Venetian Theater: Spicy Buffalo

So a few weeks ago the Queen and I were sitting around talking about how we hadn't gone to see a movie in forever.  She informed me that a new place called the Venetian Theater was opening a couple blocks away from my castle (in North Dallas at Trinity Mills and Midway).  It is a place styled after the Studio Movie Grill, where one can go, order real food off of a menu, real booze from a bar, and be waited on like in a restaurant.  She also informed me that there was a Groupon deal for some cheap tickets (INCLUDING A FREE SODA), so we thought we'd give it a try.  We arrived and presented our tickets and got our free drinks.  We both ordered Coke Zero, and were promptly given Diet Coke.  The Queen was highly unimpressed with this mistake, as the things she loves in this world are probably ranked in the following order:  Thanksgiving, Guacamole, Coke Zero, Chips and Salsa, Boise State football, back rubs, and Me.

After I calmed the Queen down and talked her off the ledge, we were guided down a long hall of very ornate decoration, some oddly placed Windows where we could see refrigerators and ice cream freezers, past the full bar, and to our theater.  I don't know why I thought this, but the layout was sort of weird or something.  Its hard to put into words.  I just felt unsettled.  Anyways, this place is pretty big, so maybe that's part of it.  The theaters are bigger than Studio Movie Grill, and I really liked it.  We plopped down in our big comfy chairs and started looking over the menu to see what we would have for dinner.

It is a rare occasion as I wander through this world stuffing my face that there is a diamond in the rough to be found.  As I search for the ultimate chicken wings, it is rare to go off the beaten path to find some wings that are truly great.  It happened in Austin at Beale Street Tavern, which are still among the best I've ever had.  Then there's places like Malarkey's Tavern in Dallas where I didn't expect much, and wasn't too impressed.  So when I saw wings on the menu at Venetian Theater, I thought I had a patriotic duty to test these wings and report on the findings.  I didn't have high hopes.  However, I was pleasantly surprised.

We ordered our food well before the movie started (we went to see the House at the End of the Street FYI), and I went with the Spicy Buffalo wings (as opposed to BBQ).  I was hoping it would arrive in time for me to get a picture, but unfortunately the wings did not arrive until the lights were already out and the movie was playing.  I didn't feel the need to incite a riot by whipping out my phone and taking a flash picture of chicken wings in a dark theater, so instead please see the artist rendering below which I think accurately depicts my experience.

The wings finally arrived, and it always takes a minute in the dark theater to get my bearings on things.  There was a plate with the wings, some celery sticks, and two cups of sauce.  One cup was the blue cheese, and the other cup was the buffalo sauce.  The wings were actually served having not been tossed in sauce.  That's a first for me, as I had never had to apply my own Buffalo sauce to chicken wings I have ordered.  Not a big deal, just odd.  However, I really enjoyed these wings once things got started.  They were served naked, and fried to a very crispy deliciousness.  The blue cheese was pretty weak, but the sauce was Buffalo sauce was good.  Good enough that the Queen decided to use it as a sauce for her french fries.  It had a respectable Buffalo flavor, not really that spicy, but good flavor.  There was plenty of sauce to go around, so dunking the wings in didn't become a logistical problem that one might fear.  I guess I could have poured the sauce onto the wings in retrospect.  Whatever.  The only real drawback to the wings were that they were smallish.  I think there were probably 8 or 9 in the order, and for the ten bucks they cost I would expect a little more.  However, a good crisp wing can make up for most any drawback, so this was indeed a diamond in the rough.  If and when we go back, I will be getting wings again for sure.  I recommend checking out the theater too.

Spicy Buffalo

Flavor: 7.5

Heat: 5

Overall: 7.5

Pizza Hut / Wingstreet: Buffalo Burnin' Hot

Welcome back my loyal subjects.  It has been too long.  With football season in full effect, the production department has taken a back seat, with the research and development still fully in action.  The boys down in the lab have been hard at work crunching the numbers and doing scientific experiments and whatever else scientists do to come up with some new data.  Luckily, the Queen and I made a trip for a chicken wing recently to help them out.  They were very grateful I'm sure.

Last Friday night, we were tossing around dinner ideas, and had discussed pizza.  I promised my baby pizza, so I was gonna get my baby some pizza.  Luckily, pizza places also sell chicken wings.  We decided on a Hawaiian style pizza and an order of Buffalo Burnin' Hot wings.  I didn't exactly have the highest of hopes for chicken wings coming from a fast-food-ish type place, especially one that doesn't specialize in chicken of any form.  I didn't have any faith in the flavor, the spice, or the execution.  However, once we got home we were shocked.

These wings were not bad.  In fact, pretty good.  They are naked wings, and pretty large as far as wings go. They were doused in a very thick sauce.  The sauce was pretty impressive.  It had good buffalo flavor, but not completely traditional.  There was something different about them, which the Queen described as tasting "Asian-y".  I think what she meant was that there was a hint of sweetness to them along with the spice.  Building on this theory, the sauce was also very thick as I said, so we believe this was a traditional style buffalo sauce infused with honey.  Its hard to explain, but it sort of had the consistency of honey, but obviously not THAT thick.  I mean that would be ridiculous.... maybe...

So we liked the flavor of the sauce.  It also had a pretty good kick to it.  It wasn't among the hottest you'll find out there, but for a fast-food chain these are some pretty spicy wings.  They fit nicely into the comfort zone as far as my spiciness palette goes.  Having been pleased with these wings, there were a couple of drawbacks.  They were dangerously oversauced, which led to a slight sogginess, but was dealt with swiftly by me dipping pizza crust into it.  And along with this oversauced angle, they weren't really crispy at all.  If you've read my work before, you know there's few things that get me going like a nice crispy chicken wing.  So all in all, I might not make these part of the regular rotation if I'm looking to just get some wings somewhere, but I do think these wings will become a regular feature in my rotation when we order pizza.  Very surprising, so I tip my crown to you Pizza Hut.

Buffalo Burnin' Hot:
Flavor: 7.5
Spice: 6.5
Overall: 7.5

BWW: Lemon Pepper, Spicy Garlic, etc.

So after a long Saturday spent celebrating the kickoff of college football season, the Queen and I decided to relax on Sunday, and meet up with my brother and his ladyfriend to split a chicken wing or 40.  From this point forward, he will be known as Skittles and she will be the A-Train.  They were unaware of my status as wing royalty, so this was quite the treat for them I'm sure.  Or maybe they think I am a complete nerd, but this would be coming from the couple who was rushing dinner because they had a WoW raid to get to.  Whatever, we're cut from the same cloth.  I digress.

So upon meeting Skittles and the A-Train at Buffalo Wild Wings in Lewisville, we discover a few things.  The service is pretty bad, but I get that feeling at every BWW we go to so I am not surprised.  We also sat in a booth next to a window, which had some scratching in the shape of a football on it.  This led to the discovery that I am the only one of our group who has ever used the word "graffito" in conversation.  We also discover the black cherry mojito.  Quite good.

The Queen and I decided to get 18 wings split into four flavors (the waitress seemed not thrilled with us wanting four flavors), and some buffalo chips.  We went with Thai Curry (our favorite, previously reviewed HERE), Spicy Garlic, Lemon Pepper rub, and Wild.  Upon arrival, the wings tossed in Wild sauce were quickly determined to actually be Blazin' Sauce, which I like, but we did not come for.  Due to this error, they will be stricken from the record and never spoken of again.

Our first new flavor is Lemon Pepper.  This is one of their new dry rubs and not a sauce.  I have to say this is the first one of their dry rubs I have tried, and this was hardly impressive.  BWW is a sauce-driven wing establishment and should probably stick to it.  They were pretty crispy as you can see in the photos, but were somewhat dry.  They also had neither the lemon nor the pepper that we would like in a lemon pepper wing.  These won't be in the regular rotation (we only got them because the menu threatened us by saying lemon pepper is here FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY).  If you want a good lemon pepper wing, go to Sauced or Wingstop.


Lemon Pepper rub
Flavor: 5.5
Spice: 0
Overall: 5.5

Our other new flavor tonight was Spicy Garlic.  We weren't really sure what to expect when we ordered these.  Would be be a garlic sauce with some pepper kick for the heat?  Would it be something like the garlic parmesan wings at Wingstop covered in powdered parmesan cheese?  When they came out they looked like they were covered in a buffalo sauce.  I think it might actually be a hybrid sauce like you might find at Pluckers (think spicy ranch at Pluckers). It seemed like a mixture of one of their buffalo style sauces and their garlic parmesan sauce.  It had a decent amount of heat which was pleasing, and had a garlic flavor that I noticed second.  The garlic was still noticeable which is always appreciated since sometimes wings advertised as containing garlic flavor have very little.  There's a good chance these will find their way into the regular rotation at BWW for us.  The Queen definitely liked these more than I did, but that's because she loved them.  I thought maybe she had a new favorite, but confirmed to me that Thai Curry is still her #1.  The only fault I could find is that these are very heavily sauced, which as you know by now can be highly dangerous to pants, shirts, nearby people's faces, and unprotected eyes.  These are still highly recommended so give them a shot.

Spiciy Garlic
Flavor: 8
Heat: 6
Overall: 8

Pluckers: A big ol' pile of wings

So many wings, so little time.  As you can see below, we recently tore into a big ol' pile of wings at Pluckers off 75 in Dallas.  They were delicious.  Bold claims were made about the Fire in the Hole Challenge.  But let me rewind a bit to how we arrived at this point.

Mid-week last week I decided to hit up my old gang of friends to see if they wanted to hang out Friday night.  I hadn't seen them in a while and had kind of fallen out of the loop of things with everyone.  So as we're talking and getting a plan together, it is decided that Gilly, Erik, John, the Queen and myself will meet up for dinner on Friday.  We usually hang out around Macarthur and 635 in Irving because its half-way-between-us-ish, and the normal debate took place.  Buffalo Wild Wings?  Bostons?  7 Salsas?  Hunan?  We typically go to one of those places, so I figured nothing would be different.  It was decided upon Buffalo Wild Wings.  The United Wingdom rejoiced.  Then it was decided to go to Boston's.  The United Wingdom decided that would suffice since I want to try their wings.  Then at the last minute it was decided.  If we are getting some damn hot wings, WE ARE GETTING SOME DAMN HOT WINGS.  PLUCKERS IT IS!  Now we just have to hope we can get a table on a Friday night.

As we arrived, we get lucky and find a parking spot, and get on the list.  There's a group of ultimate bros ahead of us who think they are actually going to get an inside table for 8 on Friday night at Pluckers in Dallas without a long wait.  Good luck bros.  We got our name on the list, and while waiting decided to have a drink.  I get one of my usuals, the 32oz Dos Equis.  The Queen gets what will surely be one of her usuals, the 32oz Psychedelic Frog.  If I recall correctly, the ingredients are the following:  Malibu Rum, pineapple something, and green.  It is quite delicious, and will get you a good buzz.  Recommended.

So as we finally get a table and get settled, my friends ask what the occasion is.  I didn't know there was an occasion, I just wanted to hang out.  The following is a completely true story.  My friends legitimately thought I had invited them out to eat miniature fried chicken wings and drumsticks at a bar on Greenville to announce to them that the Queen and I had gotten engaged.  These are people with masters degrees from prestigious universities and high paying jobs, and they thought this was how I would make such an important announcement.  They were mistaken, but you bet your ass when the time comes to announce the engagement, it will now be done at Pluckers.

Anyways, we look at the menu and decide rather than all get a bunch of separate orders, we could get a big order and split it.  This immediately sent me into an anxiety attack as I try and figure out how many of what sauce I want.  We decide that we are going to get 55 wings.  Ten a piece of Spicy Lemon Pepper, Garlic Parmesan, Buffalo Hot, Hallelujah, Spicy Mandarin, and five Fire in the Hole just to really punctuate the night.  Then there were harps heard playing and the skies parted as the following platter arrived.

The wings are sort of hard to see, so look hard.  It came with celery, ranch, blue cheese, and we got some Lemon Pepper fries, some regular waffle fries, some sweet potato fries.  Oh and we had fried pickles as an appetizer.  I really don't need your judgement.  I have already reviewed Fire in the Hole and Spicy Lemon Pepper HERE so those will not be reviewed again.  ON TO THE WINGS!

Our first flavor was Buffalo Hot.  It claims to be their second hottest sauce on the menu, and since the Fire in the Hole sauce isn't really a buffalo sauce, the Queen and I were very interested to try this.  I've been looking around for a real buffalo sauce that also has some real heat to it.  I will have to keep looking.  The wings themselves are always great at Pluckers, but this sauce was pretty generic.  It didn't have that vinegary kick I like in a buffalo sauce, and didn't have any impressive heat.  My friend Erik, who is well known to not handle spicy foods well, even said they weren't that hot.  The sauce is still good, but there's other places I will have to go if I really want that buffalo flavor.

Buffalo Hot:

Flavor: 7

Heat: 6

Overall: 7

The next flavor was Garlic Parmesan.  I was a little iffy when we ordered these, because the Garlic Parmesan wings we had at Wingstop were pretty unimpressive.  However, where Wingstop fell short Pluckers delivered.  These had a nice crispy finish with a dusting of parmesan cheese on top, but the difference was that they actually had a pretty good garlic flavor too.  I don't always go for wings of the garlic or parmesan variety, but these were some of the better ones I've had.

Garlic Parmesan

Flavor: 8

Heat: 0

Overall: 8

Our third flavor was Spicy Mandarin.  Normally the Queen is not a big fan of Asian-inspired chicken wings, but she was pleasantly surprised with this sauce.  I pretty much agree with her, so I'll let her do the talking here.  She summed them up by saying "Delicious, but not so spicy".  She thought it tasted like a slightly spicy sweet and sour sauce.  They really didn't seem spicy to me, but it was still enjoyable and will border on the regular rotation at Pluckers for me.  Definitely heavily sauced which is always dangerous with me.  All I could ask for is more heat to them.

Spicy Mandarin:

Flavor: 8

Heat: 3

Overall: 8

Our final flavor was one called Hallelujah.  When we ordered this one, our waiter actually said "Now you're finally getting to a real sauce".  Apparently he was a big fan of this sauce.  We had to ask what it was, and it turns out that Hallelujah sauce is basically some type of BBQ sauce kicked up with Serrano peppers.  This had a good sweet BBQ sauce flavor, and actually had a little bit of decent heat to it with those peppers.  You can actually see the pepper seeds on the chicken, which is ALWAYS a good thing.  I personally thought these were spicier than the Buffalo Hot, which were advertised as hotter.  I really enjoyed this sauce, which is surprising because I'm not necessarily a big fan of getting chicken wings in a BBQ sauce.  I like to keep my chicken wings and my BBQ separate, but sometimes I find something unique like Hallelujah sauce which impresses.  These will probably be in the regular rotation for me.

Hallelujah:

Flavor: 8

Heat: 6.5

Overall: 8.25

So all in all, this was a pretty successful evening.  After everyone took a Fire in the Hole wing to finish dinner, someone mentioned going out for a little FroYo, and once ice cream or frozen yogurt has been spoken of, it is too late to avoid it.  So we went across the street to random FroYo place to stuff our faces just a little bit more.  Once again, I'm not on trial here, and I didn't come here for your judgement.

KFC Hot Wings

As most of you know, we live in uncertain times.  An economic crisis, the recession, a time of record unemployment, outsourcing American jobs overseas, a time where eating chicken sandwiches is a political statement, the 99% battling the 1%, and a time of other scary buzzwords and catch phrases you hear in political ads running right now.  Times are tough, and that is no different here in the United Wingdom.  We have to cope with the uncertainty of our times, and make sacrifices to get by.  This includes every facet of life; most importantly eating chicken wings.  So during a recent lunch break at work, when I felt the need for a chicken wing on my very limited time, I made the sacrifice that a good American would make and got KFC Hot Wings for lunch.  It was my patriotic duty, and had almost entirely nothing to do with the fact that I was going to the Taco Bell/KFC combo for a burrito, happened to see their hot wing combo and called an audible at the line of scrimmage to order wings instead of previously said burrito.

I was nervous as I approached the counter to place my order.  Should I really bypass wonderful, sweet, addicting Taco Bell for a gamble on some questionable hot wings?  These promised to be some of the most generic hot wings available, and BOY DID THEY DELIVER ON THAT PROMISE!  A few minutes after making my decision, I received my 5 wing combo, complete with a medium drink and small order of potato wedges for $5.49.  I was offered a side of ranch as well, which I decided to partake in.  Maybe I am spoiled by things like the Wingstop 10 wing combo, or maybe I'm just turning into a fatass, but opening a food box containing five wings is quite disappointing.  Its like opening presents on Christmas morning, just knowing you were getting that sweet video game/GI Joe action figure/Nickelodeon Gak you always wanted, and then tearing off the wrapping paper to see a nice pair of slacks.  But enough about that; I'm the one who didn't order more, so I'm coming to peace with my decision.

So upon opening my container, I picked out a nice drumstick and to into it.  I immediately regretted the decision, as these seemed to have been pulled straight out of the deep fryer and were boiling hot.  So I put the wing down, and decided to partake in the three potato wedges that come in a small order.  Back to the wings.  I typically use dressings such as ranch and blue cheese sparingly when it comes to my actual wings.  I feel that a wing should have enough flavor in its sauce or rub to stand up on its own, but I still will dip a wing in a dressing occasionally.  What I learned about KFC is that they have buttermilk ranch, and buttermilk ranch is not meant for hot wings in this reporter's opinion.  The wings themselves were probably slightly undersized, but that is made up for by the fact that these wings are HEAVILY breaded just like most of their other fried chicken products.  Their flavor and texture was very much like their extra crispy recipe that you would get in a bucket of fried chicken, but with a hint of spice.  There's very few places that I enjoy breaded wings, and these wings have changed nothing.  The KFC commercials featuring highly diverse ethnic crowds would have you believe that these are dredged through an intense blend of hot and savory spices, but there really wasn't any heat to write home about.  That extra little hint of peppers was the only thing distinguishing this from extra crispy.

What this really comes down to is whether or not you like KFC.  I have never been a great fan of KFC myself.  It is decent fried chicken, but there's other place's I'd rather go if I'm really in the mood for it.  If you love KFC, then you'd probably really like their hot wings too.  Also, if you are a huge sissy when it comes to  spice, like buttermilk ranch, or enjoy incredibly generic food, you will probably be a big fan of these wings as well.  If they ever bring back $.50 wings I might revisit these down the line, but until that time I can't say these were even in the same ballpark with some of the others I've had.

KFC Hot Wings
Flavor: 3
Heat: 2
Overall: 2

Malarkey's Tavern: Spicy Buffalo

Even though I may be wing royalty, as hard as it may be to believe, I still do have a day job to fund the United Wingdom.  Chicken wings, as you know, are a delicacy and the finer things in life definitely have their price.  So I've been meaning to go out and have a beer with my coworker Tubbs for a while, and thanks to restructuring within the company, schedules have been shaken up, and the opportunity presented itself.  We agreed that after we both got off work, we would meet up for a beer at Malarkey's Tavern in North Dallas (http://www.malarkeystavern.com/appetizer.html).  It is located near Trinity Mills and the Dallas North Tollway, which happens to be just a few short blocks from my castle.  This proximity makes for an excellent getaway at the end of the night after someone tries to fight you for telling their best bro that they look like Steve Lukather; lead guitarist from Toto.  Or whatever, you know.  Malarkey's Tavern is a smallish pub-style environment with a wide beer selection at very reasonable prices for those of you who are into that sort of thing.  Which I am.  Having gone there over the years occasionally, I can't say I've actually had the food, but that all changed on this night.

Let me rewind.  Earlier in the day, Tubbs and I had decided we'd go grab a beer after work.  As the day wore on, the projected beer total quickly escalated.  It seems that the projected beer total is directly proportional to how much crap we have to put up with from angry clients.  So after we were both off, we met up at Malarkey's, and quickly got down to business.  Apparently it was a rough night after I left work, so Tubbs was ready to do some damage.  Things escalated quickly after downing a few imported beers that I can neither remember the name of nor actually pronounce if I tried.  Then we kicked it up a notch with a Victory Golden Monkey (9.5% ABV).  This powerful concoction is not to be taken lightly.  It has a very unique flavor that I could only describe as "spicy".  Not in the heat sense, but in the sense that it tastes like it was brewed with a blend of secret Belgian herbs and spices passed down for generations from famous Belgian kings and wafflemakers.

So at this point in the night, feeling quite jolly, it is decided that we should get a little food in us, and wings are decided upon.  After we manage to flag down a server behind the bar (apparently they aren't too interested in seeking us out to take an order), we put in the order and go for Spicy Buffalo flavor, along with a side of ranch and celery sticks as advertised.  After a few more minutes discussing the deeper meaning of life (i.e. drinking Victory Golden Monkey and complaining about work), our plate arrives.  It is showtime.  Tubbs has heard a lot about my status as the King, and I do not want to disappoint.  The wings arrived, and things were somewhat disappointing.  The wings are average to below-average in size.  They are not crispy, and perhaps slightly oversauced.  And as you can see, the celery sticks provided appear to be a few pieces of loose lettuce.  Hey, at least the ranch dressing was right.  So Tubbs calls back the server and asks for the celery sticks, and a few minutes later a plate of celery sticks arrived which I'm sure were spit on.  Oddly enough, that didn't stop us from eating them.  The wings themselves had a decent flavor in the sauce, but not any real heat.  We debated for a while the merits of these wings, and I explained to him the secrets that I look for in a good wing, and we decided these might be a solid 6.5 on the scale overall.  Not too shabby for random pub food.  We continued discussing life's great mysteries over our brews for a while longer before going our separate ways and disappearing into the hot summer night.

After waking the next morning, trying to find the ibuprofen, replenishing my electrolytes, wondering how I got home, and why my car was parked halfway on the front porch, I felt it necessary to revisit the judgement made on the wings from the night before.  In retrospect, I feel I might have gotten a case of the beer goggles.  Except for chicken wings.  If those of us who may or may not have been a little tipsy felt it necessary to award these wings with a 6.5, I can only think that in a state of sobriety these wouldn't have scored so high.

So while I thoroughly enjoy Malarkey's Tavern as a whole (home of the FIVE DOLLAR PIZZA ALL DAY EVERY DAY supposedly), I can't say I was thoroughly impressed with the wings.  I mean, if I go back, I would get them again to try some different flavors, but unfortunately Malarkey's won't be in the regular rotation when I get a craving for wings.  When I get the craving for another Victory Golden Monkey?  There's only one place to go; Malarkey's Tavern.

Malarkey's Tavern Spicy Buffalo:

Flavor: 5.5

Heat: 3.5

Overall: 5.5

Buffalo Joe's: Spicy Joe's Buffalo & Lemon Pepper

So for years I have lived in a castle in North Dallas and have passed by a place at Frankford and Marsh Ln called Buffalo Joe's, and every time I pass by it I have said "Hey, we should go there sometime soon!"  However, we never actually made it there until a recent Friday night (at the suggestion of my Queen).  I naturally assumed that a place with Buffalo in the title would likely offer an assortment of world famous Buffalo wings.  So after we were both off work, we decided to make the trek up the street to Buffalo Joe's and find out just what it was all about.

When we arrived, we immediately found the parking lot to be full.  Come to find out, apparently Friday night is free poker night at Buffalo Joe's, so the place was packed.  As someone who once upon a time supported themselves playing poker, I never really understood the appeal of playing cards all night without any real risk or reward coming to the winners and losers.  But that will be a topic for another time, another place, and another blog.  Let's get back to business.  As we walk in and seat ourselves we do take note of a few things.  Everyone is drinking, nobody is eating, lots of people smoking outside, the water dispensary was broken, and it took forever to get a waitress to acknowledge us.  So it looks like we have cheap drinks, questionable food, a rough crowd, and bad service.  In other words, my kind of place.  They have plenty of TVs tuned to all kinds of sports, which is a great feature if you were DVRing the Olympics and didn't want to see spoilers. Once we flagged down a waitress, we ordered some fried pickles while we looked at the menu.  These were really good, and actually unique.  Most places batter and fry their pickles, but these had been breaded instead of battered.  Made for a unique texture, so we were pleased.  We then ordered a dozen wings to split with half Spicy Joe's Buffalo and half Lemon Pepper.

As I always do, I had the boys down in the lab do some preliminary research on the joint before we went.  Their website, www.thebuffalojoes.com, appears to have been built in roughly 1999 with only occasional updates.  However, they do have one key attraction:  cheap wings.  A dozen for ten bucks, two dozen for $16.99, and four dozen for $29.99.  There is no doubt that these prices will someday lead to a ridiculous challenge of some sort being attempted (prompted by a few cocktails) which will certainly be documented on this site.  The wings themselves were a decent size, above average I'd say.  They weren't particularly crispy, but they had a good flavor.  They were served with blue cheese, ranch, celery and carrots.  As you'll see below, they weren't big on presentation.  Onward to the flavors.

Our first flavor is Lemon Pepper.  These were the crispier of the two.  The Queen noted that it tasted more like an actual lemon butter on the wings as opposed to a light tossing in some type of lemon-pepper-buttery-oil concoction.  They were fairly lemony, had no heat, and could have used a little more pepper in my opinion.  If we go back, I'm sure we will get these again.

Lemon Pepper:

Flavor: 7.5

Heat: 0

Overall: 7.5

Our second flavor was their Buffalo sauce.  The waitress asked if we wanted mild, medium, or spicy, so naturally I said SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!  When they arrived, they had a good aroma to them.  They were less crispy than the Lemon Pepper, and were oversauced.  Why do I dislike too much sauce on my chicken wings?  Because when wings get oversauced, accidents happen.  Just like this night.  As I was picking apart one flapper, the thing slipped, went flying through the air, and I managed to bat it down while managing to not drop it on the floor, while almost knocking my drink off the table.  Disaster avoided, except that I now have a pair of shorts covered in Buffalo sauce.  Some day a scenario like this will likely lead to a trip to the emergency room where I have to explain how the Queen got a chicken wing stuck in her eye.  Anyways, the sauce itself had a good flavor, more on the buttery side than the vinegary side.  The heat wasn't too much; maybe a little step up from Original Hot at Wingstop.  These too will likely be in the rotation if/when we return to Buffalo Joe's.  

Spicy Joe's Buffalo:

Flavor: 7

Heat: 5.5

Overall: 7

So overall, the food was pretty good.  The atmosphere is about what you might expect from a neighborhood bar.  Probably a pretty good place to go watch the ballgame on TV, have some greasy bar food, and some cheap drinks.  Its great to know I have another place close to home should I need to venture out into the kingdom for some wings.  It wasn't quite Saucesome, but a respectable showing nonetheless.  Below is the ad I grabbed on their website listed under their specials.  If you're like me, there's probably one thing that caught your eye in particular.

Yep.  50 cent wings on Tuesdays.  All day.

Sauced Plano: Creamy Cilantro Lime and other stuff

Welcome back all my loyal subjects.  I know I haven't been updating as often as I should.  The production department of the blog has slowed down, but that's only because the research and development department (i.e. me eating chicken wings) has been putting in serious overtime for YOU; the reader.  Anyways, on to our recent excursion.

The Queen and I recently took a trip to Sauced Wings & More in Plano.  We had been to the Sauced in Allen, and we were so impressed that Sauced in Allen has claimed my #1 ranking.  I hate to say it, but Sauced in Plano doesn't even compare.  Yeah, they still have the same great wings and combo fried pickles/jalapenos, but the environment wasn't the same.  The Allen location has a full bar, TVs everywhere, a banquet room you can reserve, music playing, and what seemed like a lot of energy.  The Plano location was smaller, had no bar, maybe one or two TVs, and seemed quiet.  The two locations really aren't THAT far apart, so I hate to say it but if you're choosing between the two, the Allen location must be the choice.  Anyways, on to the wings.

We split an order of the mixed fried pickles/jalapenos, along with an order of fifteen wings split across three flavors (celery, carrots, ranch and blue cheese are part of the deal as always at Sauced).  This time, we went for Creamy Cilantro Lime, Ranch Style, and 3rd degree buffalo (their second hottest flavor).  Reviews were mixed, so here are the results.

The Creamy Cilantro Lime was interesting for sure.  However, two thirds of that name seemed to be incorrect.  There was little to do with both the cilantro and lime in the flavor of the sauce.  This was some type of cream sauce, and I can't personally describe it any other way than it felt like I was eating a wing drowned in Alfredo sauce.  It tasted alright, but just didn't pack a whole lot of punch with the flavor, and didn't seem like what we were expecting.  I think the Queen liked these more than I did, so keep that in mind if you're taking a girl out for a romantic evening at Sauced Wings.  She also mentioned that the seasoning, which lacked both cilantro and lime flavor, tasted more like taco seasoning.  Definitely worth a try, but these will not be in the regular rotation unfortunately.

Creamy Cilantro Lime:
Flavor: 7
Heat: 0
Overall: 7

Our second flavor was Ranch Style.  I have to admit that I wasn't 100% sure what we should expect in ordering these, but maybe I was the only one who thought for even a second that these wings might come out and taste like Ranch Style Beans.  They came out tasting like Ranch seasoning, so someone out there needs to invent a Ranch Style Bean flavored wing please.  Anyways, these were the best of the bunch for sure.  They were crispy, very juicy, and had a nice ranch seasoning dusted on them.  These are borderline as far as being in the regular rotation for me at Sauced.  They were comparable to the Spicy Ranch wings at Pluckers, which we enjoyed as well.  No real heat to these either though, but none was advertised.  Oh well.

Ranch Style:
Flavor: 8
Heat: 1
Overall: 8

Our final flavor was 3rd Degree, which is their second hottest flavor and the hottest among the Buffalo style wings (Instant Death is their hottest but it is a ghost pepper mix, not Buffalo).  These were some of the better Buffalo style wings I've had in the DFW area.  The top Buffalo style wings so far have been surprisingly the Beale Street Tavern in Austin, and these were similar, but not *quite* there.  They were reasonably crispy under the sauce, good sized like all of the wings at Sauced, and had a fairly rich flavor that was a good balance between the vinegary and buttery sides.  The heat was pretty average for being their second hottest wings.  I would compare the heat to Original Hot at Wingstop, so take that to be whatever you want.  Maybe just a smidge hotter (we're getting scientific in the measurements there).  I will likely get these if we go back but I don't want to risk a 12 hours of digestion issues by pounding Instant Death wings, but hey, sometimes I just feel that need.

3rd Degree:
Flavor: 8.5
Heat: 5.5 

Overall: 8.5

Wingstop: Garlic Parmesan

There comes a time in every king's reign where there is a crisis in the kingdom which must be dealt with.  King Louis XVI had to deal with the French Revolution, King Richard had to deal with the Crusades, and now the King of the Wing has had to endure his own upheaval in the United Wingdom.  What could be the reason behind this?  Wingstop's Garlic Parmesan wings.

Let me back up first.  I decided to meet up with the Queen after work because we had acquired some tickets to see a traveling band of minstrels known as "Boston" at Verizon theater in Grand Prairie.  We agreed that in order to celebrate such an occasion, wings were in order.  Luckily, there is a Wingstop near her place of business, so it was agreed upon.  The only new flavor we tried this time was Garlic Parmesan.  How could it go wrong?  We like garlic!  We like parmesan!  Unfortunately, these wings were not as advertised.

We had imagined something along the lines of this:  a nice wing, fried to a crisp, then tossed in a garlic sauce and dusted in a parmesan cheese mix to finish it off.  What we got was basically a handful of plain naked wings with no sauce (and almost no seasoning) with a cup and a half of powdered parmesan cheese dumped on top.  This was quite disappointing because I thought I had heard good things about this flavor.  Maybe I was confusing it for the garlic wings at Buffalo Wild Wings or somewhere else.  The Queen and I were both quite unimpressed with these wings.  They had no detectable garlic flavor of any kind, and the parmesan topping seemed very much like the powdered can of parmesan cheese one might put on pizza.  Its a very rare thing for the King to dislike a wing, but unfortunately these did not pass the test.  Their only positive was that they were pretty crispy, which is enough for a few points in my rankings, but that's about it.  They will not be in the regular rotation.  Luckily, Wingstop has plenty of other flavors for me to stuff my face with.

Garlic Parmesan

Heat Index: 0

Flavor: 3

Overall: 3

Flying Saucer: Atomic

Welcome back my royal subjects.  This have been extremely busy in the real world, so this post has been delayed, but do not fret.  The king has returned.  Recently, the royal court has decided that we should join the UFO club at the Flying Saucer in Addison.  Drink 200 different beers and you get a plate on the wall and a fun party!  There has been a lot of big talk and banter coming from the female section of the royal court about being able to accomplish this task.  It should be an interesting challenge, and I imagine there might be quite a few chicken wings as a bonus.  We decided to kick things off after the Queen and her ladies got off work one Friday, and of course I decided that I needed to sample the fine chicken wings at the Saucer.


As an appetizer, we had some excellent loaded cheese fries.  That was a big plate, so we were kind of full.  We decided to split a small order of 8 wings made with their Atomic sauce!  They were fairly good sized, naked, fried to a delicious crispiness, and served with celery and carrot sticks.  They had a powerful aroma that I would expect from an Atomic sauce.  After digging in, we were slightly disappointed.  The wings themselves were great texture and very well cooked, but the flavor was lacking.  There was definitely some heat, which was nice, but there wasn't much seasoning.  The wings actually seemed to be lightly tossed in some type of chili oil rather than some fancy sauce made with a secret blend of peppers and hobo spices.  It was unique for sure, and tasted pretty good, but the flavor wasn't bold enough.  The heat hit you pretty quickly but topped off just as fast.


To drink 200 beers, we will be going back to the Flying Saucer a lot.  I will definitely get these wings again after I try all of their sauces.  Stay tuned and I'm sure we'll be updating more wings, more beer, and more fun as we continue our quest to accomplish all 200 beers.  2 down, 198 to go.


Flying Saucer Atomic Wings
Heat: 7.25
Flavor: 6
Overall: 7

Austin: Beale St. Tavern Fire Sauce!

It has been a busy couple of weeks here in the United Wingdom, with lots of exciting activities and goings-on, but not as many wings as one might hope.  Last weekend was the birthday of her royal highness; the Queen.  To celebrate this, we returned to her family's castle on the outskirts of Austin; the residence passed down to her parents through many generations of Dutch royalty.  As we arrived at Maison d'Ailes, plans were made to go out on the lake, gallivant around downtown, and celebrate the birthday of my love.  Luckily, she knows I have royal duties being the King of the Wing, and selected a place on 6th street for dinner known as Beale St. Tavern.


If you haven't been to Beale St. Tavern (I hadn't before this trip), it is a bar and grill themed entirely after another member of royalty:  The King himself; Elvis Presley.  It was dark inside, with a pretty talented guy playing guitar and singing for the patrons.  It was pretty early in the evening for 6th street activity, and wasn't that busy, but I imagine the place gets bumpin' later on at night (or whatever the Elvis equivalent of bumpin' is).  You can get Memphis style pulled poker sandwiches, Heartbreak burgers, and of course fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches.  While that all sounds delicious, I was a man on a mission, and we decided to split an order of 1972 Elvis-Buffalo, NY Wings.  They come in eleven different sauces, and after an order of fried pickles we split an order of 20 with two sauces (they limited an order to two sauces, which did not impress us).  The fried pickles were pretty good, and the cilantro ranch they were served with was really good.  The pickles were better than Hooters and Pluckers, but not as good as Sauced.  Anyways, onto the wings.

When the wings arrived, we were impressed to say the least.  Pluckers claims to serve the biggest wings around, and these were at LEAST as big as Pluckers, if not bigger.  The wings were prepared naked, fried to a crispy goodness, and incredibly moist.  They came with celery sticks and we got both ranch and blue cheese.


Our first flavor was Lemon Pepper.  As you know, we enjoy getting Lemon Pepper because most places have them and it is easy to compare from joint to joint.  These did not disappoint at all.  They were very crispy, very juicy, and very lemony (if that is a word).  I would put the flavor on par with Wingstop's lemon pepper wings, which I enjoy as part of my regular rotation, but the wings were much bigger, so they outrank Wingstop by default.  Sauced is still the best Lemon Pepper wings I've had, but these are a close second.


Lemon Pepper:
Heat: 1
Flavor: 9.25
Overall: 9.25


Our second flavor was their "Fire" sauce.  This was the hottest sauce they had available, so I was very excited.  These wings were also very juicy, somewhat crispy (even with the heavy sauce), but not as hot as I would have hoped for their hottest available.  Being that this isn't a wing joint, I can let it slide.  Another reason I can let it slide is that the flavor was absolutely fantastic.  In the past I have complained about the lack of what I perceive to be real buffalo flavor in various buffalo sauces around town.  These wings finally met the challenge.  They had a very rich buttery, vinegary flavor with a good bit of heat to them.  Of all the wings I have reviewed so far, these were the best buffalo flavor.  The heat wasn't overpowering, and seemed just about right for anyone who likes a little heat but without that good pain associated with hotter wings.  These are a must have if you are on 6th street and find yourself needing some buffalo wings.


Fire:
Heat: 7
Flavor: 9.5
Overall: 9.5


Beale St. Tavern was a diamond in the rough and I am happy to say we got lucky when we chose this place.  The wings were large enough that we only ate 10 or 12 of the twenty we ordered.  This had absolutely nothing to do with the 2 hour happy hour with appetizers at the hotel we were staying at.  But seriously, they wings were big.  We have returned back to the normal action in Dallas, but hopefully some day when we return to Austin we can revisit Beale St. Tavern.  I am proud to say it is the first non-wing establishment reviewed to be bestowed with the "Saucesome" label.

Wingstop: Louisiana Rub & Teryaki

So yesterday the King was at work takin' care of business, doing whatever regal things kings do, and business was slow so I went home early.  I decided an impromptu celebration was in order, and what better way to celebrate an early start to the weekend than a little Wingstop?


As you know, Wingstop is the closest wing join to my house, and I enjoy them very much.  You can see my first Wingstop post here for more details and thoughts about the restaurant itself.  This trip, I went with my usual 10 wing combo and two flavors.


Our first flavor was Louisiana Rub.  This is a newer flavor they've been advertising over the last few months, and wanting to try something new, I decided to shake things up and give it a whirl.  As expected, this is a rub, not a sauce (shocking, I know).  These were very crispy (bonus points) and had good flavor.  It is comparable flavor to the Cajun wings at Pluckers, but the flavor isn't quite as good as Pluckers.  What these wings DO have going for them, is that they have a good bit more heat than the Cajun at Pluckers.  It isn't too intense, but a noticeable kick from the black pepper and cayenne I believe made up part of the rub.  It is a very warming flavor.  I recommend these as something to try out, and they will likely be in my regular rotation in the future.


Heat: 5
Flavor: 8
Overall: 7.75


The second flavor I went with was Teryaki.  I'd always seen these on the menu, but never got around to trying them out.  Well, the verdict is in and unfortunately these are probably my least favorite wings at the Wingstop so far.  They were a tad bit sweet.  The problem is that they weren't sweet enough to have that tangy goodness like the Sweet Thai Chili wings at Sauced, and they weren't really salty enough to be a strong flavor.  They were sort of bland to be honest.  The other problem is that it appeared they tried to fill up the entire wing container with Teryaki sauce.  I don't think I've ever seen such a high sauce per wing ratio.  Maybe they were making up for the flavor with extra sauce.  Too much sauce just makes the wings hard to grip and can send them flying across the room into people's faces on occasion (see the Queen for more details on this).  The Teryaki wings at Wingstop will not be making their way into my regular rotation, but hey, you can't win 'em all.  Wingstop will still be getting plenty of my paycheks.


Heat: 1
Flavor: 5

Overall: 4

Pluckers: Fire in the hole!

So recently in the Wingdom there has been a lot of big talk among some members of the royal court about being able to join those of us who are members of the Pluckers Wall of Flame.  What does this mean exactly?  To achieve this level of greatness, one must eat 25 wings at Pluckers tossed (i.e. drowned) in their famous "Fire in the Hole" sauce; the hottest sauce they offer.  Not only is it their hottest sauce, but Pluckers also boasts some of the largest wings available just to make things a little more fun.  Since there was some serious trash talk being exchanged about who could or could not accomplish this feat, when it was decided that the Queen's entourage (her work buddies) needed to go out for a well-deserved cocktail after work on Friday, the decision was made to roll out to Pluckers for a test run.


For those of you who are unaware, Pluckers is a wing bar started in Austin and found around Dallas, Austin, and a few other scattered locations.  I happen to be a proud member of the Wall of Flame down at the original location in Austin (accomplished back in 2004, who knows if the picture is still there).  If you ask anyone from Austin about hot wings, they will be quite offended if you suggest anything could come close to Pluckers when it comes to wings; similar to if you mention Rudy's BBQ, Chuy's mexican food, or Round Rock donuts (regardless of how awesome they might be, these are not even up for debate with the Austinites I know).  Pluckers is a great place with great wings, but I still think Sauced is better.  Pluckers has big wings (naked), they make them crispy, they have a wide variety of flavors (19 from my count), and are decently priced.  Mondays are all-you-can-eat wings for 15.99.  Its a smallish location, so getting a table for a big crowd can be tough during the busy hours.  We had a group of about ten, and luckily it was one of the three nights of the Texas summer where it is very pleasant outside, so we sat on the patio.  As usual, we split 20 wings across four flavors, and here they are.

Our first flavor was Spicy Lemon Pepper.  We weren't sure what to expect upfront, and what these actually are are lemon pepper wings tauced in one of their spicy buffalo sauces.  This is a great tangy combination with a bit of heat to it, but not overpowering.  The two flavors go together very well, and these were probably my second favorite of the bunch.  They were somewhat crispy, but not as much as the others due to the wings being double sauced.  I really enjoyed this, but as always, I wish for more heat when something is advertised as spicy.  This probably had a mixture with their medium sauce, and I wish they would give you the option to kick it up to the spicier buffalo sauce.


Spicy Lemon Pepper
Heat: 5
Flavor: 8.5
Overall: 8


Our second flavor of the evening was Spicy Ranch.  These were the next crispiest of the bunch, and they had some type of ranch seasoning added on that was almost like a dry rub added after being sauced.  They weren't really spicy at all, which is a downer, but they had a great flavor.  The Queen liked the flavor better than the Spicy Lemon Pepper, I think I preferred the lemon pepper over these, but it was close because they were both good.  Same as above, I wish there was more heat to something advertised as spicy, but I'll still take it.


Spicy Ranch
Heat: 3
Flavor: 8
Overall: 7.5


Our third flavor of the evening was Cajun.  These were the crispiest wings of the bunch, which makes me all happy inside.  The Queen and I both thought these were the best of the bunch.  We had a very tough time picking out individual flavors for the seasonings.  I think it was likely a secret blend of Cajun magic with bits of real gator and bayou water.  The other possibility is that it was a blend of generic cajun seasonings applied and then the wings being tossed in some type of flavored oil.  Like I said, hard to say, but the flavor was fantastic.  These weren't spicy at all, which is the only downfall, but still absolutely great.  We will be getting these again for sure.


Cajun
Heat: 2
Flavor: 9.5
Overall: 9


Our final flavor was FIRE IN THE HOLE!  This was the reason we came ladies and gents.  Those members of the royal court who have been talking the trash were able to gauge their abilities before committing to such a task.  One member described it as "like some kind of Mexican sauce".  I think the sauce might be buffalo based, but it is easily overpowered by the peppers.  You can see in the photo there are lots of pepper seeds, along with diced up bits of jalapeño and habanero pepper.  One member of the court had to go for the milk, and the early reports were that some members had a rough night after partaking in these wings (maybe why they call them Fire in the Hole?).  Others of us are the King of the Wing and find them delicious.  These are easily the heaviest sauce, but I think they likely do that as an extra kick in the crotch for those who want to have their hottest wings.  As I recall, when doing the challenge they sauce them up even heavier.   These wings are definitely hot, so don't be fooled.  These are probably the hottest wings of the handful I've reviewed so far, but the flavor of the peppers isn't lost in the spice at all.  Stay tuned, because we will be fully documenting any and all attempts to get a picture on the Wall of Flame by members of the royal court of the United Wingdom.


Fire in the Hole
Heat: 8.5
Flavor: 7
Overall: 8


If you haven't been to Pluckers, it is a must for wing destinations in DFW.  In fact, it has earned a new seal of approval from the King of the Wing: SAUCESOME!!!*


*Saucesome courtesy of new member of the royal court Daniel.  Thanks Daniel.

Sauced Wings & More: Instant Death, Sweet Thai Chili and more!

Over the weekend the Queen and I decided to get out of the house and run some exciting errands, and in order to fuel ourselves we decided to make a swing through the Wingdom and try something new.  I had heard a rumor of a newer place on the North side of town getting great reviews, and what resulted was nothing short of greatness.  We ventured into Allen, Tx (because I couldn't read a map to go to Plano) to go to Sauced Wings & More, which is a wing joint that offers BOTH wings AND more.  The place itself was nice and clean(there was actually a group that had reserved the party room for a highschool graduation).  They offer a full service side where you could be waited on in restaurant fashion in the bar area, as well as a self-service area where you order at a counter and help yourself.  We opted for the self-service half.  They had TVs around the place with sports on, but could have used a few more.  That's about the only negative I could find.

We started off with an appetizer of a regular order of fried pickles and jalapenos (mixed in together).  The regular order was more than enough for the two of us, and it was absolutely delicious.  The wings themselves were the stuff of legends.  They were above average in size and fairly meaty.  They are naked wings; fried to perfection so that the skin stays crispy even after sauce is applied.  As you can imagine, a place called "Sauced" offers a wide selection of sauces that can please any palette.  There are 19 sauces on the menu, with more combinations possible if you want to "get it with garlic", which we did not.  They offer many of the standard sauces you would find at most places, along with some unique options. During the week they also have a $.66 wing night (the night escapes me at the moment).  Without further adieu, here are the wings.  As usual, we got 20 wings split across four flavors.

The first flavor up for review is Hot Honey Mustard.  These wing were the second spiciest that we ate during this trip, but also had the sweetness one would expect from a honey mustard sauce.  As best we could tell, this sauce was most likely a honey mustard mixed with something like Frank's Red Hot.  It was a light opaque sauce with a slightly pink hint to it.  It is one of the more unique sauces that I've had in recent memory.  The mixture of sweet honey, the tangy mustard, and the hint of spicy buffalo made this one worth trying.  If I had to choose, these were the least favorite of the bunch, but I imagine this decision is like choosing the least favorite of your children.

Hot Honey Mustard:
Heat: 6
Flavor: 8
Overall: 8

Our second flavor was Lemon Pepper.  I like to get Lemon Pepper most everywhere we go because it is a common enough flavor to compare from one place to another.  These did not disappoint.  My favorite lemon pepper wings up to this point have been Wing Stop, but I would say these narrowly beat out Wing Stop for the top Lemon Pepper wing.  These were extra crispy, and seemed to have a light lemon butter sauce on them, then a nice heavy dusting with lemon pepper.  These were heavier on the pepper element than Wing Stop which I enjoyed.  If you like Lemon Pepper wings, this is a must have.

Lemon Pepper:
Heat: 2
Flavor: 9.5
Overall: 9.5

Our third flavor of the day was Sweet Thai Chili.  I expected this sauce to be hotter than it actually was, knowing that Thai chilis can have quite a kick to them.  What it actually turned out to be was that reddish-orange style of chili sauce served with spring rolls found at various Asian eateries.  It was very sweet, and I think this was the Queen's favorite of the bunch.  She described it as almost a sweet and sour sauce.  These were the most heavily sauced wings of the bunch, and I almost lost one trying to pick it apart when it slipped and when flying.  Don't worry, we saved it.  Overall, very tasty and satisfying, and we will likely be getting these again down the line.

Sweet Thai Chili:
Heat: 4
Flavor: 8.5
Overall: 8

The final flavor we tried was the sauce known as INSTANT DEATH!!!!  This is the top of the scale at Sauced when it comes to heat.  The sauce itself was VERY thick, and may have had a dusting of a pepper mixture to finish it off because the skin was almost more dry than slathered in sauce.  As the Queen put it, "a thick, thick, not very saucy sauce".  I guess this might have been a buffalo style sauce originally, but the overpowering flavor was that of the mysterious Ghost Chili.  The Queen was able to quickly identify the Ghost Chili in it because she actually prepared some Ghost Chili enchiladas for me a couple of weeks ago with fresh dried Ghost Chili.  The smoky flavor and the way the heat builds is unmistakable.  You start off with one wing, and the heat seems manageable.  As you keep eating them, it slowly builds from a nice warm sensation, and keeps on building. This is very different from something like the Blazin' sauce at BWW.  The Blazin' sauce is pretty much the same from start to finish.  You eat the first wing, the heat maxes out pretty quickly (sometimes it is more heat than other times), and when you're done you're done.  If you ate just one wing in the Instant Death sauce, you'd probably say its not as hot as Blazin', but again, its that ability for the Ghost Chili to build up that gets you.  I think if you ate a full order of twelve and compared the heat level of the two sauces, the Instant Death would be hotter hands down.  However, another difference between this sauce and Blazin', is that this is a sauce I would like to get again for the flavor of the sauce.  That slight buffalo flavor with the smoky Ghost chili is also very unique and I very much enjoyed it.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Instant Death:
Heat: 8
Flavor: Flavor: 8

Overall: 9

Sauced Wings & More has become the #1 wing joint in my book.  There were almost no negatives about this place, and everything was great.  We will be returning there soon, and I will be doing my part to spread the word about Sauced.  Anyone who loves Wings must try it out.  It is officially SAUCESOME!!!