"You're among friends at Boston Pizza"
I was in Waterloo on business and at the end of the day I was excited to meet up with my friends Juliana and Andrew. You may remember Juliana from being "On Notice" for flaunting an anti-chicken wing attitude back during the days of the Chestnut Report. Well, she still feels the same way about wings, but fortunately Andrew doesn't.
We met up at one of their restaurant standbys, Boston Pizza. I haven't been to a Boston Pizza in years so it was going to be chicken wing testing night for sure.
You may have seen the Boston Pizza commercials from the past. I remember first hearing about this chain when Howie Mandel was the spokesman. Then they had some ads with a Sasquatch. Lately its been their "Italy for Little-y" campaign with the highlight being the talking baby:
Boston Pizza actually has very little to do with Boston. In fact, its a Canadian chain from Alberta started by a Greek immigrant. Crazy! Their 'concept' is for a sports bar on one side, and family dining on the other. Pizza is the highlight, but the menu is full of Italian and other meal options through out.
On this Monday night was pretty empty, so we could sit pretty much where we wanted. We got a table that was TV adjacent to catch the hockey game. (note to Juliana: good call switching from the Leafs. They are never going to win anyway).
JuliAndrew (its just easier to combine the names, but this is not what I regularly call them . . . but may start) ordered some 'yam' fries with chipotle dip to nibble on (thanks guys, by the way). These 'sweet potato' fries were thin, crispy and super tasty. And the dip went really well with the sweet and yet a little salty fries, being creamy but still coming through with a chipotle kick.
Juliana ordered her usual, a, well I can't remember exactly what it was. I think, think, it was the Taco Salad with crispy chicken. It looks like a salad . . . and there is salsa and sour cream, and I knew there was chicken. I'm sure she liked it.
Andrew got the . . . Chicken and Mushroom Fettuccini, minus the mushrooms (again, I think that's what he got, I was really more focused on my wings and the conversation). It looked nice and cheesy especially with the added cheese on garlic toast.
Both of their meals looked pretty good, but my food attention was on my plate of wings.
Both of their meals looked pretty good, but my food attention was on my plate of wings.
I was hungry and wiped, and wanting to sample, so I went with a double order of wings split with BBQ and Hot sauces. The wings were medium in size, but very meaty. As a chain I'm willing to bet they are frozen wings, but that certainly doesn't come through in the taste of the chicken itself. The blue cheese dip on the side was also good.
The wings come in 2 different cooking methods: Breaded and fried (deep fried I'm sure) and Naked and baked. Baking rarely gets a wing crispy enough, and I don't mind breaded wings, so I went breaded. It was crisp, without being hard to chew. Just right for a breaded wing I think.
The wings came out very saucy. You are going to get your fingers sticky after having even just one. There is enough sauce on there to get the flavour but not so much your wings are drowning.
HOT: Nothing new here, just classic Buffalo-style sauce. It wasn't spicy, but had enough of a kick to keep inexperienced wing eaters alight. I would have liked hotter, but at least the flavour was there.
BBQ: sweet, spicy - an interesting mix. A gooey type BBQ that was definitely on the sweeter side but had something in there to give it a unique flavour. While I did like them, I think I would stick with the Hot or try something else in the future.
FINAL SCORE: Its been a long time since I've had the wings, let alone anything at Boston Pizza, and it was much better than I remembered it. The yam fries were great and the other food at the table looked tasty. Of course, my favourite part was hanging out with good friends that I haven't seen in a long time. But then again, that's Boston Pizza's slogan: "you're among friends at BP". Thanks Juliana and Andrew for coming out! 5.5/10*
*(that's the wing score, not me scoring my friends. Then its 10/10).
5 comments:
I like breaded wings if it's a chain store, not breaded if it's a stand alone joint or at home.
I've only had pizza at Boston Pizza ... that makes sense to me.
Can't believe you didn't go to Morty's Pub.
Maybe next time
They sell about a ton and a half wings a week.
Anonymous - I went to Morty's many years ago - good wings for sure. On this trip, I went where the hosts take me.
What sauce is it exactly that they have there and where could buy it? Or how could I make it?
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