BUFFALO WILD WINGS ~ Canton OH, USA

The Great Wing Tour 2006
Sunday October 8th
Day 3


A refreshing rest at the Patel household, a gathering of family and a feast of food was how Rick & I started day 2 of the GWT. Despite being full, we trekked on to our next destination, Buffalo Wild Wings. We were quite frustrated with the directions Rick got from Yahoo maps, as we drove around and around the area until we discovered the location on the back end of a strip mall. Although we had seen a sign for BW3's, it was hidden from view, but upon actually seeing the bar, a cheer arose from both of us.

So what is BW3? Well, its founding history was described to us by our waitress, but Wikipedia describes it as:

"Buffalo Wild Wings was founded in 1982 after Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery
moved from Buffalo, New York, to Kent, Ohio. Unable to find authentic Buffalo-style
chicken wings in their new town, they decided to open up their own restaurant"

For you smart cats out there who ask ~ "Why is it called BW3? when its only Wild Wings?" The reason for this is that they also used to serve Weck, or Kummelweck, "a salty roll, made only in the Buffalo-Rochester area" but eventually moved away from this product.

We were both thrown off when entering the place. It had a huge ceiling, a separate counter for take-out orders, a very young staff but most of all, the cram-sports-down-your-throat atmosphere. Rick and I knew that this was a sports bar, but I think we were caught off guard by the American fervor for football as loud cheers erupted or thundering boo's at the giant tv's all around us.

BWW's was definitely interested in chicken wings. There was chicken wing references everywhere, from the wetnaps, the food boxes, menu etc. Some quips include:

"Order Blazin: 'Its a wing sauce & a copper cleaner. Eat a wing, shine a penny'"
"Thus begins the wetnap shortage of 2006"
"2 things guys don't like having stolen from them: wing & girlfriends"
"If you need more than 3 [wetnaps], use the sink"

So once we ordered the wings we sat in excited anticipation while worried about the emotional status of the football crowd.

THE SCORE

SIZE of WINGS: large
HEAT: 7/10
WET NAP FACTOR: 4/5
PRICE: $3.79 for 6 wings, $6.99 for 12, $9.99 for 18
$12.99 for 24, $26.99 for 50, $49.99 for 100

EXTRAS Info

SAUCE CHOICE: mild/medium/hot/wild/blazin/sweet BBQ/honey BBQ/hot BBQ/
Teriyaki/Parmesan garlic/Asian Zing/Caribbean jerk/mango Habenero
SIDES: veggies and dip $0.40 extra
WETNAP: wes, 2 for each of us
DEEP FRIED, GRILLED,
BAKED, BATTERED: deep fried
WING NIGHT: Tuesdays all day $0.30 wings, lunch hour specials
OTHER: Mr Pibbs to drink (coke's Dr Pepper), free refills, sauce tasting

Its important to mention that we had several questions about the sauces before ordering them on the wings, and our helpful waitress offered to bring us tastings of the sauces before we ordered. Rick ordered Blazin & Mango Habanero, while I ordered Blazin & Hot BBQ.

The Blazin sauce had heat, and at first a good flavour that was distinct from other wing hot sauces. It actually reminded me of a hot sauce I had while I was in Hong Kong. And like that sauce, after a while I couldn't eat it anymore. More than 6 wings of Blazin and I think I would be sick. As for the Hot BBQ, it was all right, but it tasted more like a sweet hot sauce rather than a spicy BBQ. Rick's Mango Habenero was too sweet for me and Rick would have liked more Habenero than a 'honey-garlic' type sauce.

My other big complaint was the quality of the wings. They weren't very crispy, and the chicken seemed of a very low quality, very rubbery in fact. Mind you they were large, but in this case, I didn't want more. It might be again that we hit a bad day, but I don't think so in this case.

In the end, I give these wings 1 1/2 out of 5 flappers. This place definitely loves its wings, but its that kind of love where you forget to be a little self critical. The two founders must have found really terrible wings in Kent to think theses were an acceptable replacement. I really want to like this place, but I just can't.

Buffalo Wild Wings Bar & Grill (BW3's)

Canton Ohio (and many other locations), USA

buffalowildwings.com