicken!

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March 5, 2008

We start off this week with some reader animadversion - “Why are your posts so long?” from Anonymous in Polk County. Well anonymous, we’re just trying to bring the best, most accurate reviews of wing establishments that we possibly can. As such, we’ve decided to empower our reviewers with the freedom we feel may be missing should parameters such as “length” or “content” be in place. I’ve asked our reviewers to become more concise; that said, they are both funny and talented writers, and no one put Picasso in a box (which is the last time you will see Wingsday and Picasso in the same sentence). Moreover, it’s one post a week. Yes, it’s a long one. Deal with it. On to the wings!

Kau Kau is the very definition of a dive bar a quaint little establishment off of Main Street in Lakeland. Although I feared for my life  I couldn’t see due to the lack of lights  I couldn’t breathe due to the pollution of the oxygen the seating wasn’t plentiful, we were able to (literally) belly up to the bar to enjoy our lunch. The reviews:

“Ah, the Koner. My old college haunt. I’ve had the Wings and Cubans here on quite a few occasions, but the last time I truly dined here was several years back. I was a little worried that the delicious food I had consumed here previously was either:

A. Going to be different because of a new chef/recipe/etc. OR
B. Was never really that good; I was just really hungry and/or had the equivalent of “beer goggles” for my taste buds on when I had been here before.

Luckily for us, neither was the case. First off, Kau’s is truly a bar. You don’t eat at a table… you sit at a bar. Your food is served at the bar. You sit on barstools. You’re served by a barmaid (who was very friendly by the way)… But I kind of like that about the place. However, the ambience left something to be desired – even in daylight hours its still a dimly-lit college dive. But it was MY college dive.

And the wings… incredible. Saucy and dripping with goodness. Kau’s is very generous with the sauce, but it’s not overpowering. There’s plenty to spare on each wing, almost too much – but sometimes I enjoy a wing that makes me have to wipe my entire face after each bite. The sauce is no cover-up, either. There’s a ton of good flavor in the skin and meat of the wing – which balances the sauce nicely.

And finally, a “Hot” wing with some kick. A touch of vinegar-y smell/taste, but not overdone. These will have your mouth burning for a few minutes afterwards – and I like that in a wing.

The ONLY complaint I could find to say about Kau’s is the wing-to-drum ratio. Probably 70% Wings to 30% Drummies. Oh, and that we didn’t order the ButterGarlic wings. But we’ll save that for another time.

For me, it doesn’t get much better than Kau-Kau Koner. Moist, tender, flavorful wings. Thus far, they are my personal leader for Wing Of The Year.”
–Scott

“I might have been warned to go and get a tetanus shot before visiting this particular wingsday establishment (Kau Kau’s) however since it has the reputation of being a popular college hangout I figured it couldn’t be that bad, I was wrong! Steve, Travis, and I spoke about leaving a little early so that we could get a seat. Come to find out there was little to worry about since we were basically the only vehicle in the parking lot. After looking around a bit and trying to decide whether we really wanted to sit down we all hiked up to the bar and joked about a possible plan B.

Everyone seemed friendly and we quickly placed our order for 60 hot wings. Once the wings arrived I may have forgotten about everything else. The wings were cooked to a nice crispy texture and smothered in a hot buffalo sauce. They were quite excellent to say the least and this was situation where hot means hot. The sauce wasn’t too hot for most of us (names withheld to protect the girly men of the bunch) but was hot enough to bring some beads of sweat to the forehead. Food wise I believe Kau Kau’s holds a strong second to Decision’s (I would rate the wings an 8.5 out of 10, maybe a 9) however as previously stated there is a lot to be desired when it comes to the surroundings (I would rate the surroundings a 1 out 10 it was true dump).”
–Shawn

“Today for lunch the wingmen went to my old college stompin’ ground. It was very nostalgic walking into the worn down, dimly lit, non air conditioned bar. At first, we were the only ones in there. About 10 minutes into our lunch a group of college students arrived to begin their beer drinking venture…at least it was officially the afternoon at this point. I couldn’t say whether they were of age or not. With Journey on the juke box the memories flooded in. But enough of that, you came for the wing review. Between the 5 of us we split several dozen hot wings. I must say that I was very pleased with the caliber of the wing. Although not quite as large as Decisions, the wing itself had much potential. One key thing that I loved about them was that they were dripping with sauce. These hot wings packed a significant punch that I think the majority of us had been searching for over the past few weeks. They were delicious. I would also be willing to say that Kau’s is a close runner up for Decisions thus far in out quest. i will even go as far to say that the hot wings here are better than Decisions (but that still doesn’t put them in the #1 spot.)

The staff was very friendly, probably due to the lax environment. I liked how the cooking staff, and even the owner, came out to us to make sure we enjoyed our lunch. I think this would be a great place to eat, as long as you don’t mind a slightly dirty bar atmosphere. I will say, however, you can’t bring the kids here.”
–Mike

“The parking lot was vacant. The building looked as though it may have been as well. The front door was propped wide open so we entered a completely dark cavern of a bar. I couldn’t see a solitary thing for about two minutes. Then, once my eyes compensated from the absence of lumens I was finally able to see two figures. One guy working the bar and one man probably in his sixties playing some kind of video poker machine. I held closely the notion that we could bail out and find lunch elsewhere. We proceeded despite the stench of bowling shoe + cigarette smoke. We sat at the bar. That was the only choice frankly — there are no tables and chairs. Upon inquiry we were handed the menu. Let me qualify that. When I say the menu, I don’t mean a menu as if there were more than one. It was the menu, for the entire Kau to share. We ordered 60 hot wings. I was advised not to bother using the facilities to wash up before lunch. I took a don’t ask, don’t tell approach to that news. I ordered a Coke mostly because I was afraid of their tap water. (Yes, I know where Coke comes from. I have faith in the magic syrup and carbonation.) The wings - decent size, excellent flavor, heavy on the sauce, very good heat. I paused several wings in to look around to find three out of 5 men in a sweat. No kidding. I don’t think they were that hot, but I’d say some folks might even have a use for the medium at this establishment. We probably used an entire roll of paper towels. Saucy. Would I go back? Sure. The wings were good - if you can get past the ambiance of this hole-in-the-wall bar (where I’m certain Florida clean air act rules don’t apply). Not bar & grill. Just bar. That’s it, I’m off to go take a shower.”
–Steve

The overall consensus seemed to be, 1) the place is an absolute dive, and 2) they cook a pretty good wing. I’d say they’d be a no brainer for to-go orders. As far as dining in, it wasn’t a bad place for lunch, although that’s mostly due to it being spring break (read: not filled with college kids). I don’t know how soon I’ll want to go back, but I can’t complain about the wings at all.

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

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