Buffalo Wings

[rlibkind]

I've got a craving for your basic Buffalo wings: deep fried, lavishly bathed in a Franks or Crystal-spiked sauce, served with blue cheese dressing and celery. And cheap but good beer.

Which bars between the rivers, Washington to Girard, would you visit to satisfy that craving?

[MarketStEl]

First and foremost, Moriarty's (1116 Walnut, next to the Forrest Theatre). Their wings are everything a good Buffalo wing should be: huge, meaty and tangy/spicy. They're also not dry, which is a good thing in my book.

Since Moriarty's is so close to me, I haven't felt the need to explore the other good wingeries in the area, though I can tell you that the Midtown II's wings are decent enough and will do after everyplace else is closed.

Perhaps this thread from the summer of 2005, following Metro's exploration of the city's best wings, might be of some use to you.

[KatieLoeb]

McGillin's Olde Ale House on Drury between 13th & Juniper, just south of Chestnut Street. Tuesday nights they're cheap too - .25/wing IIRC. They used to be even cheaper back in the Jurassic when I was known to hang out there. Place can be packed to the gills with college students, but it's probably better in the summer when many of them are gone.

The wings at London Grill are always good. I've eaten a few of those in my time. I could probably build a henhouse full of chickens with the bones, in fact...

MadMex off of Penn's campus does decent wings too. Those are an expecially good deal for the late night Happy Hour from 11PM-1AM when all the apps are half price and the margaritas are discounted too. They have some interesting flavors other than the standard.

For take-out, King of Wings in South Philly is pretty good.

[jmbrightman]

Locust Rendezvous has good wings, and pints are not expensive. Moriarty's never disappoints.

[Alcibiades]

Moriarty's tastes ok but they don't cut the inedible handle off the wing (unless they've started doing so since I've been). I grew up in Buffalo and I'd never seen that before.

Locust Rendezvous is not bad. Try Anchor Bar at Main and North Sts. in Buffalo. They're the best.

[Rich Pawlak]

I once participated in a buffalo wing rundown-search-panel-marathon eating of wings for a Philly Style article, and the best wings we had in Center City were at McGillin's Old Ale House, followed by Moriarty's. Best we sampled overall were at McMenamin's Tavern in Mt Airy, and the venerable Jughandle in Pennsauken, NJ.

[jmbrightman]

Moriarty's tastes ok but they don't cut the inedible handle off the wing (unless they've started doing so since I've been). I grew up in Buffalo and I'd never seen that before.

←

I eat that "inedible" handle.

[Alcibiades]

I guess it's not inedible, then. Just unheard of in Buffalo. If it tastes good, eat it up.

[Mummer]

Dunno about best" but New Deck Tavern has half priced wings (all aps) and bargain drinks during happy hour. This thread "made" me detour there before the train today and the wings were pretty good.

[jmbrightman]

I guess it's not inedible, then. Just unheard of in Buffalo. If it tastes good, eat it up.

←

I made the pilgrimage to the Anchor Bar back when my sister was living in Olean and I gotta say, while very good, Silveri's on 13th St back in the late 80's was better.

[Alcibiades]

I feel like wings are a fairly simple thing to get right/wrong depending on one major factor: how soon out-of-the-fryer they are. That's why you can have such a range of experiences depending on where you get them and how many times you try a particular place. They don't require much in the way of ingredients, nothing really in technique. The skin should be hot and crisp, the room should smell like hot sauce and you should be tearing a little.

[rlibkind]

0Try Anchor Bar at Main and North Sts. in Buffalo. They're the best.

←

And they're the original. But they ain't between the rivers or Girard & Wash.

[TarteTatin]

OHHHHH, remember Silveri's?

You brought back such good memories, JM!

YUM.

[Alcibiades]

And they're the original. But they ain't between the rivers or Girard & Wash.

←

Only in my mind.

[Holly Moore]

I'm not sure, but I think Silveri's may have been my first. And my best.

[KatieLoeb]

<big heavy sigh> Silveri's!!! Gosh, I'd almost forgotten how much I loved that place! Everything there was great. It was one of my first favorite pub crawl places in Philly...

[MarketStEl]

Yeah, I remember Silveri's too. Used to live a block down from it. I also remember when a local s***bag took it over and ran it into the ground.

That was a big loss. Their wings were fabulous.

[Rich Pawlak]

I moved into that neighborhood just as Silveri's opened and it quickly became my favorite hangout. Their wings, the very first version of wings that I ever tried, were outstanding. The brothers Silveri did their hometown of Buffalo proud. Closest versions to the Silveri original recipe are the wings at McMenamin's Tavern in Mt Airy, followed closely by McGillin's version. Both are very close to the true Buffalo style.

[taoseno]

My go to wing place has always been La Creole on Front near Fitzwater, bit of a dive to be kind but their wings are incredible, as a bonus they frequently had Blackened Voodoo (pre Katrina) to wash them down.

[chowfun]

I was thinking about Silveri's wings when I read the title of this thread. They used to make a great carbonara sauce for pasta, too. We lived at 10th and Clinton when they were still open.

[Rich Pawlak]

Specifically, it was rigatoni in carbonara sauce and it was a great dish.

[Holly Moore]

Anyone know if Ken Silveri is still in the business somewhere?

[jmbrightman]

without meaning to hijack this thread into a fond remembrance of the wonderfulness of Silveri's, the thing that made the place so great was this - they took ordinary things like bar food and made it special - the mozzarella sticks, for instance. I had only had the typical frozen fried breaded cheese logs at every other place, and when I tried them there, I was spoiled forever. They coated the mozzarella in their own breading, formed them into these misshapen logs, and served them with mustard. I have never had better. Same for the wings and onion rings.

[Rich Pawlak]

Michael Klein may know better, but last I heard was that Ken moved to Jim Thorpe to open an inn or B&B, something like that.

[Tim Dolan]

The wings at Union Jack's in Manayunk are crazy good. They have about 10 different sauces you can get, fried nice and crispy, they're not expensive and the place has a great selection of beers. I understand it's not withing the geographic area of the original post, but I didn't see a "best wings" thread. Such a clutch neighborhood spot.