Totally Teriyaki seems to have been replaced by spicy Asian (but that might just be a name change) and they added Garlic Parmesan. And the Mild & Heat Seeker have been replaced by their 3 tier heats of Buffalo.
So why am I telling you all this? Well, other than this blog is dedicated to all things wings, a commercial came out a little while ago with the other 'Wing King' Drew Cerza, and I finally added it to the blog the other week. A few people left comments and e-mailed, especially my friend Ricky P, said I should give them another shot. Well, I decided to give them a second chance.
I really wanted to do a scientific experiment to see if these were good Buffalo wings. I went with just one sauce, the Burning Buffalo Hot. But WingStreet has 3 ways to have your wings: Traditional (deep fried straight up), Breaded, and Bone-Out (ie Boneless wing).
Above is a breaded wing. The coating was very crunchy, very thick. One or two wings like this were decent, but eventually all I could taste was the breading. It overpowered the sauce even. I asked whether they were breaded in house or came frozen this way, and as suspected, came frozen pre-breaded. But they were big.
Above is a the Traditional. Just like a Buffalo wing. Deep fried, crispy skin. The way a Buffalo wing should be.
First, the wings look great. But the staff at Buffalo Cantina do not seem impressed with host Adam Richman. I mean, he's ridiculously afraid of the wings, he pre-dips them in too much blue cheese (or ranch), and after eating a bite, he needs a lot of liquids. Don't get me started on the bathroom bit. Also a little tip, don't drink water - it doesn't stop the burn. Drink milk.
BUT it turns out this video, from 2008 was his first attempt. He tried again this past September (see photo at top). But according to the website Eat Me Daily, it wasn't all it was up to be:
"Except he kinda sorta wimped out. Not that we blame him. We saw one bite of the suicide wings drive a spectator to tears, and immediately thereafter, the bathroom. But as much as we love Man v. Food and admire Richman's deliciously entertaining challenges, we couldn't write about the taping without facing up to what we all know: TV is fake, plain and simple. The show made the restaurant's wing-eating challenge easier by having Richman eat six less spicy wings."
I promise you right now, I will never falsely me eating wings. I won't pretend to eat hotter than I am, and I promise I won't act it up. My wing eating is authentic, even if I fail. But it looks good doesn't it?
Yes, World Wide Web Wacky Wing Wednesday. WWWWWW. This is where I will surf the Web, and find other people talking about chicken wings. The world is full of chicken wing stories, wacky and otherwise. Recipes, restaurant reviews, eating contests or whatever. Today's Blog relating to wings in some shape or form:
OR
This bar and grill has no connection to the comic icon, other than the maple leaf. Their website puts a sophisticated and leading foodie trend on their food goals:
I was there late and on my own, and I didn't get a chance to take photos of the interiors of the place, it being dark and me not willing to draw considerable attention to myself. Instead I took some from their website. The photo above shows the crowd that Jonny Canuck's sees itself having. Well, that was the demographic I saw eating/drinking. Maybe some older folks, but these happy-hipsters could very well have been the same people I saw.
CAJUN (see above photo)
HONEY MUSTARD
I waited for the heat . . . nothing. I waited for an after-bite . . . nothing. What the heck? Then I noticed, I could barely taste a flavour. There was lots of sauce, but there was no heat, and no real flavour. Very unusual. I mean, I just didn't taste anything. Maybe it was an off night for the suicide.
Not that many awards. The Denver Post one seems a little weak. I mean, Denver and wings don't seem like a selling point. But clearly some props for them winning in the past at the NBWF.
C) COMMENTS
100 people in the crowd and that was the best comments they got. Really? Then Drew gathers everyone's attention and reveals the wings are from Pizza Hut's Wingstreet:
I've read some people complaining that these are a fraud because Pizza Hut wings are baked and how could a Buffalonian like Cerza shill them? Well, people make their first mistake by not realizing that while Pizza Hut does have wings and does bake them (tiny little wings btw), the wings being advertised are Wingstreet wings, which are deep fried. It may be confusing because Wingstreet operates out of some Pizza Hut's. But the wings are not the same.
I tried Wingstreet about a year ago, and the sauces were just too high-fructose corn syrupy for my liking. But they don't even have one of the sauces I tried anymore. Maybe I should go back and re sample?
The point of the whole commercial is that you can have restaurant-quality wings at home (via delivery). To me, they didn't really sell it to me. I mean I'm curious, but the mere mention of wings on tv starts me salivating. What about you? Have you had them? What do you think of the commercial? Does it make you want Wingstreet?
So What Happened?
What was ol' Bob doing? As recounted by his parenting blog 'The Rain Racer', in the entry "My 11-Year-Old's First Trip To Hooters", Bob went with his son and another father and son to Hooters for some wings.
They went for food, but Mr Elston also used it as an experiment to gage his sons sexual awareness and whether he was going to need to have 'the talk'. After that, everyone wanted to have a talk with him.
People (ranging from their family and friends to anyone with access to the Internet) have jumped in to debate the topic. Some see him as a monster who basically brought his son to a brothel, to others saying he should be applauded for his parenting techniques.
Lord of the Wings Weighs In
I remember at least 5 years ago seeing a travel guide to Niagara Falls, and in it was an advertisement for Hooters, with a mom, a dad, and two kids sitting at Hooters, being served wings by a Hooters waitress with the caption of something along the lines of 'Fun For The Whole Family'. And it made me laugh at such an audacious claim. A family restaurant?
I have been to Hooters before (before I started the blog). The first time I went, it was a friend's birthday and she wanted to go. There were 4 of us, and I was the only guy. The whole time I felt like I was a pervert, that everyone was looking at me like it was my idea to go to Hooters. Of course no one cared in reality. But many people mistake short shorts and tight t-shirts as the equivalent of a strip club. Whenever I passed by Hooters in downtown Toronto, I always saw predominantly male clients, but certainly not exclusively male. It's really not as seedy as some people think because its just a bar with a gimic of a scant uniform.
That being said, the maybe 4 times I've been, the service has always been terrible. Even with just guys, I've never found the waitresses flirty or extremely friendly as their hype and stereotype suppose. So my personal experiences say that it's not all about sexuality here. While I do believe there is a level of objectification going on here, I don't think its going to ruin a boys thoughts on women. I'm not sure if I would bring my kids or not, but I don't think Bob is the devil. Women wear much more revealing or titillating outfits walking down the street, on TV, ads etc etc. I think the important thing is that Dad was there to engage in conversation and talk with his son about it.
So what is left in the debate? Wings. How were the wings Bob? That's what I want to know. While the Anchor Bar in Buffalo may have created chicken wings as we know it, Hooters is the place that really spread them around the US of A. In my opinion they aren't great wings, but we, as a wing lovers, have to give credit to them for increasing chicken wing awareness.
Issue 2: microwave!?!?!? NO! BBQ, ok maybe. Oven, well, it will have to do.
The wings in all their glory. And yes, that is a Batman mug (with milk) from the 1989 movie that I re-found at my parents the last time I was there. I am just that awesome. 
Overall, the wings were a great size. There were some smalls ones, lots of medium and a number or large wings. All were very meaty, but not tough like some frozen wings.
