UPFRONT BAR & GRILL ~ Toronto ON

RIP - UPFRONT BAR is now CLOSED

Do remember what movie this is from the photo below? With Ben Afflek and Minnie Driver? Recognize the scene? It's Good Will Hunting from 1997 in case you forgot. And you're probably thinking, what does Good Will Hunting have to do with chicken wings? Well nothing that I can remember.

Photo from waymaking.com

Much of Good Will Hunting was filmed at my alma mater the University of Toronto. It filmed in other parts of Toronto too. It filmed the above bar scene in the Upfront Bar & Grill which is also in Toronto. And on the weekend I ate chicken wings at Upfront. You see the connection now?

I was down in the St Lawrence Market area on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I was hungry but couldn't find a seat anywhere until I came around a corner and saw Upfront. I couldn't believe it, a whole patio on a gorgeous day nearly empty. I stepped inside to let the staff know I was on the patio, and unfortunately I interrupted my waitress's (don't know her name) lunch.

She was very friendly, brought me refills on pop, and was interested in the wings (she hadn't tried them and wanted to know what I thought). I sat listening to classic rock on the radio, doing a little writing, watching people walk by and enjoying just sitting on a patio. Shortly my wings came and my lunch began.

My wing bone plate came out - and it was a paper plate, which was a little weird and not so enviro friendly. I guess neither are paper napkins and wetnaps, but I expect those.

My plate of wings came and they looked tasty. Wings come out by the pound, which is about 9 wings.

Veggies and dip came out next. I hate to have to thank Upfront for this, because this is what should be the standard, but they are becoming a dying breed to include carrots, celery and blue cheese dip.

The chicken wings themselves were a medium to medium-large sized wing. They were averaged sized in terms of meatiness. The skin was crispy with the wings being deep fried naked (ie no dusting or breading) and then tossed in sauce.

The wings were nice and saucy, which means each wing had some sauce on them, but then there was a little lake at the bottom for extra dipping. I went with classic hot sauce, and their version of suicide on the side.

HOT

The hot wings were basically Buffalo wings - deep fried wings tossed in a cayenne based hot sauce.

Nothing original, but tasty. While hot wasn't really that hot, it had enough of a tingle especially if I had a lot of sauce and several wings quickly.

Tongue Burner

Upfront's version of suicide sauce is called Tongue Burner. While this sauce wasn't a killer in terms of heat, it did have a nice burn. It was a level burn that was peppery, and did give a good level of heart burn.

FINAL SCORE:  Upfront is a good dive bar with good pub wings. Crispy, saucy and tasty. Service was great, I got free refills on pop, and got to sit on a patio that deserved more people on it, but I enjoyed having it almost to myself. It may have been a while since Ben and Matt have been around, but I'm sure they'd like the wings too. 6.5/10

Matt, Ben and Me hanging out. Good Wings Hunted.

Upfront Bar & Grill
106 Front Street East, Toronto ON
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