Hotel Dalmatia is located in Riverside and I hit up in the early afternoon during the week with reinforcements.  My wife, daughter, her boyfriend and my son joined me.  Because of my extensive company we tried five different flavors, though in keeping with my own rules I only counted the medium plus one signature (in this case Chiavetta Cajun) for this review. To call it an unexpected experience is an understatement.  Let’s dig in.

PROS: The wings were generously sized with enough crisp but not TOO crispy. More importantly the taste borderline blew me away. Like I said we ordered five flavors (they have around 60 or some crazy shit like that) and the traditional medium were really (really) good.   Taking it one step further, I’d put their Cajun Chiavettas against almost anyone’s specialty wing. Holy shit, they were they tasty.   Not counting towards my overall review we also had Garlic Parm, Chiavettas BBQ and Lemon Pepper Franks.  Of them, the BBQ were the best.  Bonus points for being reasonably priced and the people (more on that in a second) were nice.

CONS: This isn’t a con to everyone or even most but must be mentioned.  The location can be scary, especially if you’re not a city slicker. Let’s keep things real here—Riverside doesn’t have the best reputation and isn’t the safest part of WNY.  I could easily see people who aren’t “city smart” intimidated by this place, especially after dark.  Also, this is a place most go to drink first and eat second.  Although the bartender and patrons couldn’t have been nicer, I wouldn’t consider this a quintessential spot to bring the entire family for a sit down dinner.   Lastly, which doesn’t factor into my review I wasn’t a fan of the Lemon Pepper Franks—far too strong for my liking.

QB COMPARISON: Dalmatia is the Jim Plunkett of quarterbacks. When talking about the game’s greats you don’t think much of Plunkett if at all, but if a few things fell his way Plunkett proved to be a championship winning quarterback.   if you’re all about the wings you can wholeheartedly trust this place.

RECORD IF DALMATIA HOTEL  PLAYED A FULL NFL SEASON: 13-3 but worth nothing that they could really use a new stadium.

OUTLOOK: I want to be very clear about my cons, those are only for some wing-goers and not a general reflection on Dalmatia Hotel. I found the place and its clientele awesome. If you don’t mind Lynard Skynard potentially blaring on the jukebox while you mow down delicious wings you’re good to go. Props to Joe Yerdon from The Athletic for recommending this spot to me.  Can’t wait to have them again.

(Note: My reviews and ultimately Wing Power Rankings are always based on the same criteria. I try medium wings plus at least one specialty or flavor I’m in the mood for. I don’t ask for anything special (such as extra crispy or extra saucy) other than requesting as many flats as possible. I also put at least some stock into vibe, service and price.)

You can have Christmas, New Year’s, family time and all that other shit. When I get a chance to come back to Buffalo for any reason, I’m here for the chicken wings.  Since moving to Florida roughly two and a half years ago, I realized how much I took having wings in Buffalo for granted, not to mention what a I creature of habit I was, frequenting the same two or three spots every time.

After quickly learning that nearly every place in Florida that serves chicken wings in Florida sucks, I decided each time I get back to Buffalo, whether for business or pleasure I’m going to hit up as many different wing joints as possible and subsequently power rank them. I fuckin’ love me some power ranking for literally everything. Lots of factors go into the world famous Moran-Alytics Podcast Chicken Wings Power Rankings: atmosphere, price point and service, but of course taste is far and away the most important factor. Whether I go myself or with an accomplice, I generally consume two flavors of wings per visit: traditional medium (or hot in some cases) and either something the server recommends or a flavor I see on the menu and am just feeling that day.

My first trip back in the 716 this week led me to The Lenox Grill near downtown Buffalo. This review and power ranking may come with controversy, as Korean BBQ is their signature wing sauce per the advice of several friends and Twitter followers.  To be honest though, I’m not a fan of oriental food and assumed I wouldn’t be a big fan. Get over it. Therefore, I went with 10 hot and 10 medium barbeque.

How were they? Quit being lazy and read on.

PROS:  Truth be told, I’ve been to plenty of places with all the bells and whistles but at the end of the day, the wings sorta tasted like shit.  The Lenox Grill scored huge for me with their traditional hot wings. I like a kick to my medium and/or hot wings but ain’t trying to need a towel around my head by the time I’m finished.  These wings were spicy but not overly done. Also, bonus points for their fries. My wife and I split an order with our wings and they were tasty. So much so in fact that a few wings were left on the table so we could demolish all the fries.  I’m also a fan of the look and feel with the establishment itself. I don’t know if it’s been around forever but it feels like it has. The men’s bathroom serves as evidence.

CONS: The medium barbeque wings were a bit bland compared to similar wings from several other spots I’ve had, to be honest. It’s not that they were bad, they just didn’t stand out—at all.   As for the hot wings, you may be a tad disappointed if you want your wings very hot.  You’ll probably want to step up to their suicide flavor for that effect.  They also weren’t particularly crispy, which is purely a preference thing and for me a plus. I personally don’t want my wings blazing hot nor ridiculously crispy. The portion size was overall pretty good but three of the medium barbeque wings were tiny. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but if you’re sharing them with someone that’s a third of the order. Not cool, man.

QB COMPARISON: The Lenox Grill is the Andrew Luck of chicken wings. You heard and read so much hype about coming out of college that you expected him to be one of the league’s better NFL quarterbacks before he even took a snap.  That certainly held true, but is he a Hall of Fame gunslinger? I’m not sure he is. Luck’s in the conversation right up there with the best, but does anyone think he’s a top five quarterback in the league right now?

RECORD IF SPORTSCITY PLAYED A FULL NFL SEASON: 10-6 playing in the NFL’s toughest division and competing for a playoff spot.

OUTLOOK: Many told me that the Lenox Grill is a top fiver for them. I’m not going to agree. They score high on the hot wings and mediocre on the more traditional barbeque. Do I regret not having their Korean BBQ wings? Possibly, considering how many told me I should.  All that said, they’re a top dozen wing joint in Western New York for me and the strength of their traditional hot wing alone gives me confidence you’ll leave this place satisfied.

As someone who lived most my life in Buffalo, grew up on the West Side and spent plenty of time living in North Buffalo there’s few things I enjoy more than Hertel Avenue.  I’ll take a beautiful spring or summer day of sitting on a patio and enjoying a cold one at a Hertel Ave pub over almost anything else Western New York has to offer. For that reason MT Pockets is one of my favorite spots to relax and feel the vibes at.   But what about the wings?

PROS:  They’re OK.

CONS: They’re just OK

QB COMPARISON: Wade Wilson. He was — OK.

RECORD IF M.T. POCKETS PLAYED A FULL NFL SEASON: 6-10 but it’d be OK because their fans wouldn’t turn on them.

OUTLOOK: Trying to compare typical bar wings to well established wing treasures like Bar Bill or Gabriel’s Gate is completely unfair.  Problem is I’m not sure MT Pockets measures up to its peers either. To be honest if I’m on Hertel Avenue craving wings sans vehicle to venture elsewhere, I definitely preferred Geckos and Wellington Pub to MT Pockets, though be fair I don’t think management at Pockets touts their wings as one of Western New York’s best to begin with. People go there to hang out, drink and have a good time and make no mistake about, it is a good time. MT Pockets is a cool drinking and social spot with where pub-goers of all ages can enjoy, featuring a patio that makes for splendid people watching in the summer months. It’s not like you’re going to hate the wings if you get it.  Like I said, they’re “OK.”  I just can’t recommend going there if that’s your primary purpose.