Wacky Wings - Brantford

141 King George Road
Brantford, ON

519-750-0555

In her opinion:
I have loved wings since I was a kid and my parents would drive to Niagara Falls, New York to do some shopping. This would inevitably end with the family having lunch at the food court at the Rainbow Mall and an order of the best wings ever. As I grew up, friends introduced me to another Niagara Falls institution - Honey's! Good wings became something that I quickly associated with our friends south of the border...after all, they were called Buffalo style wings! Manny's Wings and Juniors soon showed up. Then our area got Wild Wings and Wings Up! There was no longer the need to drive south of the border to enjoy really really good wings. 

Recently, someone mentioned that Wacky Wings had opened in Brantford...we were in the area and decided to give them a try. Wacky Wings is a family fun zone...there's wings and a video arcade in a huge complex on King George Road. Its clean and new and rather nice.

We were shown to our seats right away and I noticed that it was filled with families celebrating birthdays and other special occasions. We were met by our server who quickly took our drink orders. They serve Coke products so I was a happy girl and ordered my usual diet coke.

After studying the menu, we decided on 3 pounds of bone in wings...that way we could get 3 different flavours to try out and still have wings to bring home. We opted for Medium (the sauce of my youth and my personal favourite), Honey Garlic with Southwest Ranch and finally Smoked Tequila Lime. We also opted on a Taco Supreme Poutine (topped with seasoned ground beef, shredded cheddar cheese, gravy, drizzled with sour cream and green onions).

The wings are crispy and nicely seasoned. The medium are the orange colour of my youth. With just the right amount of zing. The honey garlic with southwest ranch have a nice sweet and smokey favour to them with the cooling affect of the ranch. The smoked tequila lime surprised me a lot...these were really nice. You could get hints of tequila and lime with every bite. Very very good.

The poutine was really good. The fries were fresh and crisp. The seasoned beef was delicious and combined with the cheese, gravy, sour cream and green onion it was perfection. 

We ended up packing up about a pound of wings to take home but we still managed to find room for dessert. You see, I had noticed that they had something called Sweet Campfire Sticks on the dessert menu. Who can go wrong with funnel cake rolled into "campfire sticks" and fried golden brown, tossed in cinnamon sugar and drizzled in caramel sauce and served with whipped cream. In a word...heaven! Warm, delectable bites of sweet dough. Incredible.

Overall, Wacky Wings is a great place for a family occasion or just getting together with friends. The food is great and the atmosphere is fun.

In His Opinion:
This large complex's front door is oddly on the side of the building but you still can't miss it when driving by as the building is quite large. Wacky Wings reminds me a lot of another local institution - Moose Winooskies. Take away the Moose (and Moose related items) and centre your menu around mostly chicken wings and there you have it, a wing fun complex geared for families.

As I stated, this is a large complex and it's separated into 2 main areas, the Playdium Arcade in the back and the eating area in the front. We will centre this post on the very large eating area that spans 2 floors. Below there are a few separate areas, all with accessible large screens in which you can follow any sporting event going on at that moment. There are tables, booths and an area surrounding the bar for a more pub-ish experience if desired.

We sat in one of the booths and were promptly greeted by an attentive waitress. After putting in our drink orders we went on to browse through the wing extensive menu. There are 100 different flavours for the wings and they are separated by their "hotness", starting with the no heat, then up the ladder with mild, medium, hot and you must be crazy (hot)!

The menu is mostly wings but not just wings. There are also burgers, wraps, ribs, salads and a good selection of each of those. On the drink front, there are over 10 beers on draft and the option of having an 80oz team pitcher, complete with pouring spout and all. I ordered a pint of Mill St. Organic to go with my meal.

To start, we ordered a large Taco Supreme Poutine. This plate of poutine comes topped with seasoned ground beef, green onions, gravy, shredded cheddar cheese and topped with drizzled sour cream. The large version is big, feeds easily two and it was delicious at every bite. Highlights are the fresh ground beef and the sour cream that tops it.

For the wings we selected; 1 pound of "Medium" wings, 1 pound of "Honey Garlic with Southwest Ranch" and finally 1 pound of "Smoked Tequila Lime". The Medium were quite good, with a slight bit of hotness but barely detectable. My favourites hands down was the Smoked Tequila Lime wings. They were crisp, well seasoned and left you with that great tequila flavour after taking a bite out of them. I was not a huge fan of the Honey Garlic with Southwest Ranch, something about that flavour that didn't agree with me, maybe because they are so different than the honey garlic that I'm use to.

The wings were quite filling and we ended up having to bring some home for a snack later on. I should add that the wings were served with carrot sticks and blue cheese.

The Good: Great atmosphere and a huge selection of wing flavours, menu selections and beers on tap.
The Bad: A family outing will not come cheap with burgers starting at $11.99, pizzas at $19.99 ($15.99 for the basic) and wings at basically $1 each.
The Verdict: It's a great place for birthday parties, team gatherings or just a good meeting place for wing aficionados. The capacity is almost infinite given the amount of space and the menu caters to practically anyone.

I give it 3 out of 5 Olives as rating

Organic Advocates - Feast of Fields 2014

25th Anniversary
Cold Creek Conservation Area  
Sunday, September 7, 2014

 

In her opinion:
This was our third year attending Organic Advocates Feast of Fields. It also marked the 25th anniversary of this organic food event. As we drove into King on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, we knew exactly what to expect - excellent organic food and drinks and that's what was delivered! Organic Advocates - Feast of Fields event was held at Cold Creek Conservation Area in the Township of King, a beautiful area north of Toronto. We were blessed with gorgeous weather by the weather gods for another straight year.

As we walked onto the field, I spotted some familiar favourites right away like; Steam Whistle Brewery, Mill Street Organic, Bernardin, Wanda's Pie in the Sky, Lailey Vineyard Winery and Forage Restaurant. I was quite excited about what lay ahead. So with my trusty linen napkin and wine glass in hand...we ventured forward.

Everything tasted great; however, as always there was a few favourites that stood out...Ana Olsen who had paired up with Bernardin had lovely white chocolate and black pepper scones with a gorgeous blackberry preserve. Vertical Restaurant's Giocomo Pasquini's grilled albacore tuna crostini with a wonderful tomato, caper and bbq corn salsa was exquisite. The orange and saffron madeleines from Madeleines - Madeleines, Cherry Pie and Ice cream...in a word...heaven. Wanda's Pie in the Sky's Wanda Beaver had delicious Italian Plum bars (OMG). The jerk rabbit sliders from Wild Burger Inc. were also delicious. But I would say that Bruce Wine Bar's potato rosti with smoked trout was superb and probably the show favourite for me.

This year the organizers also put together a silent auction that you could bid on during your tasting rounds. Live music kept playing in the background and it was a great overall experience.

Ana Olsen was this year's celebrity chef and although the website mentioned that Ted Reader was due to be there...I missed the boisterous BBQ king. I can honestly say that I missed the lovely Carl Heinrich or the super cool Albert Ponzo the most...these two added a lovely quiet star appeal and those in the know truly appreciate their talents. I hope they return to Feast of Fields soon.

Overall, the 25th Anniversary of Organic Advocates Feast of Fields was a success. I truly appreciated the opportunity to once again cover this event and experience an afternoon of wonderful food and drink. Here`s to 25 more fabulous years.

In his opinion:
This has grown to be one of our favourite events to cover for all the apparently obvious reasons. When you put together an event that includes some of Ontario's finest organic growers and purveyors, microbreweries, caterers and bakeries, topped off with celebrity guest appearances and cooking demonstrations, the outcome can only be a roaring success.

This year was no exception and Cold Creek Conservation Area was bustling with people ready and excited to be part of this annual celebration. The layout of the event was a familiar one and the main difference this year was the addition of a state of the art outdoor kitchen where some terrific cooking demonstrations were going on. These were being facilitated by some of the attending chefs including Food Network's very own Anna Olson in a kitchen supplied by Appliance Canada.

 

 

As we made our way through the many displays, we were once again reminded of how lucky we truly are in this Province of Ontario to have such abundance and availability of top quality products and passionate organic enthusiasts that continue to enrich our tables, our markets and restaurants daily. 

Some of the usual suspects and favourites were at hand, displaying their products in a very attractive and pleasant way, always ready to explain their products and services. Part of the appeal to this event is exactly that, the interaction with the actual people behind some of the products that you consume daily and the opportunity to experience and engage those behind it. 

 

I will start with the drink suppliers which are a big attraction at this event and I will highlight the return of some of our favourite breweries like Steam Whistle, Flying Monkey and Mill St. Organic Brewery. Mill St. was showcasing their 100 Meredian brew that was a hit with the patrons. The Tom Green Beer displayed by Beaus Natural Brewing Company was also generating quite the buzz and lastly, Spearhead Brewing Company was also a popular stop, especially for their Inida Pale Ale and Sam Roberts picked namesake beer. Henry of Pelham Wineries seemed to generate the most interest in the wine section of things and specialty drinks like Bao Smoothies, Pommies Dry Cider were the talk of the specialty drink town. 

Some outstanding restaurant displays were also at hand, giving us a short but tasty preview of the magic that goes on in their establishments. Special mentions go to Bruce's Wine Bar's Trout Gravelox Potato Rosti, Giacomo Pasquini of Vertical's Albacore Tuna Crostino, Forage's delicious crab cakes, Wild Burgers amazing Jerk Rabbit burger and Maple Cured Pastrami sandwiches by Tundra Restaurants.

A celebrated fixture at this event is Wanda's Pie in the Sky. Not only for the amazing pies created and served but also by the presence of Wanda herself. There was no shortage of public interest for wanting to taste her delicious desserts but also to be able to "talk shop" with Wanda and her crew. 

The event this year was bigger and more varied than ever before. The amount and variety of vendors at this event seems to increase yearly and only get better. This year felt a little less "star studded" as far as celebrity chefs is concerned (even though there were some) but was surprising given that it was the 25th anniversary of the event. In the end, this event is all about the product and the people behind it and less about the flashy celebrity chefs, even if they do play a part in the event's success.