#tbt & #lostreview = MORTY's PUB 2014 Waterloo ON

 It's time for another #throwbackthursday & #lostreview

The year was 2014 and it was a time that I just didn't get any posting done for the blog. Found in my stash of lost files was a folder I had labeled "Waterloo". In that folder were two folders, Wilf's, and Morty's. When I looked into the folders, the Wilf's folder had a photo of a steak sandwich and wings in a hotel room. This was not from Wilf's. When I looked in the Morty's folder, it was a mix of photos; some from Wilf's and some from Morty's. Turns out, no wing photos from Wilf's (just the menu and some restaurant shots), but there were pics from Morty's.

I was in Waterloo in May of 2014 for what I think was a conference for work. I don't remember going to Morty's on this occasion, but I had been years before when my bud Jason used to go to uni at Laurier and we went. Morty's was famous for being a student hang out and for their jumbo meaty wings. 

I was there on Wednesday May 14th, and unfortunately Morty's wing nights were Tuesdays and Thursdays. I still got wings, which were $10.99 for 1lb, which came out to about 7 wings. My server was Sam F and he was excellent. No I don't have an amazing memory, I just have the receipt still and actually took some notes! I had a Mountain Dew to drink, which was $2.99. 

The wings didn't come with veggies and dip, but for $1.59 I got some. Fresh carrots and celery, and the dip was a creamy dill dip: It was thick and clearly mayo based as it had the strong taste and texture of mayo with dill. The dip wasn't cold so I wasn't gaga over it.

I ordered their "Buttery Hot" with a side of suicide. It was served on the smallest plate, which seems a bit odd, but it was a glorious sight.

The wings at Morty's were HUGE. Jumbo chicken wings that were so big and meaty, that each one was heavy to lift! Just massive. They were also breaded which made them crunchy. They were cooked just right as the meat was tender; jumbo wings I find are often over or under cooked, but Mort knew what he was doing!

The wings were extremely well sauced! Every inch of the wings were sopping wet and coated in their Butter Hot sauce. It was a very thick, creamy sauce. Basically a Buffalo-type sauce made with butter and hot sauce. It was rich and delicious.

I got a side of their "Killer Suicide", which seemed a bit unnecessary considering how wet the wings came to start. This suicide was more vinegary, like Frank's Red Hot with some spices and cayenne powdered on top. Visually it was a great presentation, and it was a good sauce, but it wasn't killer or suicide to me. 

I don't think I've been back since then (don't get to Waterloo very often at all), but the whole experience on this visit was awesome. Great service, jumbo crispy wet wings, and Mountain Dew. At the time I highly recommended Morty's Pub!

Morty's Pub
272 King Street North, Waterloo ON
mortys.com

BOSTON PIZZA ~ Waterloo, On

"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.

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).

Boston Pizza
Waterloo
bostonpizza.com