The Buffalo Wing Bible

These wings taste like acid reflux Final Overall Score: 1.5  Restaurant: 3.5  Old, wood panels, run down, dark. Buffalo “charm.” Located in Hamburg, which is a bit of a hike from downtown, especially if you’re just visiting Buffalo. Not the most ideal location to bring guests. Taste: 0.5  Just not good. Dry, rubbery, no sauce, extremely spicy rub on the outside. If acid reflux took the form of a chicken wing, this would be it. Not at all a traditional Buffalo wing, and not even a good wing. At least there was celery and bleu cheese included. Sauce: 0.0 More of a rub than a sauce. Not a standard heat, but an alarming, aggressive spiciness. Made the wings nearly inedible. Crispiness: 1.0 A hint of crispiness in the skin but the entirely gummy meat completely ruins it. Size & Quality: 2.5  Large size but inconsistent - some of the drums had cutoff bones and the flats were varying sizes. Have you eaten at Mammoser's Tavern? Sha...

These wings are from a different dimension  Final Overall Score: 4.3  Restaurant: 2.0  The WingNutz restaurant had us thinking this wing trip was going to be yet another disappointment. My goodness, were we wrong. First of all, WingNutz is difficult to find because it’s located in the Knights of Columbs building, and there are almost no indications of where it’s located. Second, there is an overpowering musty smell in this building that nearly made us turn back right then and there. Next, there are only 3 menu items at WingNutz: 1) wings, 2) beef on weck, and 3) french fries. We were the first customers in the door at noon and were promptly informed upon entering that they were already sold out of beef on weck. Apparently someone had called ahead of us at 11:59am and ordered the entire stock of beef on weck that they had. Literally all of it. So if you want to try their beef on weck, somehow get there sooner than 30 seconds of their opening time, or c...

Much better than your average Buffalo pizza & wing joint PHOTO Final Overall Score: 3.8  Restaurant: 4.5  Nice clean restaurant with a small outdoor patio. There's a takeout counter, bar, and a decorative brick wall that provides for a comfortable bar atmosphere.Overall a typical sports bar feel with a hint of Buffalo flair. Taste: 4.0  Surprisingly good taste. We did not know much about JJ's before stepping foot in the joint. Much better than an average pizza & wing haunt in Buffalo! Sauce: 4.0  While the sauce was quite good, each wing was not coated in enough sauce. Perfect medium heat, some creaminess... just not PERFECT creaminess. Crispiness: 3.5  Crispy skin, but the meat inside was surprisingly gummy and even a bit elastic on some of the wings. Size & Quality: 3.0  5 drums, 5 flats but very inconsistent sizes. One of the drums looked like a dinosaur leg. Have you eaten at JJ's Casa Di Pizza? S...

A different spin on sauce, but OH SO GOOD!  Final Overall Score: 4.2  Restaurant: 3.0  Nine-eleven Tavern is humble and on the divier end of the bar spectrum. Despite being an older, obviously well-loved building, Nine-eleven is well kept. The bar area is dark and has that old Buffalo bar feel, but the patio is lovely and even quaint when warm weather allows. We had the opportunity to sit outside amidst the ivy and string lights at patio table with an umbrella. Taste: 4.5  These wings are unconventional yet fantastic. The sauce really set it apart from other wings, which were cooked and displayed perfectly. Unfortunately, the unconventional sauce also make these wings stray from traditional Buffalo wings. Sauce: 3.5  The sauce is where these wings lost marks when compared to an ideal Buffalo sauce. While this sauce was phenomenal with a perfect medium heat and quantity, there was a slight sweetness with garlic tones. You can even see the...

Beautiful wings with a uniquely sweet sauce  Final Overall Score: 4.2  Restaurant: 4.5  An old but well kept, boisterous bar. The outdoor seating is beautiful in summer if you can snag a table out there. Cash-only can be a bummer. The Bar Bill is almost always packed, so be prepared to wait. There is a small patio out front, but the long wait times and crowds may make it difficult to get a patio table. Taste: 4.0  Good overall taste but very deviant from a traditional Buffalo wing. An inexplicable sweetness in the sauce really threw us off. Also, the heat from the wings was not a classic Buffalo style. Sauce: 3.0  The sauce was indeed tasty, but it loses essential marks for not being representative of a classic Buffalo wing sauce. It was startlingly sweet and only had minimal creaminess. Additionally, the heat and spiciness snuck up on us over time rather than presenting itself up front like a classic Buffalo sauce. It’s good sauce and w...

Under-sauced, bone-dry wings Final Overall Score: 2.7  Restaurant: 3.0  The W Ferry St La Nova is bustling and lively. It’s not in the best location and parking is a little awkward. The inside of the restaurant appears that it was significantly updated at some point. It's a little cramped with stacks of pizza boxes piled in almost every corner, and some cleaning supplies and equipment strewn around the restaurant. Brownie points for having their own La Nova branded water bottles. Taste: 3.0  Overall tasty and crispy, but very dry and sorely under-sauced. Both the sauce and the dry meat made for a highly imbalanced taste, as the dry chicken only tasted dryer with almost no sauce and high acidity. Sauce: 1.0  While the quantity of sauce was far too little, the sauce that we did taste was good (although not great). It had a high acidity but only a hint of creaminess. The mild heat was well on the mild side of the medium spectrum - there was no l...

A most authentic Buffalo bar with fair wings Final Overall Score: 3.4  Restaurant: 3.0  Kelly’s is a dive bar, but in a cozy, authentic Buffalo way. It’s located near where the Turkey Trot starts every year, so it even has a bit of a nostalgic feel. The building is worn and you can tell that the restaurant has seen many a Buffalo winter. Despite the well worn tile and wood, Kelly’s Korner is overall clean and welcoming. The service was efficient and no-nonsense. The wings were not the best, but the cozy, local feel of Kelly’s still made for a memorable experience. It has more of a "local sports bar favorite" feel than a "bring your friends and family here" kind of feel. Taste: 3.5  The wings were quite tasty, but more in that they tasted like good fried chicken and not so much good Buffalo wings. The crispy skin was good and salty, but the sauce lost a critical amount of points here. Sauce: 1.5  The Buffalo sauce was the most disappointing a...