I’m a big sports bar guy and quite frankly there’s a lack of good ones in Western New York.  Lots of spots slap up memorabilia on the walls and call themselves a sports bar, but Mooney’s Sports Bar & Grill on Military Road actually feels like one. I love going to this place for that alone.

Of course, I’m completing off track and nobody cares about my takes on the authenticity of sports bars.  This is about wings and when it comes to them— is Mooney’s authentically good in that department as well?

PROS: There’s a handful of places for wings in Western New York capable of hitting the spot with numerous flavors and Mooney’s unequivocally is one of them.  Their traditional medium/hot, always what I go by most when evaluating a place may not have knockout power, but they’re good enough to force a standing eight count. As for several of their signature flavors are simply fantastic. The Mooney’s Gold looks and to some extent taste like wings for rich people. The Tropical Thunder were delcious and Italian Style Garlic aren’t far behind.  More importantly the wings I had were cooked to near perfection with a nice balance of crisp and tenderness.

CONS: While certainly far better than average the traditional medium/hot weren’t exactly elite either. That’s not really a “con” but for those unwilling to experiment with fancy flavors who want a regular ole’ Buffalo chicken wing, there’s better places than Mooney’s to get them.

Also not necessarily a con but worth pointing out is the wait being a little long, although in fairness that’s to be expected on a packed Friday night.

QB COMPARISON:  Philip Rivers. He’s never won MVP but you can count on him going to the Pro Bowl.

RECORD IF MOONEY’S PLAYED A FULL NFL SEASON: 10-6.  A favorite to win the division and at least one playoff game.

OUTLOOK: There’s not necessarily an “Oh my God these are heaven” moment with any one style of wing but they come at you in waves of tasty flavors that make this one of Western New York’s more underrated spots.

Ironically Mooney’s isn’t even best known for wings and it’s not particularly close either.  Mac & Cheese is their signature dish that patrons near and far rave about it.  They also have a gargantuan hamburger challenge that’s basically impossible to finish in one sitting.

I feel very good about recommending Mooney’s as a spot for wings.

Imperial Pizza is the gospel when it comes to pizza and wings for most people in South Buffalo.  Seriously, it’s nearly sacrilegious to speak negatively of it in that part of town and trust me, I’d know. I’m not a fan of their pizza. I’ve considered it quite bland and comparatively overpriced. I’ve gotten into heated exchanges with folk through the years for this stance.  Because of that, I never bothered to have their wings, as I assumed I’d feel the same.  Well, I was wrong—sort of.  Read on.

PROS: If you like you’re wings extremely saucy you’re in luck here. To call them saucy is a colossal understatement (more on that in a minute). For the traditional medium, this worked out great. They were tasty, very tasty in fact. Nice sized wing, cooked well with sauce I savored. I say it frequently and will do so again here—when getting both the traditional medium (or hot) as well as a promoted signature flavor, I’ll always put more weight on the traditional wing because it’s the one where the field is completely level for fair comparison. The medium wings were significantly better than just the typical pizza joint wing.

CONS: To be fair, I did ask for my wings saucy, but these were quite literally the sauciest wings I’ve ever had in my life, ever. My plate was essentially wing sauce soup. You could’ve had a full bucket of wings on the plate and there’d still be too much sauce. For the Char BBQ wings, this was a monumental detriment.  The sogginess absolutely killed any charred flavor they were supposed to have.  These might be great if the sauce ratio was even remotely passable but I wouldn’t know. Very disappointed in what I expected to be a signature wing.

RECORD IF IMPERIAL PIZZA PLAYED A FULL NFL SEASON: 10-7.  Loads of potential there, but they got to clean up a few mistakes.  Imperial Pizza’s certainly capable of having playoff team caliber wings.

OUTLOOK: Let me tell you how blown away I am with the remodeled look Imperial has.  I remember a time where my only experience with Imperial was delivery or pickup for house drinking gatherings.  They’ve transformed themselves into a really trendy spot in South Buffalo over the past few years.  The dining area is plenty big, the bar’s kickass with a ton of TVs and at least during the summer months, the outdoor patio is an awesome luxury.  They had an acoustic band going when I was there so live vibey music is a thing there too. Hell, even the bathrooms are clean and have a small TV near the sink area—having me feeling I was in a trendy downtown spot with that.

Even if you wanted to skip food and do nothing but drink, this has turned into a fantastic place to watch a game or hang out with people. 24-oz domestic beers for six bucks isn’t a bad deal and they also serve wine.  That said, this a wing review and the wings were a mixed bag for me. The medium were far better than expected and on par with upper tier places but the Char BBQ were lousy because of the sauce overabundance.  Not going to crush one cook’s decision of what’s considered saucy one that night but can’t just give it a pass either.

This place has the ability to become a wing spot and day/night out destination that people outside of just South Buffalo can brag about. Hopefully the sauce monsoon was a (very) rare oddity. I’ll find out soon enough because the traditional medium and overall vibe definitely has me eager to come back—so stay tuned for updates.

I like podcasting, as evidenced by my future award-winning Moran-Alytics Podcast taking over the world. I’m also quite fond of chicken wings of late, as evidenced by a need for a better fitting wardrobe after this six week trip back to my hometown of Buffalo and subsequent binge that’s led me to 14 wing joints in the past 21 days.

Like a mad scientist, the light bulb finally went off in my head this week that said “hey dipshit, why not enjoy both at the same time?”

So that’s exactly what I did. I arranged a few things, made a couple phone calls and on Thursday night I took the Moran-Alytics Podcast on the road for the first time to Amherst Pizza & Ale House for both wings and to tape a show.  I brought along my “Pat with Pucks” podcast segment partner Tone Pucks and together we watched the Buffalo Bills preseason opener and got our eat on.

Who gives a shit about Sean McDermott’s decision to start Nate Peterman over A.J. McCarron and Josh Allen? There’s only one nod that matters here and that’s this —- we chose to go with 10 Crown Royal BBQ and 10 Cajun/Medium wings.

The game was fun because it was the first time seeing the Bills on the field in over eight months. The podcast was fun because let’s be honest here, I’m quite amazing at it.  But what about the wings? Were they up to the lofty standards I now own, especially after successive tummy pleasing outings this week at Audubon North in Amherst and Ebenezer Ale House in West Seneca?

Let’s find out….

The Good: Let’s cut through any suspense and get right to the point.  These were some really good freegin’ chicken wings.  Pucks and I, who rarely see eye to eye on shit when it comes to sports, food or just about anything both agreed the wings were the bomb. I’ll even take it one further — usually during this binge when I go out and order multiple flavors, I distinctly like one more than the other. This may genuinely be the first time I sat stumped for several minutes trying to decide which of the two I enjoyed more before ultimately settling on the Crown Royal BBQ. They were saucy (just as I asked) and while I’d call the size of the wings typical in comparison to most places, the flavor on both sauces really was abnormally savory.  Pucks also got a slice (yet I’m the one who’s a fatso?)  I have no take on Pizza but for what it’s worth he said his was pretty good.  I care not – I’m only here for the wings.

It’s worth noting that this establishment is very easy on the eyes.  The outside patio is more than sufficiently sized and there’s a roof hanging over so you can still be out there during the warmer months if it’s raining or freezing while smoking in the winter if addicted to nicotine.  As for the inside, I was blown away. I’m not sure how old the Amherst Pizza & Ale House actually is  and I’m too lazy to research but it has the ambiance of a brand new place.  More importantly, it has the feel of a legitimate sports bar.  Lots of places slap up some up big screens and a few pieces of sports memorabilia, but this joint is an authentic feeling sports bar. There’s a lot of cool shit up on the walls.

With apologies to my friends who’ll shame me for this, I didn’t drink here.  Had I, there’s 20 different beers on tap and around 100 total. Personally that’s something I just deem unnecessary.  Get your ass a Bud Light or Coors Light if you like alcoholic piss water and a Corona or Heineken if your friend wants to be a fancy pants, and call it a day.

Lastly, I can’t speak for all the waitresses on staff, but the one we had was unequivocally fantastic. Very good at her job and very cute as well for all you single or wedding ring hiding reprehensible dudes out there.

The Bad: Spent the duration of the night on the patio eating, watching the Bills game and then taping a podcast.  The next morning my legs were eaten alive by mosquitoes.  Shame on Amherst Ale House (I’m done adding Pizza in the title) for not providing complimentary bug repellent with food and drink orders. Shame!

Seriously, I got nothing.

QB Comparison:  Amherst Ale House is the Joe Namath of chicken wings.  Yeah, the dude was known as Broadway Joe and for good reason, but when push came to shove Namath got on that field and grinded like few others of his era.  When I walked and saw the layout and the early crowd at Amherst Ale House, I would’ve bet my life this place was all style and no substance.  I was wrong.  Really wrong.

RECORD IF AMHERST ALE & PIZZA HOUSE PLAYED A FULL NFL SEASON: 11-5.  I’m not sure they’re best at any one thing (wings, pizza, bar experience) but man, they are really good at all of them. They won’t win every Sunday but you’re gonna get your money’s worth.

The Verdict: I wrote of the modern look of the place, the valid sports bar feel, comfy patio and so forth but in the end that’s just window dressing to me.  I only give a shit about the chicken wings.  That’s what I’m here for. I’ll go to a worn out dive with a waitress that tells me to shoot myself when I ask for all flats while using a dirty bathroom with porno pics up from 70’s still donning the walls, and if the wings are good enough I’ll still rave about it.

This place has amazing chicken wings, man.  You’re paying a buck or two per order more than a lot of other spots but it’s flat out worth it. Within a few bites of each flavor I knew these were going into my Top 10 and honestly, I’d feel the same even if I only tried one flavor. Either of them on their own are Top 10 worthy.  In fact, I’m going to go ahead and slide them in at eight for now.

I’ll say the same thing about here that I did Audubon North earlier this week. If you’re well north or south of Amherst this is a place worth jumping in your car and taking a 30-minute drive to. It’s a destination spot.  Go there, get some wings and there’s happening at the bar if you want that vibe or the patio if you’re in chill mode.