Winnipeg Nightlife

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Winnipeg’s Best Wing Night Reviews Volume 1

By Guest Writer Erin Debooy

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My good friend went to Australia for a year, and when she came back we met her at the airport, eager to go out and hear about her adventures overseas. The first thing she said while waiting for her luggage was, “Oh my god. I need some Smitty’s wings. I haven’t gone out for wings in over a year. If we don’t go for wings, I might let this jet lag get to me and cry.” So we went to Smitty’s. There is something about us Winnipeggers and wings. Maybe it’s because any night of the week you can go out somewhere, no matter if it’s +30 or -30, and grab some wings and beer with your friends just for the sake of wings. Or maybe it’s because they’re a good deal, and us Winnipeggers just love a good deal. No matter what the reason is, every night there is a wing night at a restaurant it is guaranteed to be packed. So as a true Winnipegger who absolutely loves wing nights in their entirety, I set out with my group of wing men to find the best of the best wing nights in Winnipeg.
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My critics consisted of my regular wing night group: Joe, my boyfriend, a connoisseur of wings who’s ultimate goal in life is to make the best wings known to man, Jodry, a critic at heart who enjoys his wings and beer just as much as I do, Jay, the expert in hotness (wing hotness, of course), and myself, just a general wing lover. Grading each applicable venue on price, value, presentation, service and taste, we’ve come up with a guide that will keep any Winnipeg wing lover busy every night of the week.
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So far on our quest, we have checked out 4 wing hot spots: Hooters, Tavern United, Kelseys, and of course, Smitty’s.
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Hooters

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Wing Night: All nights are wing night.

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Flavors: Medium, Hot, 3 Mile, 911, BBQ, Salt and Pepper, Teriyaki, Honey Garlic, Plain, and Cajun. All can be ordered either breaded or naked.

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Prices: 10 wings- $8.99, 20 wings- $16.99, 50 wings- $33.99

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Wing Rank: 4/5

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I’ve heard mixed reviews on Hooters wings’ so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Our waitress was really friendly and offered great service, and the boys were smitten by the time she took our drink order. The wings were served really quickly which was surprising because we ordered 50 wings between the 4 of us, but they still were served to us within 15 to 20 minutes. Flavors need to be ordered in multiples of 10, so we had 911, BBQ, mild, honey garlic and Cajun. The presentation was excellent, I particularly liked the rolls of paper towels on the table and the celery served with the wings. The flavor that stood out for the entire table was the Cajun, with the ranch dip, it was absolutely delicious. The 911 was not as spicy as Jay (the spice expert) expected, but the flavor was still really good. The only thing that disappointed was the BBQ, which tasted closer to ketchup then BBQ sauce. The wings were a really good size with a substantial amount of meat on them, and between the 4 of us we barely polished off the 50 wings. Splitting the platter 4 ways there was enough for everyone, and working out to about $9 each it was a really good deal.

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The Tavern United

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Wing Night: Wednesday

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Flavors: Mild, Buffalo, Hot & Honey, Sweet Chilli, BBQ, Teriyaki, Cajun, Salt and Pepper, Lemon Pepper.

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Prices: ½ price wings, approximately $5.25/lb. additionally, it is $1 off pints.

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Wing Rank: 3/5

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Right away I was impressed by the dollar off pints, I haven’t seen a deal on beer the same night as wing night ever before, and it was definitely a perk. The service was quick the night we went, but it was later then we usually go so it actually wasn’t as busy as normal. I have had experiences at the Tavern United when you wait quite a while for your beer, let alone your food. However, the wings were freshly served about 15 minutes after ordering and we were impressed. The flavours were really good, BBQ and Hot & Honey really standing out as the better flavours ordered. Jay again confirmed that the Buffalo was tasty, but not really all that spicy. The wings themselves were a decent size, but noticeably premade, double fried and bucket sauced. In the end, the wing crew came to the agreement that the wings seem to be your average bar food; they were good, but nothing spectacular if you are looking for really good wings on a wing night.

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Kelseys

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Wing Night: Thursday

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Flavors: Guinness BBQ, lemon citrus pepper, honey garlic, black pepper garlic, Sea salt and toasted pepper, mild, medium, hot, hot stripe ranch, Indian butter spice.

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Prices: ½ price wings, approximately $5 per 8 wings or $9 per 16 wings

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Wing Rank: 4/5

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We reviewed Kelsey’s under different circumstances, but I decided to include it as an official review because of how impressed I was. We attended free wing night on January 21st, and on a night when you would expect the wings to suffer quality for the sake of quantity, they were excellent. Unfortunately, the flavor options we had were limited for this particular evening. However, they were all some of the best flavors we had so far, so I believe that any flavors that appealed to you would be equally as delicious. We had honey garlic, mild, BBQ, and hot. Jodry and I agreed that the honey garlic was some of the best tasted, and Joe found the mild wing to have one of the best wing flavors ever, one he’s been trying to duplicate ever since. The hot wing wasn’t really hot at all, but it did have more of a franks red hot type flavour then the mild. The wings were also very good quality, big with plenty of meat on them. Even if they are a little more of a pricy wing night option, they are definitely worth it and I will be going back.

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Smitty’s

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Wing Night: Tuesdays and Thursdays

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Flavors: mild, medium, hot, honey garlic, sweet chilli, electric honey, BBQ, Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Salt and Pepper.

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Price: $ .44 a wing, need to be ordered in 6 wing increments.

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Wing Rank: 3.5/5

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Smitty’s is probably the most popular place to go for wings in Winnipeg, and no matter if the wings are good or bad, people will still be gathering there every Tuesday and Thursday. They are the best in Winnipeg for flavour variety and the variety in which you can order them, and at 44 cents a wing, you can’t really go wrong. The service is always quite speedy as well, even when they have a full house. They also have a decently spicy hot wing that upon request, can be made as hot as possible. I have a friend who once requested the cook make the most killer wing he could, and the wings he ate made his lips turn white. I wouldn’t recommend that, but if that’s your kind of thing, Smitty’s can do it. I personally am a big fan of their sweet chilli and BBQ wings, and Joe swears by their honey garlic. However, the wings themselves are small and not as meaty as the wings some other restaurants offer. Whatever Smitty’s lacks in wing quality, they make up with a good deal, good variety, and a comfortable lounge that has become a tradition among many groups of friends.

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Within the next little while, my troop of wing goers will be tasting wings from places like Pony Corral, Dylans, Romani’s, Tony Roma’s, Big Guys, Carlos & Murphy’s, and Movado’s.

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Readers! If you know of a good place that you spend your wing nights, let me know! No wing must go uneaten in bringing you the best places to do wing night in Winnipeg. Stay tuned.

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