Wings and rings #2

The wings and rings frenzy died off a bit as we got further from upstate New York, but it did not die completely. None of the places in this batch managed to best Pearl Street Brewery from Buffalo.

Buffalo Wild Wings, Missoula, MT

Atmosphere: This is a corporate chain of sports bars, and it feels like it. The décor is very stainless steel. It's great if you want to watch an out of market game since they have so many TVs, but nothing unique or special. The bar seating itself has a ton of outlets/USBs available so it is a solid spot to charge your phone/laptop.

Wings: I got the original buffalo sauce, though they have a huge number of options for sauces (including multiple levels of buffalo). The meat was well cooked, but the outside lacks a bit of crisp. The wings themselves a decent size and the buffalo sauce is a good balance between hot sauce and buttery. The wings were somewhat lightly sauced, but served on a bed of sauce so you could add more if you wanted. They are served with  both ranch and Bleu cheese.

4/5

Rings: These are beer battered. They were well crisped, with soft onion.  Served with both ranch and a southwestern ranch. Overall a really good ring, just needs a little bit more salt.

4.5/5

Total: 8.5/10 This is probably the standard that everyone should be shooting for as a minimum. A good restaurant should be able to beat this and if you can't match them get out of the business.

Green Pig, Salt Lake City, UT

Atmosphere: The Green Pig is a pub-style restaurant. It has wooden finishings plus a good number of TVs for sports. Weirdly they were showing a BU-BC hockey game when we got there, though I couldn't get the Boston NHL game on after it ended.

Wings: The sauce is a the perfect balance of heat, flavor, and butteriness. It was a standout sauce. Wings were  well cooked in terms of meat, but had a very soft outside. Could have used more frying to get a better crunch.

4/5

Rings: They did not have onion rings, so I got their French fries. These were well fried with great favor. It was a big portion and served with a thousand island sauce.

3/5 (not rings!)

Total: 7/10

Brewer's Cabinet, Reno, NV

Atmosphere:  This is a restaurant connected to a taproom/brewery, with a very wooden and pub feel. Every table had outlets, which is a nice bonus. The connection to the brewery gives it some good beer and flights available.

Wings:  The order was quite small for the price. The sauce is pretty dry, and didn't really come across as buffalo. It was a very tasty spicy flavoring on its own, but it's just got a bit more smoke than buttery flavor.  The meat is well cooked, but the skin isn't crispy. 2.5/5

Rings: The order for the rings was very large. They are very crispy and very thick beer battered rings. The onion is perfectly cooked inside. They come with a blue cheese dipping sauce. The breading itself could use a bit more flavor, but overall very good. 4/5

Total: 6.5/10.  I would definitely come back for the atmosphere/beer, but probably wouldn't order the buffalo wings again (maybe a different flavor, though).  The rest of the menu looked quite good, and I might get the onion rings to go with whatever I ordered.

AABar, Eureka, Ca

Atmosphere: This is a very small  single room bar, with a only a narrow U-shaped seating area around the central bar. It's got a wooden dive bar vibe, but also carries quite a few steak cuts.

Wings: These were breaded wings, with a slightly soft exterior but well cooked meat. The sauce had good spice/butter balance.  3.5/5

Rings: These were tasty beer battered rings. They came out with a crispy batter and soft onion. They could use a bit more salt, but very close to perfect. 4.5/5

Total: 8/10

Epic Wings, El Cajon, CA

Atmosphere: Epic Wings is a Southern CA chain with about 30 locations. This location had 8 bar seats, 4 draft lines, and a ton of TVs. It is basically a fast-casual sports bar.

Wings: The buffalo sauce was perfect (I got hot out of medium, hot, very hot), balancing the spicy with  buttery. The meat was tender, but skin was just a bit under crisped. I also tried the garlic parmesan wings, which had great flavor and had that bit of extra crisp that was missing from the buffalo. They come served with 2 bread sticks per 6 wings. The breadsticks were decent, but a very weird side for wings.

4.5/5

Rings: They had none, so I got fries instead. It was moderately thick cut. They cam in a very large portion with good flavor, but were kind of soft. They could have used a little bit longer in the frier.  

2.5/5 (not rings!)

Total: 7/10

Red Tail Bar and Grill, El Cajon, CA

Atmosphere: This is a golf clubhouse bar/grill with a pub style bar area and stone patio seating outdoors. It's in a valley between some very vibrant and rocky hills with gorgeous scenery. It's not strictly part of the restaurant atmosphere, but the 18 hole par 3 course we played here beforehand was really fun.

Wings: The sauce had great flavor with solid balance, but the wings has very little sauce on them. These were well cooked with the crispy outside that is so often lacking. They were served with ranch. 4/5

Rings: The onion rings were panko breaded and thick cut. The portion size was perfect for one person and the breading flavor was good, but you couldn't really taste the onion. 4/5

Total: 8/10