Reviews

Big Wangs, Not Big Wings

April 22nd, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit Comment

No wings here.

To expand my ever-growing knowledge of what kind of food the valley has to offer, I set off for Big Wangs one night after work.  For a long time I thought that the place was actually called Big Wings, since everyone seemed to talk about their wings.  Then when I was corrected, I assumed the place was called Big Wang’s, presumably under the assumption that it was owned by a large or tall Chinese man named Wang.  Again, I was wrong and learned that it was actually called Big Wangs. No possession here, just plural, so I was a bit apprehensive before entering what I now expected to be a large sausage fest.  Well, luckily it wasn’t one of those.  Instead it was a semi-divey bar and restaurant that still managed to specialize in wings, which I’m sure continues to promote the general misunderstanding of the name of the place.

Well, you probably don’t care abut anything I just said.  I know all you care about is the food.  Well it is your lucky day, because I just happened to eat there.  Nothing much on the menu mattered to me except for the wings, so I took a look at their varieties and sauces and settled on Big Wang, a set of 12 wings.  I asked our lovely waitress if I could get two different sauces, which seemed like a great idea, to which she told me that I could not unless I ordered two sets of 6 wings.  The illogic bothered me deeply, so I chose only one sauce, the Hot Buffalo and bleu cheese dressing for dipping..

After sipping down some beer for a while, our wings finally arrived.  They looked hot, glistening and huge.  But something seemed to be missing.  Oh yeah, the actual wings.  All of these were drummies, which I don’t mind, but I do like to mix things up and get some actual wings in there.  The drummies were nice and meaty, which was great, for I was one hungry unvegan.  The sauce was nice, but I couldn’t help but wonder if there were any better sauces on the menu since I wasn’t able to actually try them.  Then I discovered that I had been given ranch dressing instead of bleu cheese.  This was sacrilege for a seasoned wing eater like myself.  I mean who would actually choose ranch over bleu cheese for wings?  Fools, that’s who.

So to recap the meal, Big Wangs delivered some nice and meaty drummies with a pretty good sauce.  Unfortunately, their sauce restrictions and failure to give me the bleu cheese I desired definitely harmed the experience.  I’ll surely return to Big Wangs out of convenience, but it is definitely no Buffalo Wild Wings.


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Unvegan Top 20 for 2011

‘Tis the season for “Best of the Year” lists, so I thought I would join the party and put in my top 20 new restaurants from 2011.  By the way, this means the restaurants were new to me, not new to LA.  Please note that I am only including meals in the Los Angeles area.  As much as I loved the food on my travels, you can check any of those places out pretty quickly by clicking here.  So, without further caveat, here’s the best that 2011 had to offer for the unvegan:

20.  Cobras and Matadors

This tapas place in Mid-City is everything tapas should be.  From bacon-wrapped dates to a variety of cheeses, there is really something for anyone looking for a delicious meal.  Just beware, while tapas can be kept to a moderate price, when you throw a big group in with small plates, there are bound to be some people who don’t get their money’s worth.  But keep the group small and Cobras and Matadors will send you home full and happy.

19.  Steingarten

Dishing out delicious sausages, including a few of the exotic variety, Steingarten also offers up a pretty stellar beer selection.  If you’ve ever wanted to eat alligator in sausage form, Steingarten won’t disappoint, but they also serve a wider range of foods, including some pretty delicious burgers.  Their sausage execution, though, could use a bit of improvement, which pushed another sausage joint further up on the list. Continue Reading»