Hat Trix is located at 4923 Southwestern Blvd in Hamburg, merely a forty second drive from my physical office yet I’ve never actually been there before.  I decided to change that, ironically on National Chicken Wing Day.  A buddy of mine said she was going there and that they had a 50-cent wing special going on. I mean, who am I to pass up on that kind of deal?! So, about those wings….

PROS:  Price matters in today’s economy maybe more than ever and when you find a good wing deal you gotta jump on it.  Hat Trix has 50 cent wings on Thursdays (75 cents on Mondays too) and that’s about as good as it gets, especially considering there’s no hidden small print crap like having to buy at least two drinks to get the special.  There’s only a modest upcharge for blue cheese as well.  As for the wings I’ll say this—they were cooked perfectly well and on the bigger side, which again considering the price was pretty remarkable. Also, I’m not a big garlic parm wing guy but theirs were significantly better than I expected.

CONS: Sauce is as important as anything to me in the wing game and if I’m being completely honest, the sauces here were definitively underwhelming.  I was flat-out disappointed in the raspberry chitpole, touted as their signature wing. The dry rub cajun didn’t hit the spot either and the traditional medium, which I always put the most stock in anywhere I go was on the bland side.  In fact, I remember comparing it to the Buffalo sauce you get in the McDonalds packets.

RECORD IF HAT TRIX PLAYED A FULL SEASON: 7-10.  You get great value if you go on Monday or Thursday, the garlic parm was pretty damn good and the medium were decent.  But there’s just not enough ammo in the tank for them to compete with many of the popular dive bars in WNY.

OUTLOOK: Hat Trix seems like a really cool place. It’s clearly very local/regulars driven. There was live music on an early Thursday night, very reasonable drink prices at the bar and a nice back patio (with bar).  There’s plenty about Hat Trix to enjoy. I’ll also say if you’re getting the wings that while they don’t stack up to places that clearly do it better, you can’t really go wrong getting 20 wings for 10 bucks—in this economy! Go there to drink and if you get some wings to soak up the beer, they’re decent enough. Just don’t expect to be blown away by anything.

TIER: “Roster Bubble”