I first went to Local Heroes back in 2006. LJ was coming to Ottawa to interview for positions, and I came along with her (she was living in Windsor, me in Toronto. It was my first real year of reviewing wings, and I was excited for the chance to go outside of Toronto for wings. And this was THE chicken wing place in Ottawa. They had done well for themselves, being rated best wings in magazines, expanding to at least 7 locations. But the self proclaimed King of Wings definitely took a hit over the years, and they are down to just their original location.
I've been back since 2006, in 2007, but even since then, but for some reason I didn't do a follow up review. Back in February I was jonesing for wings for lunch, and decided to take advantage of Local Heroes all day wing day on Tuesdays.
The old location hasn't changed much since that first review in 2006. Other than the menu looks different, I couldn't tell you if anything had changed. If you haven't been, it's a sports pub. It's decked out with mainly Ottawa Senators sports paraphernalia, with lots of tv's showing sports shows and such. There are three-ish areas inside: the bar, the bar dining room, and the dining area which is mainly booths and bigger seats.
I was told that I could sit where I want, so I tried to strategize where I could take some photos with light, not be near anyone, but also be able to stretch out to do some work while I sat. The place was busy-ish. I went to the dining side because of the light and it was a little more stretched out. The crowd was mixed from a big work lunch group, to a woman on a laptop working, to seniors to twenty-somethings.
My server was Kelsey, who was professional, super friendly, and helfpul. She took my drink order bringing me a water and my Diet Pepsi. She's the type that refilled both my drinks without prompting, which is just great in my opinion. Kelsey was also helpful in explaining the wing situation such as telling me that wings were 25% off today, and she was able to answer my wing questions. First off she explained the chicken itself. Local Heroes does two types of chicken wings:
1) Famous Local Wings - whole wings (that can be split on request) that are served unbreaded and are fried up.
2) Roaster Wings - smaller than the Local wings, these wings are breaded and are already split (tips removed) and deep fried.
I decided to get 2lbs, one order of Roaster and one of the Local. For the Local, she said I could get them split on request, and I did request.
She was also able to answer my sauce questions. I asked about the heats; I usually ask "what is the difference between say Hot or 911? Is it the same sauce just more spicy or what?" Kelsey explained Hot is Frank's Hot and 911 of Frank's Xtra Hot. Ok got it. I also asked about their Dante's Inferno, a commercial sauce I've had before - it's really good and has a nice bite to it. The other was Sweet Julius Heat, which I've never heard of but she told me it was sweet and spicy. They don't have a crazy amount of sauces (20) but they do have a nice balance of flavours to choose from.
Oh and after she took my order I remembered that this was an Ottawa wing joint, so I was probably doomed to sour cream. When she passed by to check on another table, I asked her if it came with dip; she said yes, sour cream, but I could have blue cheese or ranch if I wanted. Uh ya I'll have blue cheese!!!
I didn't have to wait long until my wing feast arrived and I was already happy.
Before my order arrived Kelsey did bring me a bone bowl, napkins, wetnaps, and my blue cheese dip. There were a ton of napkins, and I used a ton of napkins. They were those cheap, super thin type that are usually given out at take-out pizza joints. This should not be the napkin of choice at a wing place.
The blue cheese was good - chunky, creamy, and just the right amount of sour. I got two dips because I had two orders of wings. Can't believe the default is sour cream though - thank goodness I asked!
The size of the wings is dramatically different between the Roaster and the Local, but enough that there is a number difference. Roaster = approx 9 wings where the Local = 6 (although I got an extra 7th one). It's only supposed to be six because the wings are usually whole, so 3 whole wings in an order, split into 6. Also, I love that I still get the tips left on. Little messier to eat but a little extra is great.
The Local wings are large; they are a bit longer. They are fried naked and the skin is nice and crispy.
The Roasters are about a Medium+. The Roasters are also breaded (although it seems more like a good dusting rather than a thick breading) which adds to the size of the wing a bit. This also gives them more of crunch compared to the crispier Locals.
The Local wings were tougher and more dried out. Pulling the bones apart was difficult because of this. While both orders came at the same time, the Locals were barely warm, suggesting they got made first and sat out a bit.
The Roasters were very tender and more moist on the inside. These pulled apart easily. These were also a bit more meaty than the Locals, especially the drums. Speaking of drums, there was a roughly equal distribution of flats and drums among the wings.
Both sets of wings came well sauced. Each wing was wet, with extra sauce on the plate. I had a slightly tough time choosing sauces but I went with classic Hot on the Locals, and tried something different, the Sweet Julius Heat for the Roasters.
HOT
I chose Hot for my Locals wings because I had a feeling that this was just going to be a good classic pub wing experience: deep fried wings and hot sauce.
And that's what it was. Nice and crispy fried chicken skin in Frank's Hot Sauce. Nothing above and beyond, but just a good flavour. And look at the extra sauce just sitting there for smearing a half bitten piece of chicken into, mmmm good.
SWEET JULIUS HEAT
I had never heard of this flavour, and assumed it must be some sort of commercial sauce like the Dante's Inferno it's listed with, but I cannot find any record of it. This tells me it's made in house. This sauce was a lot more sticky and thick than the Hot.
The flavour was very sweet, sour, with some light spice. My guess is that it's their Sweet Chili Thai sauce mixed with something else. It did go well with the breaded wings, and I liked it as it contrasted to my Hot wings. I don't think I would get an order of these by themselves.
FINAL SCORE:
After years of coming and going, Local Heroes still stands out as a good place for wings in Ottawa. I liked the simplicity of the Local wings that were crispy and tossed in Hot. The breaded/dusted Roaster wings were crunchy, tender and went well with the Sweet Julius Heat. Blue cheese was good, the napkin situation while plentiful, was woeful. And an all day wing day is always aces in my books. I had a really good lunch here, but I don't know if the crown for King of Wings is still at Local Heroes. They are still royalty though! 10/15
Local Heroes Bar & Grill
1400 Clyde Ave, Ottawa ON
localheroesrestaurants.com
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