SLOPPY JOE'S ~ Etobicoke ON

JUNE 2012

In the summer I had the fortune of moving to a bigger space. My new suite was mostly furnished, but I wanted to get a few things and a trip to IKEA seemed in order. But I live downtown and IKEA is not. So I rented a car for the day and thought I might try some wings at somewhere I usually can't get to.

photo courtesy of google street view

I had heard about Sloppy Joe's on the internet as a place to get wings for a while. The last time I was in Etobicoke I tried one wing joint, but didn't get to Sloppy's due to geography. Well, this seemed like the perfect time to fix that.

This was another place where I felt weird walking in. It was late afternoon and it only seemed like regulars at the bar. It was seat yourself, so I picked the empty dining room so I could eat in privacy and take photos.

The place looks like nothing has changed in while. Its a sports bar and isn't trying to be anything else. I found the mural in the photo above a little odd - here's this glutton patron who looks lecherous, and a tired waitress who is not impressed. What is the message you get from this?

My waitress was ok, but a bit awkward. She didn't check in too much on me, and conversation was strained. I ordered, and soon I had a wing bowl, napkin and wetnap. This was a good sign as it suggested they take wings seriously here.

So did the steaming pile of freshly fried wings and veggies and dip . . .

Served in a classic red basket on brown paper, my order of 10 wings looked really good with the big stack of veggies and dip. The wings are breaded, then deep fried, then tossed in sauce.

Lots of carrots and celery sticks came with these wings (a once required accompaniment with dip, but more often a pleasantry now a days). The dip was pub classic blue cheese - creamy, tangy, good.

The size of the wing was large - very meaty. Length, also large. These were an excellent sized wing. Yes they are breaded, and the chicken is like a good piece of fried chicken.

HOT

The wings were not super saucy, which was ok. The hot was not that hot, but it was tasty.

SUICIDE

This was an interesting sauce. I thought I was getting a bowl of chili with my wings, not a giant bowl of suicide sauce. This sauce had some good heat. Lots of flavours going on. I just couldn't get over the amount they gave.

FINAL SCORE: Sloppy Joe's is a bit out of the way for me. I wasn't crazy about the atmosphere, but they do know their wings. There isn't much choice in flavour, but what they have they do well. Hot was good. Suicide was good. The wings are big and came out steaming hot. 7.5/10

Sloppy Joe's
3527 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Etobicoke ON
sloppyjoes.ca