Wings Reviewed: Hot Buffalo

Genre: Known For Wings Place

Overview: The Delmar Loop in St. Louis is known as one of the “10 Greatest Streets in America” and is home to such attractions as the St. Louis Walk of Fame, Blueberry Hill, Vintage Vinyl among others. As the “fun” part of the street has stretched further and further towards the Pageant, new restaurants have moved in to fill this space.

Chubbies opened this year, and (spoiler alert) seems like the least interesting entry in a building that contains two other fantastic establishments, Mission Taco & the very new Blueprint Coffee. Their window on the front is promising enough, featuring some cheap beer neon signs and the words “burgers/wings frozen custard”. What could go wrong?

My 12 wings cost me $8.95. I ordered Hot Buffalo, but they offer 4 other rudimentary wing flavors. The 12 wings made for more than enough food for my lunch. There’s beer, but nothing crafty that I remember. The owner/manager was friendly and very present during my meal. This made it a bit uncomfortable for me to get a good photo of the wings. I’m also a sissy in this regard.

Hot Buffalo

BAD • FINE • GOOD • GREAT • BEST

A few wings into my meal, a couple walked in and exclaimed “Man, those wings look good!” I was the only person in the restaurant at this point, so I assumed they were talking to me. I smiled and nodded. This however, was not enough. “Are they good?” This was a question directed at me, and I lied. I said “Yeah, they are pretty good.” In my mind I was thinking “No, but they’re fine,” but I didn’t want to explain my review scale, or offend the aforementioned hovering manager/owner.

They didn’t end up ordering wings, so the lie didn’t weigh to heavily on my conscious. What they did do next was even more unsettling. The man, when filling up his soft drink, looked me in the eyes and said “Can I have one of those wings?”

I just gave him a blank stare, before he started laughing and said “I’m just pulling your leg.” If he had waited a few seconds longer though, I probably would have said “Sure, go for it.” I had already determined I was not interested in finishing these wings. But, because he asked and by my silence I had implicitly denied him, I felt like I had to pretend to eat all of these wings. My last 3 wings, I just took one bite of each one before quickly bringing them to the trash in shame.

About these wings: When you offer “Buffalo” and “Hot Buffalo”, that hot buffalo better be spicy. These were some of the least spicy hot buffalo wings I’ve reviewed yet. When you only feature 2 main courses on your menu (Burgers/Wings), your wings better be good. These were decidedly average.

If you’re staring at this building deciding between Chubbies & Mission Taco, go to Mission Taco. If you’re at Chubbies and deciding between wings and a burger, get a burger. They looked good, and I almost asked the man if I could try a bite of his.

Visited at 1pm, 9/3/2013, 6227 Delmar, 63130