Wing Kings O.
Yelp
St. Patrick's Day Eve seems like the perfect occasion to celebrate one of Buffalo's Irishiest pubs, located in the area's most Irishy neighborhood of South Buffalo - Blackthorn Restaurant and Pub.
Location: 5.5 / 5
That is not a typo; we awarded Blackthorn our first ever BONUS half point. Great atmosphere, check, friendly service, check, great beer and drink menu, check. But Blackthorn showed us that a restaurant can serve wings AND be clean. Prior to this visit we would have defined "clean" as only smelling a *little* like urine.
Presentation: 4 / 5
Nothing special in the way these wings were delivered -- a couple "piles" of wings. I'm also told, by those who need blue cheese to complement the flavor of the chicken wing, that the bleu cheese was a little watery.
Meat: 5 / 5
Not one imperfection in these wings. Perfect size, shape and skin -- like Ryan Reynolds.
Cook: 8.5 / 10
Overall a really nice job here. Hot and crispy without being too dry. A couple of the South Buffalo style were a bit too wet and saucy (again, like Ryan Reynolds)
Standard Medium: 14 / 15
There is an unwritten rule among the group that we cannot give a perfect score in this category but Blackthorn made it difficult for us. These were just fantastic. Tangy and buttery with the perfect amount of heat.
Specialty: 8.5 / 10
The South Buffalo style is also killer-- a surprising and strikingly different flavor from the standard medium. The Wing Kings generally prefer a few more flavor options, which prevented a higher score here. A nice BBQ break would have been welcome.
Overall: 45.5 / 50
Blackthorn is sneaky good. We had high expectations but didn't expect them to jump to the top of our rankings. Not only have they punched their ticket to the playoffs, Blackthorn may be a 1-seed.