Buffalo Bob's: Beats Biggs

Well, we are winding down on our great Lawrence TourWing of 2013.  Just three stops left and this stop has us trekking downtown on Mass Street to Buffalo Bob's Smokehouse for some smoked wings.  After our bad Biggs BBQ experience we were a little once bitten, twice shy so-to-speak about going to another BBQ place but we were pleasantly surprised.  As the picture shows, them are some healthy sized wing portions all crisped up and served on a bottomless bed of curly Q fries.  And if you are there on a Monday night as we are, they're $5 per pound.    

 

So, what about Bob?  These were so much better than Biggs.  They are slow smoked and then I am guessing flash fried to give it that crispy skin we so desire.  But an untrained eye can see that they serve their wings "naked" with only a dusting and not coated in sauce.  Boo, Bob, boo!  They do have sauces that are served on the side.  Obviously, you have a hot wing and a cold sauce that is runny.  Just isn't the same.  And, our rules clearly state that the wings must be coated in sauce.  So, there is going to be some deductions. 

 

As for texture and tenderness (T-n-T) they were above average and is their strong point.  Very crispy on the outside but not overdone.  The chicken meat well preserved by all the sealed in juices.   

 

But flavor, well, it took a little hit.  The sauces offered on the side are their BBQ sauces and a hot sauce.  The hot sauce (pictured above) looks and tastes like Louisiana Hot Sauce right out of the bottle.  One BBQ sauce named after an old girlfriend was described to us as sweet and spicy which we found to be lacking in both categories.  Maybe Bob thought the same and that's why it didn't work out; I don't know.  The hot BBQ was not hot.  Perhaps it was hotter maybe but not hot.  The mild was overall their most flavorful and best sauce we sampled.

 

Still, overall Buffalo Bob scores a total of 6.58 which puts them in 8th place thus far, sandwiched between Johnny's Tavern (Original) at 6.67 and Saints Pub at 6.53.  If Bob would only smoke them, flash fry them, sauce them, and serve them then we would eat them and judge them higher.  If anyone knows Bob you may want to suggest that.  Still, they scored a very respectable ranking and they are heads and shoulders above their in town rival Biggs BBQ that scored the worst: 4.275.  A morale victory, perhaps? 

 

Now, Buffalo Bob's overall as a place to go. They have good BBQ and some really good lunch specials and the service is fast and friendly.  The place is divided in two halves.  One side is the restaurant and the other is dubbed the "Dynamite Saloon" with a really cool bar.  There are flat screen TVs in there if you want to catch a game.  Same menu is served in the saloon so you will not be missing out on menu selections.  And on some Friday nights you can catch Patrick Nichols picking his guitar and singing some Delta Blues.  And if you are really lucky you may catch him on a night when our good friend Chris Millspaugh joins him on harmonica for a real treat to your ears!    

 

And then there were  two...

Most Worthy Wing Still Flying

 

Our quest continues but is coming to a close soon.  Only 3 remain on our list to be judged.  So I thought this would be a good time to recap and list the rankings thus far.  So here we go, from worst to first. 

14.    4.275  Biggs BBQ  Several broken bones, over smoked, texture and tenderness (TnT) no good.
13.    5.5      23rd St. Brewery  So much black pepper ruined them.
11b.  5.82    Paddy O'Quigley's  "O'Fail".  Good size but no heat.  Flavor profiles didn't match.
11a.  5.82    Wayne 'n Larry's  Many of the wings were overcooked that night.  Sauces okay.
10.    5.9      Set'em Up Jack's  Itty bitty wing committee.  Overcooked and dried out.
9.      6.08    Slow Ride Roadhouse  TnT was hit and miss.  Flavors were so-so.
8.      6.53    Saints Pub   Flavors and TnT were great.  All the broken bones were not great!
7.      6.67    Johnny's Tavern (Original)  TnT was really hit and miss.  Basic Frank's Hot Sauce.
6.      6.84    Yacht Club   Really good sauces helped overcome lack of appearance and TnT. 
4b.    6.9      The Jayhawker   Good looking wings, flavorful, and tasty.  TnT a little inconsistent.
4a.    6.9      Dempsey's Irish Pub  Good flavors and prices. TnT a little inconsistent.
3.      7.825  Jefferson's   Lots of great flavors.  Really good TnT.   Turbo double dipped! 
2.      7.94    Johnny's West  Lots of great flavors.  Classic and flaming combined is really good.
1.      8.325  Conroy's  They told us their wings were the best in Lawrence.  So far they are right. 

So there you have it; so far.  Buffalo Bob's, The Bird Dog, and the place that started it all for us, Henry T's, are all that remain.  I am thinking we are going to have a wing off! 

Tailgate Ted 

Biggs BBQ: May Day! May Day!

  There he is: Al "Heisenberg" sporting an official Breaking Bad t-shirt with the aforementioned alter ego screen printed on the front tearing up some drummies at Biggs BBQ.  That look of elation like the one he has when he cooks a 98% pure batch of crystal blue meth will be short lived. 

 

Biggs BBQ is located on the West side of Iowa street just past the 23rd street / Clinton Parkway intersection, Chili's, Saints Pub, etc. in a shopping/business strip.  Having wings there is a new experience for all of us.  We are accustomed to eating their BBQ whether it be sandwiches, ribs, brisket, etc. but not their wings.  And, they actually do not have wings by what you think of in the traditional sense of the word.  They only serve the drummies or drummettes.  We asked what happens to the wingettes but no one had an answer.  It doesn't matter to me; I prefer the drummettes anyway so I am golden!  Nancee was screwed though - ha ha.  According to our rules, it is fine to serve only one kind but proportion to size still applies.  And that is where it turns a little weird.

 

That plate of Al's pictured above is full of really healthy drummies but mine were pretty scrawny (I didn't take a picture: I know, I know: FAIL).  6 out of my 8 drummies were broken bones, which means they were small and got overcooked a lot.  Either that or my waitress, Journey, and the cooks really hated me for some reason.  Everyone's plate of drummies looked like Al's, just not mine.  When you calculate all the wings we ate and how many were broken, they're still no where as bad as Saints Pub and Grill just across the parking lot, but 19% broken wings is still BAD (Saints had at least 30% when we stopped counting/tracking).   

 

What else can we say?  The texture and tenderness was way off.  They lacked the crispy outside we like because they are not flash fried after being smoked.  Several were over smoked or cooked.  How do you know?  Just by looking at them.  When the skin and meat draw way up on the bone that is indicating to you that the moisture is being drawn up out of the meat.  When smoking you do want a little draw but not a lot.  Some of these had the skin/meat drawn up almost half way on the bone.  When you bite into them it is confirmed. 

 

And the flavor?  "Meh" is what we say.  We tried all variety of sauces and styles.  The hot is hot - that's a plus. Flavor, even though the most heavily weighted at 60% of the overall score, would not overcome the texture and tenderness category.    

 

So given all this, Biggs BBQ scored an abysmal 4.275.  Yep, that's not a type-o, an horrendously bad total score of a 4.275 out of a possible 10. 

 

But don't take our words for it.  Drummies come in orders of 4 ($4.99) or 8 ($8.99) in mild, hot, or BBQ and Monday's are half price.  Or do take our word for it, order up a slab of ribs, and feel satisfied.  Your choice.   Our opinion:  These birds crashed and burned! 

Wayne n Larry's

 

 

"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.   

O'No Paddy O'

 

Paddy O’Quigley’s is a locally owned chain here in Lawrence and a couple more in Kansas City.  The one in Lawrence is inside the Holliday Inn just off the West Lawrence exit.  It is suppose to be an Irish Sports Pub but the only thing Irish about the place is they put an “O” in front of their menu items.  They do offer corned beef (which is really a North American dish that us wanna-be-Irish people mistaken for  traditional Irish) but mostly their menu is regular sandwiches and burgers.  They have daily lunch and dinner specials, but alas, not for wings.  Oh well. 

Their “Chic O’Wings” come (7) for $9.99, (12) for $13.99, and (20) for $16.99 and there are a whole host of flavors to choose from.  And as you can see from the photos, they are served with both celery and carrots. 

The wings had a good appearance, were of good size and equally proportioned.   The texture and tenderness was above average – both crispy and juicy.  The flavor “hotrod” provided no heat at all which really hurt them in scoring.  Their “Paddy O’d” wings were the best of the bunch, which are a garlic parmesan style.   But the flavor of the sauces for the most part was “meh”.    And flavor is the most important thing!

All in all, Paddy O’Quigley’s wings received a score of 5.82 and will receive no further consideration.  In a word:  Fail.  Or maybe I should say, "O'Fail". 

Yacht club

 

This week took us double dipping again.  Our first stop along the wing tour was at the Yacht Club located just North of 6^th street near the Iowa intersection.  The Yacht Club serves a wide variety of sandwiches and burgers, including some unique styles such as the Elvis inspired Goober burger topped with bacon and peanut butter.  And, of course, they have wings!  Wednesdays are their wing special for 40 cents per and you can order 5 at a time.  How did they rate?

Appearance was slightly above average.  Nothing really stood out.  They had the reddish orange hue you come to expect.   They were appropriately proportioned in both size and wingettes versus drumettes. 

Texture and tenderness was just average.  We did have some drumettes that got a little overcooked and this pulled their score down in this category.  There were no broken bones so that’s a plus! 

Flavor, most importantly, was above average.  Really good sauces and since this category is heavily weighted, it helped make up for a stellar-less appearance and some dried drummies. 

When everything was tallied and appropriately weighted out, the Yacht Club scored an overall 6.84.  Not too shabby but certainly lower than we expected. 

All in all though, this is a great place to eat, watch sports or gather after a Jayhawk win and celebrate with friends.  The interior is light and bright with a lot of timber and stone.  Televisions are everywhere for any sport viewing.  And there is an old score board permanently fixed with the 2008 NCAA Final National Championship game score frozen for all eternity.  Rock Chalk! 

Conroy's?? Conroy's!!

This week we winged it at Conroy’s Pub.  If you are not sure where that is or if you have ever heard of it, you are probably not alone.  That is not meant to be a snide comment or a snub – just, you may be use to its old name – Kaspers.

Kaspers, err, Conroy’s is located on 6th street in a little office strip next to 105.9 the Lazer and across from Sonic Drive-In.   We hadn’t been there in years.  For me, I calculate my last visit to be in 2003.  We had a little send-off party for me as I went up to Idaho for a few months.  They did Karaoke in the back and would host trivia game nights.  The atmosphere was always dark with wood paneling on walls, light blue vinyl/leather-ish booth upholstery, and worn out carpet in the main dining area.  I can now report 9 years later that with a presumably new owner and new name that absolutely nothing about the atmosphere has changed as best we could tell.    But, we ain’t here for no ambiance.  

When we called to confirm they have wings and to see about any night with a wing special (which they do not have) we were informed that in no uncertain terms their wings are the best in town.  That’s a mighty big statement.  We informed her that WE would be the judge of that!

Conroy’s offers up Buffalo wings by the pound for about $10.  There’s hot and hot.  But, they do offer to cut it with BBQ sauce if someone thinks the sauce is too hot.  Their sauce: Frank’s Original Hot Sauce cut with butter.  

We really didn’t know what to expect going in tonight.  And with someone's bravado  proclaiming the best wings in Lawrence, that is a red flag, right?   So there we sat waiting and waiting for our wings.  We joked that the cook slipped out the back and went up the street to pick up an order from Henry T’s to serve us.  And of course, there were the obligatory, “They must have had to catch and pluck them chickens first” type humor and banter flying around as we waited.  Finally after about 30 minutes they arrived.  

And I gotta say…I don’t know if they are THE BEST in town or not yet, but they were some pretty dadgum good wings.  Conroy’s did everything we want in our wings.  They had a nice red-orange-ish hue, the wings were equal in proportion, there were no broken wings, the outside was nice and crunchy, the inside nice and juicy.  And the sauce was well emulsified with the butter.  That is important because if it is not you get that oily separation from the liquids and it looks really unappetizing on your plate.  And speaking of plates, they served them wings on white china ware which you really would not expect looking at the place.  

Other things Wing Nutz judgers liked, but were not judged, was the healthy portion of celery, the blue cheese dressing – a little runny – but good flavor, real big beers, and their gin and tonics!  

When the tallying was all done, Conroy’s scored an overall 8.325 and with that they move into first place!  Time will tell if they are The Most Worthy Wings of Lawrence, KS.  But we all agreed we will be back to eat more wings.  You should too!  

Dempsey

Dempsey's Irish Pub

Dempsey’s Irish Pub, located in the 600 block of Vermont, isprobably more known for their gourmet hamburgers than for their wings.  And I think we took them by surprise showing up for lunch on a Saturday and all of us demanding wings.  They served us frozen celery.  :-)

They offer three types of wings and all come by the pound.  8-10 wings come per pound.  1 lb. $6; 2 lbs. $10; 3 lbs. $13!  Good everyday prices compared to others.

Flavor profiles are: Roasted Garlic (mild); Grilled Pineapple (medium); and Hot (hot).  

The flavors are all good although we thought that the grilled pineapple was the milder one between it and the roasted garlic.  The roasted garlic had a really good overall flavor and heat profile.  And the hot was not too hot and provided a nice after burn as it continued to build with heat that sort of lingered in the back of the throat.    

Texture and tenderness was good.  Had a few that got a little dried out – especially on the drummies.  But overall the TnT was good. 

Given all this, they received an overall score of 6.9 from the Wing Nutz.  Not too shabby and we would definitely go back and eat wings – especially at those prices.  

Broken Wings, Broken Dreams

 That's not a distortion of the picture.  Them are some itty bitty wings.  Monday night is wing night at Saint's Pub.  All you can eat for $9.99.  If some places serve "factory seconds" on there wing nights, then these have to be thirds!  Besides their scrawniness, there were a lot of broken wings.  We stopped counting at 15.  At least 30% of our 50 wings were broken and one even grossly disfigured.   As you may recall, when more than 2 in a bunch or batch are broken, we begin to downgrade the score. (See mangled chicken below.) 

Aside from all of that, the texture and tenderness was really good.  They did a really good job of not overcooking such petite wings and keeping them juicy on the inside.  And some of the flavors were really good too. The garlic parmesan was by far, hands down, their best sauce.  

Overall, they score a 6.53 and their dreams of being the Best Wingers in Lawrence are broken!