CHICK'N DELI ~ Toronto ON

RIP- CHICK'N DELI is NOW CLOSED

Chick'N Deli. What can I say. It's often described as a landmark in the city for over 30 years. I actually came to do a review of Chick'N Deli back in about 2006. It was a crazy experience that I didn't record. When scouring the Internet back then for places to try wings, Chick'N Deli kept coming up in comments. 

I made the trek up around this time of year actually. The place was packed with an office holiday party, so there was nowhere to sit except the bar. I don't like sitting at the bar because I can't take photos anonymously. Also, while looking at the menu, I looked up and saw an older man, a regular, sitting at the other end of the bar. He was alone and staring at me. I quickly looked down, but could tell he was looking at me. I looked up, and made eye contact. Shoot. I watched him get up, come around the bar and sit down beside me. He proceeded to continually tell me what to order, about himself and just make awkward conversation in general. It was uncomfortable, the food wasn't great,  and when I left I decided I was not going to be coming back again.

Well enough time had passed to get over the experience, and I was at Yonge and Eglington, so I felt it was time to do a real review.

While hidden off of Yonge and Eglington at Mt Pleasant Road, this place is actually hard to miss. I mean there is a giant roasting bird n the main side, and a giant rooster on the roof.

Inside nothing had changed since I was there last, except it was empty. It seemed as though I was the first patron of the day. There were three women running the place - Adrienne my server, a blonde woman who complained about everything, and the matron of the place (my guess the owner). She was dressed in a suit and was very friendly and told me that wings were on special, and that they were known for their wings. The blonde woman was on about something, complaining at the bar, complaining when delivering food to eventual other customers. She was not a delight. Adrienne was nice and was quick to take order, deliver food and looking after the place in general.

With wings being on special, I decided to get an order of hot and an order of suicide. What I didn't realize, nor did Adrienne, was that each order of wings came an order of fries. So I got two huge orders of fries.

The fries were shoe string. They were pretty limp and definitely needed seasoning. No ketchup or vinegar was brought, and granted I didn't ask for any either. But I knew I wasn't eating them (or all of them) and that I was going to take them home. So what wings I did have I dipped with my wing dip.

I got lots of carrot and celery sticks with my wings. And with it came 'California Dip.'  Now California Dip as I know it is like an onion dip, but this was more of a dilly ranch. It was good though. I'm so happy these days to not get sour cream.

The wings come in an order of a pound, or approx 10 wings. They were Buffalo style - deep fried, then tossed in sauce. There are also "Steve's Jerk Wings" that cost more and are not part of the wing special. I'm curious why and what makes them so special, but they do sound intriguing.

The wings were medium in size. Most were moderately meaty, with one or two having some big chicken bulges.

HOT

Hot was a classic hot wing sauce. Cayenne based hot sauce with a splash of tangy from vinegar. These were standard pub wings.

SUICIDE

These had a nice kick. An actual suicide sauce that had a bite to them. My limps had that numbing tingle. They weren't very hot, but just enough. The flavour was slightly different from Hot, but it wasn't very tasty. I liked the burn, but I would go back to the Hot to enjoy.

FINAL SCORE: I'm glad I came back to give the place another try. These were some decent wings. But nothing special. I don't think they are rave worthy (certainly expensive for what you get) and I can't imagine making a trip out there just to have them again. But if you are looking for some solid pub wings, Chick'N Deli might be the place for you.  5.5/10


PS: I don't know why they are called Deli - there's no deli on the menu, other than in the name of several dishes. Anyone know why they call themselves Deli?

Chick'N Deli
744 Mt Pleasant Road, Toronto ON
chickndeli.com