I actually checked out the Donald location here in Ottawa about a year ago - but the photos, the review info and more have been lost. So, I had to pick up my boots and head back. But this time, I went to the South Ottawa location. Hidden in a small plaza in the middle of suburban homes, this place was pretty busy on a Friday night, but not so busy that I felt awkward siting solo.
The decor inside has a wild west saloon theme to it - wood paneling, cowboy memorabilia - but even a neon palm tree that sits in the middle of the eatery (you can see it in the photo below) doesn't seem out of place in this tacky but fun environment. It's family friendly (with a lot of the patrons I noticed they had small children/babies) but the young and elderly come here to for wings and beer too. Flat screens are all over showing various sports events, and the staff, at least my waitress Dominique, was very friendly, attentive, and willing to answer any questions I had.
The two sauces at my tables include Lime Ricky, and Arizona Heat. I was going to do a sauce review on these sauces, but A) I don't know if they are commercially available for purchase, and B) They weren't that great, so I didn't bother.
The Lime Ricky's first ingredient was lime juice, which definitely came out in the flavour, but begs poorly for a hot sauce. The taste was basically a lime-Tabasco sauce. As for the Arizona Heat, it was a Tabasco and butter flavour. I wouldn't use either on wings. I wouldn't really use either for anything to be honest.
But enough of these bottled sauces, on to the wings!
2008 THE SCORE 3.0: Wild Wing ~
STYLE: | breaded, deep fried | |
PRICE: | $8.98 for 10 (one flavour) $17.36 for 20 (one flavour) $24.98 for 30 (one flavour) $32.58 for 40 (two flavours) | |
SAUCES: | 101 flavours to choose from – I had
| 1/1 |
HEAT: | For all the ‘warning flames’, wild wasn’t that hot | |
SIZE: | large | 2/3 |
WETNAP FACTOR: | Wet for the sauced wings | 2/3 |
CRISPINESS: | Very crispy, good crunch | 3/3 |
FLAVOUR: | Good – but each sauce is different | 2/3 |
SIDES: | Veggies, no dip, and veggies didn’t come with every order despite menu saying otherwise | .5/3 |
CLEAN UP: | Paper towels, wetnaps, wing bucket - everything | 3/3 |
WING NIGHT: | No – but lunches are $4.95 for 5 wings & fries | .5/1 |
OTHER: | Patio, hot sauce at table, free refills on Pepsi | |
TOTAL: | Lots to choose from, but lacks in personal touch with bottled sauces | 14/20 |
BUBBA'S BACKFIRE: This is one of their 'Frankenstein' mixtures of various other sauces combined together - this one being BBQ & Frank's Extra Hot. This was a good wing flavour to end the night off with, partly because they were very saucy, but I love a good spicy BBQ. Sure the sauce was pretty generic (you can make it at home, plain BBQ and Frank's Extra Hot!) but it was good.
FINAL SCORE: I'm happy to see not only a Canadian chain rise up, but one that is wing focused. My complaints are: bottled sauces instead of making their own, inconsistency of side veggies (and no dip), and no wing night! (how can you have a wing place and no wing night?). The pros: well cooked wings, lots of flavours to choose from (even if they are commercial sauces), and you gotta love the wing accessory caddy. So definitely worth checking out, but will never replace a great local non-chain wing. 14/20
Wild Wings Restaurants
3320 McCarthy Road, Ottawa (South) and other locations
wildwingrestaurants.com
3 comments:
I live nearby and recently saw this location featured on Undercover Boss Canada. This location is closed now and with good reason. Don't get me wrong, it was fine when it opened but with the constant menu changes (for the worse) and deplorably rude service, that's what happens.
It's too bad really because the food was alright but I noticed there was never anyone there after some time. That's what happens when your entire staff consists of airhead teenagers with zero customer service experience that think it's okay to bring their bad attitude to work. Hope the CEO keeps things in check or I won't be the least bit surprised when the other locations close.
@Anonymous - I hear you. It's unfortunate, and I saw that episode just today - I think it speaks volumes about the franchisees in general. Too bad.
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