"Yeah, I know Wayne too!" And this stop along the wing tour has us at Wayne and Larry's which is located about 9th and Iowa, attached to the bowling alley. We have been going to this place for a number of years. Why? It is close to our house - just a couple, three blocks is all. And BONUS, it is also a "Chicago friendly" establishment since Wayne is from the Windy City. Here you will find Chicago themed burgers and sandwiches such as Ryne Sandberg Sliders and even traditional Chicago dogs made with real Vienna beef that Wayne has shipped there. So for me, this place is like a home away from home, err, my wanna be home anyway. We go to the Windy City at least once per year or more. And two of our fellow Wing Nutz are actually from Chicago (Al and Nancee).
Now having said all that, just to be brutally honest, when you go there your service may or may not be great. I'd go with the expectation of not having great service. Better to go with low expectations and then be pleasantly surprised. They usually do not have enough wait staff to cover the main dining area or too many which leads to the wait staff standing around a lot gabbing and not paying attention - or arguing over who can go home and who should wait on you because there are too many of them. The safest and best place for service is the bar. We have never had a bad experience just sitting at the bar. Not sure why staffing is such an issue. But, if you are a Bears fan, Sunday's they open up the back room for exclusive dining and game viewing and is an official watch party for our beloved Da' Bears.
But what about wings? Oh, yes. Focus. Monday is their official wing night and are half price ($4.49) and gets you ten (10). They have different flavor profiles and can be made at whatever heat level you want. They have Buffalo, BBQ, and Teriyaki, and can be made regular, hot or extreme. They also do the grill marks if that is your thing and you request it. They fry them, sauce them, then toss on the grill long enough to crisp them up a bit more. This is perfectly acceptable according to our rules so long as they do not cook all the sauce off. And they're pretty good about achieving grill marks and keeping them saucy enough. And one more flavor combo that is not listed, but you should try, is hot Buffalo and BBQ mixed together. Oh yeah. Just tell 'em Tailgate Ted suggested it. :-)
The wings themselves are usually better than this blog photo might suggest. But on this night, they were not their best. Judging seems to be getting tougher and tougher as we go. (We should have never gone to The Peanut in KC - seems to have skewed our expectations!) Unfortunately, Wayne, your wings were overcooked and the meat got dried out. Just to be clear, I am not referring to the wings thrown back on the grill to get the grill marks. Collectively we went thru over 70 wings and a number of them the meat got dried out. And on flavor they were mostly just okay - nothing really stood out that sets them apart in the judges' opinion. I have eaten a lot of wings there and can attest to it being an off night for them. But I have said it and will say it again: when we wing it, you better bring it.
Overall Wayne and Larry's scored a 5.82 Ouch! But as a plus, the service tonight was unusually great! So there is that.
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