The Challenge: Wings of Wolfchase

The Hot Wing Challenge Round 3
Wings of Wolfchase - Bartlett, TN
901-386-2000

A few weeks ago, we were out shopping when a wing craving hit us both. We were close to home which gave us several options to choose from. I figured it would be a good time to continue the challenge, pick somewhere she has never been and somewhere I haven't reviewed before. We decided on Wings of Wolfchase, or WoW for short. I have lived in my Bartlett home for 7 years now which is less than a mile from WoW. I have been a few times in the past and wasn't overly impressed. I received mediocre service and found the wings to be nothing special. There are never any cars in the parking lot and I have always wondered how it stayed in business. I believe it was owned by a Memphis police officer and used more for a hangout as opposed to a busy hot wing restaurant. After reading a few recent Urbanspoon reviews, I found out that they sold the place, kept some of the same staff, ramped up the inside real good and started taking care of their customers a little better. This all aided in my decision to give it another try on that rainy Saturday.

We sat ourselves in a booth and were only the second table occupied for lunch. A family was at the other table wrapping up their meals and seemed to be enjoying themselves. We ordered some beers and reviewed the menu. As with so many other places in Memphis, their hottest wing is named "Suicidal" and would obviously be my wing of choice. Laura settled on the mild and we placed our orders for 10 pieces at $10 each. They were out within 2 minutes and delivered by the new owner. He was really friendly and warned me about the heat of the suicidal wings. Time to be WoW'd, or so I thought.

I noticed only ranch was served with the wings and not celery and carrots as stated on the menu. A dollar a wing is fairly steep but they looked really good. I had a few down before I stopped to take in the heat. There wasn't any at all. I believe Frank's Red Hot could have benefited them which is fairly sad for a wing named "Suicidal". Regardless, they tasted excellent and were fried perfectly. Laura only ate 6 of hers and gave me the rest which I enjoyed just as much. I looked around and took in the environment. There is a large bar and several flat screens, all showing sports. It was clean and kept up neatly. The kitchen isn't exposed and there was always someone manning the bar. Another beer down and a $30 tab later, we were back out in the rain, heading home. My opinion of Wings of Wolfchase is rather mixed. I was disappointed in some areas and pleased in others. We will probably return if hit with a wing crave and not wanting to cook some at home a mile away.

Hot Wing Challenge Round 3 Results (1-5):

Heat level -1
Flavor -3
Tenderness - 3
Size - 3
Price/Value - 2
Service - 4
Overall impression -3
Total - 19 of 35

The good: Service, super-quick delivery, location, cleanliness
The bad: Complete lack of heat, nothing served with the wings other than a dipping sauce, price is just way too high for what you get

Kings of Wings

Our new wing team is official and we have secured our booth for the Southern Hotwing Festival next Saturday, April 27th. Although much smaller than recent years, we will still have an assortment of wings to sample for everyone. We are on the river side, 1/3 of the way down from the north entrance, on Riverside Dr in downtown Memphis. Stop by, say hi and prepare to burn your mouth! More information for the festival can be found here: http://www.southernhotwingfestival.com

Snowing in Hell

Hell Flakes
Todd Wilbur's Top Secret Recipes
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Hell-Flakes.html

I was contacted last month by a BMM reader who wanted to spread the word about a new product he has introduced to the chilihead world. Todd Wilber himself was this person and he is the blogger of an awesome site about top secret recipes http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/home.php Within this website, he offers cloned recipes of favorite American dishes, recipe books and a selection of spices. These are all experiments done by him in his own kitchen until he replicates the dish we have all grown to love over the years. The product he contacted me about is simply called "Hell Flakes" and is a five-pepper blend of chili peppers ranging from sweet bell peppers to habaneros. He sent me a sample and I anxiously waited for its arrival from Southern California.

The 1.9 oz shaker arrived within a few days and I wasted no time giving it a go. On the shaker, the ingredients are listed as "Dried Chile Flakes". That's it. No salt. No sugars. No added spices or preservatives. I took in the different red and brown colors of the flakes, dabbed some on my palm and cleaned them off with my tongue. The flakes packed a great flavor like crushed red pepper flakes but better, and much hotter. 5 times to be exact. I decided to try it on some fried tilapia that evening. With some steamed veggies for a side, dinner was served and I sat down to enjoy it.

The flakes made my fish filet outstanding. I normally put some homemade ghost rub on fried fish but these flakes added a whole new flavor. Since there aren't any added spices or salts, it cannot simply replace a rub or seasoning but whatever you would use crushed reds on, Hell Flakes would make a great substitute. My mouth burned pretty good but it wasn't too powerful. The 5-pepper blend to the fish was just right. I was impressed with the combination of sweet and hot peppers. We have since used the Hell Flakes on baked chicken, soups, wing sauce and (of course) pizza. I will personally order more Hell Flakes when my sample runs out. They run $6.95 on Todd's website and should last for a little while. Say goodbye to the average crushed red pepper flake and add a little Hell to your recipes!

The Challenge: Bosses

The Hot Wing Challenge Round 2
Bosses - Memphis, TN
http://www.bosseschicken.com

I found myself in a normal mood for wings on Friday afternoon last week so I figured it would be a great time to pursue the hot wing challenge. Round 2 landed a coworker and I at a table inside Bosses in East Memphis for lunch that day. I have been a fan of Bosses since they first opened and they were one of my first posts on BMM: http://www.burnmymouth.com/2010/11/like-boss.html It's crazy to think that it has been two and a half years since that first visit but even back then I knew Bosses would be successful. Fast forward to present time and not much has changed. The prices have gone up some and the restaurant has doubled in size. Most notably for me, however, was that they have added a hotter wing sauce to their menu. My last post in 2010 was for a sauce called "Questionable Decision" but my eyes were completely focused on the new flavor called "Pure Hotness" on the paper menu. The last time I tried to burn my mouth here wasn't a successful mission, although the wings were outstanding. I was excited to see if Bosses could live up to this challenge. In more ways than one, they did just that.

We beat the rush that day since we always take lunch earlier than most. I knew from previous visits that Bosses can fill up quick. The new, larger dining area can seat many people these days so even a mad rush could be accommodated. We were first in line that day and we placed our orders for a wide selection of wings. Since you can order half orders at Bosses, getting a variety was easy for us. My coworker requested a full order (1 lb for $8) of hot BBQ and a half order (1/2 lb) of hot. I decided on a half order of honey gold and, of course, a full order of Pure Hotness. The girl taking our orders warned me that this was their hottest sauce. With a smile, I told her I understood. We took a seat and watched some March Madness on one of their many big screens. I marveled over the cleanliness of the entire establishment which Bosses is known to have. Our orders were ready in less than 10 minutes and we went to town the moment they arrived.

I first noticed that the presentation hasn't changed much over the years. The wings still come served with fries and ranch or blue cheese, neither of which appear to be homemade. The fries are seasoned with a dry rub just how I like them to be at home. I saw small seeds on the Pure Hotness wings which was a good sign to come. I ate a few and enjoyed the flavors of sweet, vinegar and heat of the homemade sauce. No extracts were evident to kill the flavors as well as an absence of crushed reds that so many other establishments add to make their sauce hotter. My lips were burning and I felt a slight sweat coming on but they didn't burn my mouth very much. I noted that there were only 3 drummies in this basket but more in the honey gold. A lb is roughly 10 to 12 wings and they are normal-sized, split (party) wings fried to a perfect crisp. I really enjoyed the fresh pepper flavor which I am guessing is a habanero. I may be wrong but I do know that it was a perfect amount not to take away from the other flavors of the sauce. I then proceeded to the honey gold wings. These had an excellent blend of mustard and honey to create an outstanding flavor. I then tried my coworker's hot BBQ and regular hot. The hot BBQ were equally awesome as the honey gold and I found the hot to have a typical Red Hot-like flavor. At the end of the meal, I was mostly impressed with the honey gold wings and would probably order them again to pair with an order of Pure Hotness. Bosses didn't disappoint as they never do. A very clean, original and friendly establishment will always rank high on my list. I am already looking forward to my next visit to Bosses and suggest that you stop by as well!

Hot Wing Challenge Round 2 Results (1-5):

Heat level - 3
Flavor - 4
Tenderness - 3
Size - 3
Price/Value - 3
Service - 5
Overall impression - 4
Total - 25 of 35

The good: Service, super clean establishment, wide selection of home made sauces, included fries, location.
The bad: Commercial grade ranch dressing (Yes, that is all I could suggest changing)

 

Joe's Knows

Trader Joe's Habanero Hot Sauce
http://traderjoes.com

Being from Memphis, I have only heard of Trader Joe's for as long as I could remember. Their stores were only in California until the 90s and even after that, it took them a while to make it out East. The Midwest stores didn't open until the 2000s which means only until recently have Memphians been able to visit a location if they were able to travel hours away from home. I finally made my first visit to a Trader Joe's last December in St. Louis and there was an instant love when I walked through the door. I try to eat healthy and organic foods have been something I have paid attention to for a while now. With our limited health food choices in Memphis being small, expensive, inconvenient Whole Foods and Fresh Markets, I mostly buy Kroger brand organic foods and products. It took a whole 5 minutes within my first trip to Trader Joe's to realize that if we had one of these back home, I wouldn't shop anywhere else.

I visited the Trader Joe's in St. Louis multiple times during my December trip and bought many things from bruschetta to honey to mixed nuts. They seem to have just about everything and for an unbeatable value. Most everything in the store is labeled with a Trader Joe's trademark and they pride themselves with providing products that are all free of artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, MSG, genetically modified ingredients, and trans fats. All this time in my life I thought providing healthy options would be an expensive ordeal but Trader Joe's proved that theory wrong. My, how Memphis could benefit from one of these stores!

As I continued shopping one day at the St. Louis Trader Joe's, I came across their line of hot sauces. One of which was a habanero hot sauce that had a crushed, fresh habanero texture. It looked very enticing so I grabbed a bottle. I opened it and tried a dab when I got home and the habanero hit my tongue instantly. I was surprised with the fresh flavor and super, instant pain it gave me. It didn't take long before I found an opportunity to try it out on food and that came with a big breakfast my dad cooked Saturday morning. I put a nice quantity on top of my omelet and gave it a taste. The sauce gave the fresh omelet an even fresher flavor, packed with a major punch that left me sweating after just a few bites. There are no added ingredients that take away from the flavor of habanero. It's as close to crushed, sweet, fresh habaneros that I have found yet. I finished my breakfast and knew I had a new favorite hot sauce to try on my own dishes back home.

A trip this weekend to Nashville brought me to another Trader Joe's. This is the closest one to us in Memphis and it was no different than the store in St. Louis. Without being able to order their products online, a 3 hour drive east is the closest option local BMM readers have to purchasing this sauce and/or other Trader Joe's products. There is a Facebook page created with thousands of followers aiming to bring Trader Joe's to Memphis. You can find their page here: http://www.facebook.com/MemphisTraderJoes With this and lots of talk I hear around town, it's obvious there is a major desire for expansion so hopefully we can join the 21st century like our neighbor down I40-E. To BMM readers from areas with Trader Joe's already in your cities, go grab you a bottle of their Habanero Hot Sauce and add some burn to your mouth!

The Challenge: Tucker's Pizza, Wings & Subs

The Hot Wing Challenge Round 1
Tucker's Pizza, Wings & Subs - Memphis, TN
http://www.tuckersmemphis.com/

Round 1 of the BMM Hot Wing Challenge got underway last night. I decided it would be best to start with a place that I have never been to before. Tucker's Pizza, Wings & Subs was my decision and I asked my buddy Dave to meet me there for dinner. Tucker's is located on Madison Ave in the same shopping center as Pho Hoa Binh, across from the old Piggly Wiggly. The area is widely known in Memphis so I figured it was a popular establishment with the locals. After reading the bad reviews on Urbanspoon, I was a little leery of what to expect but I wanted to see for myself. Everything I read turned out to be a fairly accurate description of Tucker's.

We realized right away that this is a take-out/delivery place and we were screwed with wanting to sit down somewhere to have dinner. Neither of us lives in Midtown so our only option was to place a to-go order and eat outside. A few tables and chairs inside would have been nice but it was my mistake for not knowing it wasn't a dine-in establishment before making the decision to come here. We placed our orders where I got a 12 piece whole wing combo of 6 suicide and 6 honey BBQ. The total was $15.67 without any sides. An extra $.35 was added to my purchase because I used a debit card. While we waited, I took in the establishment and found it to be very boring, dirty and unorganized. 5 security cameras were hanging from the ceiling, all within 10 feet of each other. A soda machine in the waiting area was our only source for drinks with dinner, which was sold out of water. Delivery drivers were hustling in and out, grabbing the next orders to take to customers. Our wings came out in 8 minutes, cooked and handed to us by a kind staff who were working their tails off in the exposed, dirty kitchen. We made our way outside and sat on my truck's tailgate to eat our wings.

I opened the containers and found the wings to be massive. Since it was dark outside, the pictures I snapped were crappy and it was hard to see which wing was what. We grabbed a few suicides and began eating. The first impression for us both was the complete lack of flavor the suicide sauce had. Not only was it not hot, there was no flavor whatsoever. The chicken would have benefited more from having no sauce on it at all. Disappointed, I grabbed a honey BBQ. These wings were better but not by much. The honey and sugar in the sauce gave them some flavor but they still sucked. Carrots, celery and pieces of white bread accompanied the wings and were more flavorful than their chicken counterparts. Since the wings were so big, they didn't seem to be cooked all the way through. With it being dark outside, it was hard to tell if this was the case or not but they sure tasted like it. The darkness didn't keep me from noticing at least one feather on a wing. I somehow finished my suicide wings and saved the BBQ for when I could reheat them at home with better sauce.

In the few years I have written this blog, this was the worst experience I have had to date. I do not recommend anyone coming to Tucker's and if this is already a spot of choice for you, then I challenge you to venture elsewhere because you have been missing out in a city with great hot wings. Maybe their pizza, subs and burgers are great here but I won't be back to find out.

Hot Wing Challenge Round 1 Results (1-5):

Heat level - 1
Flavor - 1
Tenderness - 2
Size - 5
Price/Value - 3
Service -3
Overall impression - 1
Total - 16 of 35

The good: Decent, quick service and wing size
The bad: Everything else

The Challenge

For the next 6 months, I will be conducting a series of hot wing reviews. Simply named the "Hot Wing Challenge", I will visit 12 local Memphis establishments and critique various areas of my experiences. These will include: heat level, flavor, tenderness, size, price, service and overall restaurant impression. I will also choose a random, second wing flavor that caters more to the non-chilihead customers. Some places I have visited before, others will be new to me. Based off the top critiqued areas combined, I will list out the restaurants I consider wing kings at the end of my quest. Do you know of a place worthy enough for the challenge? I would love to hear about them! Comment below this post with any suggestions you may have. Who knows? Maybe together we can uncover the ultimate wing in Memphis!