SIZZLERS ON YONGE ~ Toronto, On

*** SIZZLERS HAS NOW CLOSED ***

Amongst the plethora of restaurants in the immediate area, Korean bbq's, Mc D's, Hoops Pub, shwarma and many others sits a tiny little place known to few as Sizzlers on Yonge. I had passed this place countless times, but decided to pop in. The various cheap deals intrigued me, and when I saw wings on the menu, I was here to stay.

The ordering counter is as soon as you walk in. Sizzlers specializes in burgers, kebobs, roasted chicken, and deep fried dishes. The wonderful smell of flame broiled burgers, which I could see grilling with melted cheese nearly made me reconsider my wing choice. Almost everyone ordering take-out or sitting down were ordering these ground beef wonders. There were two guys taking orders and flipping burgers. Both were very friendly and accommodating, and I loved what seemed to be the head guy, with a crazy amount of hair not unlike this guy:

(not an actual photo)

I ordered my wings as well as some onion rings and took a seat in the small sitting area. There is no decoration to speak of, just plain painted walls, a few tables, and seemingly a lot of happy customers. John Tesh and easy listening music gave the atmosphere one of eat and go, or just go.

Crazy Hair asked me what kind of sauce I wanted on my wings; I stumbled not expecting the question and said "hot" - "just hot?" - "ya hot". I missed what my other options were. Why didn't I ask? Only because he was asking across the restaurant and I am uncomfortable with strangers listening to anything I am talking about (and yet I write a blog for the wing nation . . .). I got up thinking my Styrofoam container of wings would be ready, when Crazy Hair started bringing me the wings. We met halfway in the middle of the place, with me awkwardly taking the plates (not containers as I had expected) from him and sitting down. I was so thrown off because its such a take-out place I wasn't expecting table service. And two minutes later I had to go back up and ask for a drink because I didn't initially order one. I hate having social awkwardness issues. At least wings and I have an understanding and we get along just fine. Usually.

2007 THE SCORE 3.0: SIZZLERS on YONGE

STYLE:	deep fried
PRICE:	$3.99 for 6 $6.49 for 12 $11.99 for 24 $21.99 for 48
SAUCES:	hot (?) they asked how I wanted it, and I said hot	0/1
HEAT:	nothing
SIZE:	0.5 – small! wing does have tip	0.5/3
WETNAP FACTOR:	1.5 – there was a dabbling of sauce	1.5/3
CRISPINESS:	-1 they were pretty overcooked	-1/3
FLAVOUR:	0h , I really didn’t want to give that score, but they aren’t worth anyone’s time	0/3
SIDES:	none	0/3
CLEAN UP:	I had to scavange the tables for napkins	1/3
WING NIGHT:	none	0/1
OTHER:	all the other food at this place looked good!
TOTAL:	pretty terrible wings	2/20

Three words hit me as soon as I saw the wings: "Tiny. Burnt. Frank's."
TINY: these wings were small. Pidgeon wings if the tips weren't still attached. So little meat on the bone.

BURNT: they were overcooked. The tips were so crips, I could eat them bones and all because they disintegrated in my mouth.


FRANK's: apparantly hot is Frank's RedHot Sauce. Not even mixed with butter or anything.



The overall state of the wings was just dissapointing. I wasn't pissed off at them or cursing them. I ate them in silent, apathetic acceptance that this place just doesn't do wings. I was shocked how low a score they recieved, but the New Score 3.0 clearly shows that bad wings don't deserve points. Sizzlers wings do not sizzle.
On the other hand, my onion rings were simply delightful. Light, crispy, without any harsh onion bite - they were near perfect. These were not frozen cookie-cutter rings; clearly they were homemade. And just like the burgers and other food around me, this place clearly has its niche, and wings just shouldn't be on the menu.

FINAL SCORE: Don't. Just don't. Don't even look at the wings on the menu. Don't even think about it. But the burgers, the fries, the rings - they all looked good. Check it out. Just not the wings, for your own good. 2/20


Sizzlers on Yonge
460 Yonge Street, Toronto
sizzlers.ca