Being a holiday weekend and all, we decided to have an impromptu session on Memorial day. We chose this spot Water Buffalo on the recommendation of our buddy Max. The four regulars were there, and we also had our Chicago correspondent Sam in attendance. I arrived a bit late to see that Menchal and the gentle dipper were already seated. Being that this was a gorgeous day, I decided that sitting inside was just not going to cut it and did a little finagling to get us an outdoor table. The new table we got was fantastic. Out at the end of a row of seating overlooking the riverwalk and the Milwaukee river. As Silverman and Sam arrived we were all thinking that this wing day was most definitely starting off on the right foot. Eric, however, did not enjoy this new table much. He had some issues with the elements this fine afternoon. Somehow the wind managed to blow his drink over a couple of times. I'm not sure he really enjoys outdoor winging, but we all have have our things I guess.
We commenced the ordering, starting off with an order of breaded wings, and grilled wings, both with hot sauce. The options for method of preparation were a nice menu feature. The wings however were not all that impressive. The breaded wings were decent, and the breading was not too heavy. The sauce however was not horribly impressive. Classic "Red Hot" style flavor, but not as hot as I would have liked. The grilled wings were a similar experience. Additionally the wings were not all that ample. There was a severe lack of meat on some of the wings. As stated by Menchal "I can't even tell the difference between this (uneaten) wing, and the one you just finished." One very nice touch was the small bunch of red grapes included with the wings. After the appetizer of wings, we order the entree of, you guessed it, more wings. There was another round of the same, and an order of grilled wings with barbecue sauce. I'm not usually a fan of this flavor, but I do have to say, these were definitely the best wings of the afternoon.
Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 wings
Water Buffalo
waterbuffalomilwaukee.com
249 N. Water Street
Milwaukee, WI 53202
(414) 431-1133
I've also included an old review written before the blog was started. There was a tragedy in the formative weeks of wing day, and that was the departure of seasoned wingstraordinaire Toby Silverman. To ensure that he would be properly informed I would provide him a brief synopsis of that weeks wingery.
From May 7th, 2008
So, I know this is a bit late, but last week was a wing day for the ages. We had decided on this spot Wingz which is downtown. Turns out it is only open for lunch on Thursday and Friday, and then over the weekend. Also the phone number was disconnected making me wonder if the place was open at all. So upon figuring that out we head to bay view to go to rookies. Now, this place seems like a great sports bar which had the possibility of epic wings, but no, not open either. We then head to another sports bar Jerseys which is down a couple of blocks from Rookies.
Here is where it gets interesting, this place is actually open so we sit down and figure out what to order. This place has the most fucked up wing system known to man. It turns out they have only one type of wing you can order, and then a selection of sauces. Here's the lineup (to the best of my memory) Ranch, Spicy Ranch, Honey Mustard, Creamy Dill, Garlic something, and last but not least salsa and marinara. Now, before I continue, I need to clarify that the salsa and marinara sauce is one sauce. No, not salsa, and another option of marinara, but one little tub with salsa and marinara sauce mixed together. Silverman did not know this when he chose that option. Needless to say he regretted the decision. Another thing that warrants pointing out is that a couple of key sauces are missing, such as buffalo or barbecue for example. At any rate, the wings were absolute shit. And that salsa and marinara, easily the worst wing sauce ever invented.
Because of the disaster at Jerseys, we headed to Girabaldi to get some proper wings so the day would not become an absolute waste.
Side note: When leaving Girabaldi that afternoon, the bartender yelled to us (in a voice reminiscent of the manager in Major League) "Tell the boys at Jersey's we say thanks!!!"
This hell hole: 1 out of 5 wings (two steps away from inedible)
Jerseys Pub & Grill
4024 S Howell Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53207
Friday, May 30, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
When worlds collide
One of the fundamental ground rules of this blog is that all posts must in some way be related to winging. Due to some interesting circumstances that I will explain in a moment, I have a story related to wings that, although incredibly embarrassing and ridiculous, just cannot be kept from the public.
I spent my weekend up in Green Bay WI to see my friends Daniel and Kristin get married, and let me start by saying congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Fuhrmann.
I attended the rehearsal dinner on Friday night, and after the dinner and some celebration at the home of the bride's family I returned to the Howard Johnson to continue the celebration at the hotel bar Hanrahan's. Now, this bar is an Irish themed bar that apparently has a "ladies night" every Friday. Being that this bar is at a random hotel in the outskirts of GB, and that this area is known for some interesting inhabitants, "ladies night" was a bit of a half truth. There were in fact many people who were biologically female, however the term lady is not necessarily one I would use to describe the clientele of this establishment. I was the designated driver this evening so I hadn't gotten to celebrate properly this point, and I was in the mood to really tie one on (shocking) so I begin ordering glasses of vodka on ice. I do have to include a few details, mainly that drink prices at Hanrahan's are insanely cheap, and that being able to "put it on the room's tab" meant that I went from completely sober to unable to walk in under an hour.
It is now about 11:30 and I can have some serious hangovers so I decide to figure out how to get some food. Remember, I have a wedding to get to the next day and I don't want to be dry heaving and sweating all morning. This is what happens if I get too drunk and don't eat anything before passing out. Needless to say, there are no room service options at this particular HoJo. The bartender, affectionately nicknamed Tit-too (she had some really trashy ink on one of her breasts) tells me that Pizza Hut is the only place she can think of that delivers this late. I call said establishment, and order $15 worth of chicken wings ($10 minimum order policy). The person taking the order asks what room to have the food sent to, and I tell her to just send the delivery guy to the bar. I continue drinking, yelling about nothing and having some really interesting conversations with Tit-too. Here is how one priceless conversation went:
Tit-too: "So what do you do?"
Me: "I'm in graduate school to become a doctor!" (I may or may not have been trying to be slightly deceptive with this answer, she didn't look so bad at this point)
Tit-too: "What kind of doctor?"
Me: "An academic doctor, I study economics" (For those reading this who don't know me personally, this is actually true, really)
Tit-too: "What is that? What can you do for my son?"
Me: "Nothing!!!!"
After a few more minutes, and shots of whiskey, my order of wings arrives. I hand the delivery guy a $20 and I announce that I will be retiring to my room. Now, keep in mind that I am sharing this hotel room with my roommate Martin. He has definitely seen me at some of my lower points before, but what I'm about to tell you was able to shock even him. I make my way back to our room, sit down on the bed and start enjoying my order of wings. After maybe two or three wings I have a bit of an epiphany. I realize that I had made a crucial error when packing for this trip, and that the only pair of underwear I had was the pair that I was wearing. Martin is still at the bar, and I figure that I will be done with the wings, and passed out before he gets back. Keep in mind that the wings were delivered at about 12:45. Given my underwear situation, and the fact that I am severely intoxicated, I decide to enjoy these wings naked. Now the rationale for this is as follows; I figure that I can just sleep naked and save 8 hours of underwear use. Then I'll just wear them the next day and get to a wal-mart between the ceremony and reception to deal with this undergarment situation.
So, here I am completely hammered eating some chicken wings naked in a hotel room bed. I am under the covers at least. Well, being that my dexterity is a bit compromised, the eating of said wings is a bit more difficult than expected. Essentially, they are a bit slippery. I end up making an absolute mess of my self dropping wings on the bed repeatedly, and getting red buffalo sauce all over the white sheets on this hotel room bed. I also have wing sauce on my hands, face, and chest. Yes, I even managed to drop a wing on my chest while trying to eat.
I eat half of the order of wings, and decide its about time to get to sleep.
Here is where it really gets terrible. After making an absolute mess of myself, and getting wing sauce all over the sheets I get up to de-sauce myself before I inevitably pass out. Before I continue I do need to remind you of a couple of things;
1) I was completely naked while eating most of these wings
2) I am in front of the sink washing myself in a small hotel room that I am sharing with Martin (he is sleeping on the pull-out couch)
3) I am still naked while getting myself cleaned up
4) Martin is not back from the Honrahan's yet
As I am sure you can imagine, this is quite the recipe for disaster. I am just finishing
the job of getting myself cleaned up and I hear Martin fumbling with the lock. Since he is pretty hammered at this point as well, the fumbling bought me an extra half second or so. Just as Martin is entering the hotel room I make a mad dash for the bed. Martin walks in the room just in time to witness me butt naked, in mid-air diving back into the bed. His first question is why the fuck I am naked, at which point I have to explain my underwear situation, and at that point I have explain the series of events that have led up to this very embarrassing display.
The moral of this story: when drunk and naked, please don't wing and dive.
I spent my weekend up in Green Bay WI to see my friends Daniel and Kristin get married, and let me start by saying congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Fuhrmann.
I attended the rehearsal dinner on Friday night, and after the dinner and some celebration at the home of the bride's family I returned to the Howard Johnson to continue the celebration at the hotel bar Hanrahan's. Now, this bar is an Irish themed bar that apparently has a "ladies night" every Friday. Being that this bar is at a random hotel in the outskirts of GB, and that this area is known for some interesting inhabitants, "ladies night" was a bit of a half truth. There were in fact many people who were biologically female, however the term lady is not necessarily one I would use to describe the clientele of this establishment. I was the designated driver this evening so I hadn't gotten to celebrate properly this point, and I was in the mood to really tie one on (shocking) so I begin ordering glasses of vodka on ice. I do have to include a few details, mainly that drink prices at Hanrahan's are insanely cheap, and that being able to "put it on the room's tab" meant that I went from completely sober to unable to walk in under an hour.
It is now about 11:30 and I can have some serious hangovers so I decide to figure out how to get some food. Remember, I have a wedding to get to the next day and I don't want to be dry heaving and sweating all morning. This is what happens if I get too drunk and don't eat anything before passing out. Needless to say, there are no room service options at this particular HoJo. The bartender, affectionately nicknamed Tit-too (she had some really trashy ink on one of her breasts) tells me that Pizza Hut is the only place she can think of that delivers this late. I call said establishment, and order $15 worth of chicken wings ($10 minimum order policy). The person taking the order asks what room to have the food sent to, and I tell her to just send the delivery guy to the bar. I continue drinking, yelling about nothing and having some really interesting conversations with Tit-too. Here is how one priceless conversation went:
Tit-too: "So what do you do?"
Me: "I'm in graduate school to become a doctor!" (I may or may not have been trying to be slightly deceptive with this answer, she didn't look so bad at this point)
Tit-too: "What kind of doctor?"
Me: "An academic doctor, I study economics" (For those reading this who don't know me personally, this is actually true, really)
Tit-too: "What is that? What can you do for my son?"
Me: "Nothing!!!!"
After a few more minutes, and shots of whiskey, my order of wings arrives. I hand the delivery guy a $20 and I announce that I will be retiring to my room. Now, keep in mind that I am sharing this hotel room with my roommate Martin. He has definitely seen me at some of my lower points before, but what I'm about to tell you was able to shock even him. I make my way back to our room, sit down on the bed and start enjoying my order of wings. After maybe two or three wings I have a bit of an epiphany. I realize that I had made a crucial error when packing for this trip, and that the only pair of underwear I had was the pair that I was wearing. Martin is still at the bar, and I figure that I will be done with the wings, and passed out before he gets back. Keep in mind that the wings were delivered at about 12:45. Given my underwear situation, and the fact that I am severely intoxicated, I decide to enjoy these wings naked. Now the rationale for this is as follows; I figure that I can just sleep naked and save 8 hours of underwear use. Then I'll just wear them the next day and get to a wal-mart between the ceremony and reception to deal with this undergarment situation.
So, here I am completely hammered eating some chicken wings naked in a hotel room bed. I am under the covers at least. Well, being that my dexterity is a bit compromised, the eating of said wings is a bit more difficult than expected. Essentially, they are a bit slippery. I end up making an absolute mess of my self dropping wings on the bed repeatedly, and getting red buffalo sauce all over the white sheets on this hotel room bed. I also have wing sauce on my hands, face, and chest. Yes, I even managed to drop a wing on my chest while trying to eat.
I eat half of the order of wings, and decide its about time to get to sleep.
Here is where it really gets terrible. After making an absolute mess of myself, and getting wing sauce all over the sheets I get up to de-sauce myself before I inevitably pass out. Before I continue I do need to remind you of a couple of things;
1) I was completely naked while eating most of these wings
2) I am in front of the sink washing myself in a small hotel room that I am sharing with Martin (he is sleeping on the pull-out couch)
3) I am still naked while getting myself cleaned up
4) Martin is not back from the Honrahan's yet
As I am sure you can imagine, this is quite the recipe for disaster. I am just finishing
the job of getting myself cleaned up and I hear Martin fumbling with the lock. Since he is pretty hammered at this point as well, the fumbling bought me an extra half second or so. Just as Martin is entering the hotel room I make a mad dash for the bed. Martin walks in the room just in time to witness me butt naked, in mid-air diving back into the bed. His first question is why the fuck I am naked, at which point I have to explain my underwear situation, and at that point I have explain the series of events that have led up to this very embarrassing display.
The moral of this story: when drunk and naked, please don't wing and dive.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Club Girabaldi
This is my first review, but certainly not my first experience with a great wing. What Girabaldi offers is a unique version of a buffalo wing. So far the Wednesday wing team has graced this exclusive club with our presence 2 times (the account of our second trip there will appear in my review of Jersey's). The first involved my brother Toby and I dabbling in what could only be described by the voice of a bartender who smokes 3 packs a day (which Girabaldi has) as "you havin the Nuclear?" Oh weeee had it, and then we HAD it for the rest of the day. Any wing enthusiast that tells you this is an enjoyable experience is a goddamn liar. I've never been so miserable. Not even 18 soft drinks in a row could console my damaged palette. But before he and I did anything that foolish, we mowed down on the truly delicious and amply spicy wings the Club is famous for.
The wings are not breaded, which is a plus to any true wing buff. The sauce is cooked on unlike any other wing I've ever had. My colleagues will tell you that Major Goolsby's is the best wing they've had so far in the city. Tough guys be warned: don't fuck with the nuclear! I gotta hand it to Milwaukee's true wing club: Girabaldi! Tough guys be warned: don't fuck with the nuclear!
4.5/5 wings
The wings are not breaded, which is a plus to any true wing buff. The sauce is cooked on unlike any other wing I've ever had. My colleagues will tell you that Major Goolsby's is the best wing they've had so far in the city. Tough guys be warned: don't fuck with the nuclear! I gotta hand it to Milwaukee's true wing club: Girabaldi! Tough guys be warned: don't fuck with the nuclear!
4.5/5 wings
There Wing Be Blog
Welcome, here you will get to enjoy the chronicles of an adventure of discovery, intrigue, an gastronomical ecstasy. One afternoon during the spring of 2008 a select group of gentlemen were enjoying a rousing debate of how to prepare the proper chicken wing. Many issues were introduced concerning how the perfect wing should be prepared. Fried? Breaded? The sauce issues alone proved more difficult of an issue to solve than we had ever imagined. At this moment those of us present for this discussion knew what we had to do. We had received a wake up call that would forever change Wednesday afternoons for ever.
Wing Day!
We decided at that moment that every Wednesday would be dedicated to finding the best wings Milwaukee had to offer. The journey has proved to be more difficult than ever imagined, therefore we have decided to use the powers of the interweb to document the adventure of a lifetime.
Wing Day!
We decided at that moment that every Wednesday would be dedicated to finding the best wings Milwaukee had to offer. The journey has proved to be more difficult than ever imagined, therefore we have decided to use the powers of the interweb to document the adventure of a lifetime.
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