Henry T's: Home Sweet Home

It is a bittersweet homecoming of sorts. It signals the end of the great 2013 Tourwing is close at hand, and our long time server Brittainey is moving back home to California for good.  She was one of the best servers we have ever had.  When she saw us coming she would have our drinks already ordered and brought to us.  She always knew our wing order too and our particulars, like grill marks, extra napkins, a communal plate with a pile of celery, and so on.  And now she is gone and we will have to train someone else all over again.  That's the problem with living in a college town, wait staff turns over with every graduation.  Brittainey certainly stayed longer than most.  We will miss her Valley Girl talk, her glowing orange skin from over exposure to UV, and her fun attitude. 

 

Now for the wings.

 

Here's the thing.  Henry T's makes their own sauce which we like because Frank's hot sauce gets a little boring.  We like places that put their own twist on sauces.  And, they make it fresh.  And with this comes variance.  Commercially made hot sauces use pepper mashes to control consistency with the heat.  Using fresh peppers is going to give you variance.  Plus, there will be variance with different cooks preparing the sauces.  So some times the wings are a little milder or hotter than previously.  But generally the flavor profile is consistently the same. 

 

T's recently expanded their flavor profiles and now offer naked, BBQ, parmesan garlic, buffalo, Sriracha honey, extra spicy, or toasted habanero.  Of the new sauces, parmesan garlic is my favorite.  The wings are really crispy and I order additional sauce on the side for double dipping. 

 

Tonight was a particularly good night for wings.  The appearance is an orange-brown with some grill marks, good size.  They could have been charred a little more for our liking but still good texture and tenderness.  And the flavor was really good - just the right amount of heat and tanginess.  Wing Nutz gave T's a score of 7.825 putting them in a tie with Jefferson's. 

 

And with this, we have judged everyone we set out to judge here in Lawrence.  There were 5 places that really broke away from the pack.  Henry T's and Jefferson's rounded out the top 5 tied at 7.825; Johnny's West at 7.94; Conroy's Pub at 8.325; and, 6 Mile Tavern at 8.36.  So, there is really one thing left to do...

 

Wing Off!  The Wing Nutz crew will gather one final time and in one day decide once and for all who has the most worthy wings in Lawrence.   

 

If you want to learn more about Henry T's and all the great food they make, just go to www.henryts.com and check them out.