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Wing Review: Mulberry Italian Ristorante

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Breaking news: Mulberry Italian Ristorante has chicken wings.  OK, that’s not really breaking news but I’d bet a vast majority out there didn’t know they served wings. I certainly didn’t and for good reason—Mulberry’s known as one of if not the premier Italian restaurants in all of Western New York, not typically the type of places that offers wings on the menu. It wasn’t until I contacted one of the owners of Sonny Red’s in Lackawanna about taping a podcast did I discover Mulberry.  Turns out Sonny’s was closed on the day I wanted to tape the show, so the owner made a few calls and next thing you know Nate Geary, Matt Parrino and myself were at Mulberry Italian Ristorante trying wings and taping an episode of the “Finer Wings Club”. Now, I knew I’d be blown away by the vibe because again, it’s one of the most liked and respected restaurants in the region.  But the chicken wings?!?  Let’s find out.

PROS: Yeah, so I came here predominantly for the advertised “Tre White Spicy BBQ” wings but honestly,  “Joe’s Medium” stole the show.  So we’re clear, Joe’s an owner there and has something to do with the creation of the wing sauce recipe (not sure to what extent).  Anyway, this medium wing was flat-out exceptional and if I said it once I’ve said it a million times, traditional medium/hot wings will always carry more weight than gimmicky flavors when it comes to my personal wing appraisals.  By the way, these were nearly identical as Sonny Red’s medium wing, advertised as “made famous by Eric Wood”.  The wings were copiously sized, cooked perfect and the sauce was very much NOT the traditional Franks plus butter combo you get at most places. I LOVED these wings.

For the record, the Tre White Spicy wings were pretty damn good too—kind of a sweet brown sugary taste to em.  I wouldn’t necessarily call them elite but they did the trick just fine.  We also tried some Honey BBQ wings too and they were pretty good, although honestly Nate and especially Matt both liked them more than I did.

CONS: I say this half-jokingly, but the only real con is figuring out how you go to such a renowned Italian place like Mulberry and end up getting—-chicken wings? Also, not a huge deal especially since we’re talking about a place an elite restaurant not to mention the rising cost of wings due to a shortage—but $16 for a single and $28 for a double is pretty expensive.

RECORD IF MULBERRY ITALIAN RISTORANTE PLAYED A FULL NFL SEASON: 12-5 with a meaningless Week 17 loss.  So we’re clear here –we’re only talking about wings.  This may be the best overall restaurant in Western New York, period, so if everything on the menu was fair game we’d be talking a potential 1972 Miami Dolphins season here.

OUTLOOK: I take a lot of pride, perhaps to a fault with my wing ventures and how often people come to me with suggestions of places I try.  I can sincerely tell you that not a single person ever told me about Mulberry wings, not one.  I don’t think most people even know they have them.  Why would they? This place is about Lasagna, gourmet meatballs and innumerable Italian dishes.

But I’ll tell you what—these are some incredibly good wings.  Tre White’s BBQ wings were good but don’t really stand out in a sea of other wing spots that offer varieties of BBQ wings.  However, the Joe’s Medium wings absolutely do.  There’s literally dozens of unbelievably good wing houses in Western New York but only a small handful, in my opinion where you can get a traditional medium/hot wing that doesn’t taste like most the competition.   Nine Eleven Tavern, Bar Bill and Sonny Red’s immediately come to mind.  You can now add Mulberry Italian Ristorante to that list as well. “Joe’s Medium” is elite.

Mulberry will be ranked very high when my next Wing Rankings/Tiers come out.

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Chicken Wing Review/QB Comparison: Mooney’s Sports Bar & Grill (Military Rd)

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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.

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Wing Review: Imperial Pizza

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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.

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Chicken Wing Review/QB Comparison: KO Sports Bar & Grill

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Don’t worry, KO Sports Bar & Grill. I won’t penalize you for being closed on Sundays despite the internet claiming you’re open. It’s a lesson I learned the hard way after an Orchard Park to North Buffalo early Sunday evening drive to KO was wasted.  But hey, I got to see some interesting characters strolling around Delaware Avenue plus, I came back a few days later on Tuesday with my buddy, Casey to bang out two styles of wings on the advice of a few blogger community buddies. Immediately I was impressed by the interior of what I’d consider a very old school sports bar that’s way bigger than it looks from the outside, filled with friendly people.

I love the bars where everyone knows each other and this definitely feels like one.  However, it doesn’t mean the wings are any good and this isn’t a review about the friendliest bar locals in Western New York.  Were the wings any good?

PROS: The KO Spicy wings are insanely good. If you racked up the best non-traditional wing flavor choices: Elmo’s Cajun Hot Double Dipped, Dalmatia Hotel’s Chiavetta’s Hot and La Nova’s Hot BBQ immediately come to mind— the KO Spicy gems can hold court with any and all.  Seriously, these were outstandingly tasty and cooked perfectly too.

CONS: The traditional medium wings were equally pedestrian –and I’m possibly being generous here.  They were not very good, at all.

QB COMPARISON: Ryan Fitzpatrick. One of the most exciting yet inconsistent quarterbacks I’ve ever seen. Go the traditional wing route these borderline suck but spice them up and you’re getting MVP caliber play.

IF KO SPORTS BAR & GRILL PLAYED A FULL NFL SEASON: 9-7 and a quarterback away from contending.

OUTLOOK: First and foremost, when it comes to overall power rankings I can’t have these very high. From day one my rule has always been traditional (medium or hot) wings come first and need to be considered heavily while other items (signature wings, price, vibe, service, etc.) play a slightly lesser role.  Honestly speaking, had I walked in here and gotten only the regular medium wings I’d consider putting KO on blast.  They just weren’t good, man.

That being said, if I’m power ranking the best specialty sauce wings this joint would be extremely high—possibly even top five.

I cannot recommend KO Sports Bar & Grill if you only like traditional wings but if you desire more spice in your life, I can’t recommend them highly enough. Truly a tale of two cities.

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