Wingdome review

They've got a good thing going, but it falls short of perfection. So does everything else, but they made a couple of easy to correct slip ups.

First off, I don't care about atmosphere, service or beer specials. I mean, I do of course, but that's not what I'm reviewing. Just the wings. For the record, all of those seemed just fine for a small wing hut sports bar, though I got mine take out.


I only have one major thing to complain about, so I'll get it out of the way first. The most obvious forehead smacker is there's no buffalo style on the menu, an unforgivable oversight. This goes right up there with no cajun style at Joe's Crabshack. File this one under "what were they thinking?"


The only other complaint is they skimped on the blue cheese. I'm sure there's a muckity muck somewhere saying, "Our sauces are so good, you don't need to dip the wings" or "If they notice the dips, we have bigger problems".

Well I dipped. And I noticed. The wings should be so hot you need a bit of cooling dip... and when you go for that dip, it shouldn't be starchy runny slop. I've seen burst pustules with more appetizing ooze. You can get large jugs of quality blue cheese from Costco, a few miles from the Greenwood location. Look into it.



So, how were the wings?


They have 8 grades of spicy, from naked to 7 alarm, plus assorted "garbage" flavors. I'm sure they're fine, great in fact. But there's no way I'm ordering BBQ or whatever at a wing place. I'm there for wings.

WINGS, dammit! I understand they need to appeal to whatever poor sucker is there with me, so they need a broad menu. Nevertheless, I consider flavors off the standard hot scale like fruity beer ... it's there to shut your girlfriend up while you get to what you came there for.


I tried 3, 4, and 5 alarm. 6 seemed to be the real hottest level, which is usually suicidal, and 7 was tacked on for the amusement of others. You can only buy level 7 by the wing, and you get your name on the wall if you eat the whole thing. Nuh uh. Not falling for that one again.

5 alarm is where the real hotness starts, though 4 is pretty tasty. The chicken is good quality, and it's fried just right. The sauce isn't overly goopy or runny. The hotness and consistency are good.

But the flavor is off. This is where subjective taste comes in. They're perfectly fine wings, but they aren't buffalo style. 90% of people would be perfectly happy with them, but my endless pursuit of wing perfection leaves me slightly unsatisfied.



In a test, I also got some "naked" and spun them in The Greatest Wing Sauce of All Time (Wingtime). They were a little messy, but otherwise perfect. That says all it needs to about my expectations.



I give Wingdome a B. Counting down from A, they lost one notch for cutting corners on the blue cheese, and 2 for not having buffalo style. An A+ would have to exceed expectations. That said, I'll definitely be back. 6 alarm has my name all over it! Dare I go for 7? That depends on how much beer you buy me.