IWING Pizza & Wings ~ Toronto ON

IWing is NOW CLOSED ~ RIP

It was a late night - the last time I had eaten was a very early lunch. I was on my own at this point and wanting to grab something to eat. I was looking forward to going home, so take-out was my food of choice. I was sitting on the Queen streetcar when I saw a little take-out place I had seen back in October called IWing Pizza and Wings.

 Back then I had dropped in to grab a take-out menu. The much older men behind the counter said they were not printed yet, so they gave me a receipt with the phone number so I could call for delivery. They asked my address and it turned out that I was a block past where their delivery boundary was. But not wanting to lose business, they said to call anyway and they could make an exception.

So here I was weeks later, and they still didn't have take-out menus. The location used to be a Wing Machine  Pizza Panzerotto (the corporate sister to Wing Machine) that closed for whatever reasons. This place is bare bones in terms of decor - nothing stands out about the place, but then again, the sit in area is there to take advantage of the late night bar crowd who are not concerned with where they sit.

On this particular night, the same older gentlemen were working (but clearly didn't remember me - why would they?). I placed my order and about 10-15 minutes later I had my wings and was on my way home. One thing I didn't ask and I wish I did was the name, IWing. What's up with that?

As I said, I was hungry and I indulged in their largest order of wings: 16-20 (1 lb). They came in a big styrofoam container complete with plates, napkins, wetnaps and even a fork.

The wings were deep fried (I saw them) but they really seemed like they were grilled or baked because of the char or blackening on the skin. The wings were also crisp but equally mushy because they absorbed all the sauce. It was a strange phenomenon.

The size. Let me tell you the size of these wings were wildly inconsistent. Some were a meaty medium - some were the absolute smallest wings I have ever eaten. No two wings were the same. Look at the chart above - now look in the bottom right corner. Look at the difference in size.

Here is the world's smallest wing. I usually call the smallest wing a pigeon wing. But this is more like a finch wing. Seriously. Look how small it is. What did that chicken even look like?

They had the three heats and honey garlic, so naturally I went with hot. The wings were pretty wet and coated in sauce, but as I mentioned earlier, the skin absorbed the sauce turning them mush.

The flavour was ok. Hot was not at all. It was a standard cayenne based hot sauce but it was a medium at best. I ate the wings and I was content, but I don't think most people would like these wings. I know they wouldn't. I found a certain appeal in them, but then I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to wings.

FINAL SCORE: I really wanted to like the wings here. I really wanted to support a local business. I really wanted the wings to be good. But they weren't. The inconsistent size wings wouldn't be so bad if there weren't micro-wings. The sauce was forgettable, and the texture of the wings was off. I can't speak for the pizza, but I hope these are just growing pains for a new restaurant. 3.5/9

IWing Pizza & Wings
404 Queen St West, Toronto ON