The Best Chicken Wings #7: St. Louis Bar & Grill

Here's another entry for all you gluttons out there. This is my second wings entry and it was one I was very excited to try. A few days after I posted my All-Stars Wings & Ribs review, stlouisatrium started following me on Twitter. I don't know how they found me, nor did I care. It just seemed like fate and if fate was going to lead me to their delicious wings then so be it. I've never been to St. Louis Bar & Grill before but I do recall these commercials that The Fan 590 used to air a few years ago where St. Louis claimed that through blind taste tests, they have the best wings in Toronto. Needless to say, the hypetrain was going full speed.

I logged into Twitter, holla'd at stlouisatrium and told them I was coming for lunch that day and he replied.


Sweet, they had a promotion too! Fate is one sexy bitch, my friend.

Location: 5/5

The St. Louis Bar & Grill I went to is located inside The Atrium on Bay (I know there's a few of them). The Atrium is across from Eaton Centre and the actual restaurant is right across from Spring Rolls. The location is great. It is basically right in the middle of downtown Toronto and you're pretty much there once you get off at Dundas station. Sure, there may be a few homeless people in the area, but doesn't that give it an authentic St. Louis feel?


Taste: 2/5

I went to St. Louis with two co-workers and the first thing I noticed was that they served Dos Equis. I've never tried Dos Equis before but I'm a sucker for good advertising so we got a bucket. I thought it would taste like Corona, Sol and other similar Mexican beers but it didn't. It was rather crisp, albeit light and went down easy. It's a satisfying patio beer but nothing I would buy for the house. While we were becoming the most interesting men in the world, we took a look at the menus. St. Louis has a total of 13 flavours on their menu (unlike All-Star wings and their billion flavours) and none of them had names that were double entendres! This would make picking a flavour that much easier. We all decided to get a different flavour to get a good idea where their wings were at. We ordered a serving each of Hot & Honey, Hot and Authentic Buffalo.

Hot - This was the flavour I ordered. It wasn't hot at all. They don't even taste like they are meant to be hot. They were just very salty.

Authentic Buffalo - This tasted slightly like the "hot" wings I ordered but with more of a buffalo flavour. They weren't spicy and again was too salty for my liking.

Hot & Honey - Sticking with their theme, this flavour was more sweet than it was hot. Actually, like the other two, it wasn't hot at all. Though the sweet tanginess is what makes this flavour what it is. I thought it was the best of the ones we got.

As for the wings itself. They were a bit small and were dry; almost as if they were overcooked. I was disappointed to say the least.

The saving grace of the visit is the packet of dill sauce they include with your order! I used it for my fries and it was delicious. If you do make the trip, you may want to ask for extra because you won't be able to get enough of it (though each extra packet costs $0.50).

Value: 1.5/5

As I've previously written, getting wings anywhere will usually put a dent in your wallet but the wings at St. Louis Bar & Grill are small, mediocre tasting and already over $1 per wing before taxes. The 9 piece wings combo is $10.45 and the 18 piece wings combo is $19.95. The combos do come with fries and a packet of dill sauce, but I didn't see anything for just wings on their menu.

But wait, they have deals, don't they? I mean, you just read the tweet earlier on my page that if I mentioned it and got a large drink, I would get a free regular order of wings. Well, when I brought it up with the waitress, she had no idea what I was even talking about. When I asked to talk to Manu (less than a half hour after his tweet asking me to say hi), he wasn't in. Go figure.

Verdict: 2 Poo-Holes out of 5

St. Louis...Poo-holes, get it?

I have to say that St. Louis Bar & Grill was rather disappointing considering that they have a reputation for solid wings. I've had better wings at more commercial franchises like Shoeless Joe's and Jack Astors. The fact that their own employees weren't aware of promotion offers via twitter seemed rather dubious. It wasn't all bad though. Their fries and dill sauce were very good and I heard good things about their ribs as well. They are also becoming a Raptors spot (though I've read this on their twitter so who knows if this is true) so they may be a decent place to catch a Raps game at. However, if you're just craving for wings, I would advise going elsewhere to satisfy those cravings.

The Best Chicken Wings #5: All Star Wings & Ribs

L-R: Wings Gone Wild - My Ranch is on Fire

Another one for the best of series. This time I'm doing wings. Coming in at #5 on the blogto list of best Wings in Toronto is All Star Wings & Ribs. I didn't know the "& Ribs" were a part of their name since I don't know anybody who has ever had their ribs before but I digress...

Location: 2/5

I believe there are two locations, neither of them are in Toronto. The one I went to is the one in Markham (the only other one I'm aware of is in Richmond Hill). It is located in a plaza at the corner of 16th Ave and Woodbine. Needless to say, you can't get here by TTC. You can probably take the YRT (York Region Transit) or VIVA but since you would probably have to camp out for a bus, I wouldn't bother making the trip unless you have a car. If you do have a car though, their wings are definitely worth the drive.

Taste: Could be anywhere from a 1/5 to a 5/5

Don't get me wrong, All Star has fabulous wings. They're lightly breaded, covered in sauce yet remaining crunchy and very flavourful. The problem is that they have over 150,000 flavours to choose from. That may be an exagerration but they easily have over 100 flavours, most of which have a vague names like American Eruption, Tsunami, Pucker Up Baby and Killer Bee. This wouldn't be a problem if there were little descriptions about each flavour but there isn't. It's just one long list categorized by how spicy they are (their classification system goes from Pacifiers to Baseballs to Flaming Stars to Fire Alarms to Mushroom Clouds and finally to a Radioactive Material Logo). Sure, you could stop a waitress and ask them but this place gets PACKED on Friday and Saturday nights so the waitresses seem rude and rushed. With the help of some friends though, I have compiled a list of some of the flavours we have tried and a little description of it to help you out.

Aaron: Snakebite - A bit tangy and not too spicy (Categorized under 3 Flaming Stars on the menu)

My Ranch is on Fire - Too much ranch. It was disgusting and it made me throw up (Yes Aaron, we're sure it was the wings and not the alcohol lol but I'll take your word for it. 4 Flaming Stars)

Aileen (Note: Aileen and Aaron are fraternal twins): My Ranch is on Fire - Her favourite flavour. Creamy ranch with a little tangy hot sauce with freshly ground black pepper. (I haven't seen a set of twins go in such opposite directions since Victoria Beckham got her boob job. Bada-Bing)

Sweet Tooth Rancher - Creamy and sweet but thick in the mouth (That's what she said. 1 Pacifier)

Nero's Epilogue - Like my ranch is on fire but instead of black pepper, they top it with parmesan cheese. (4 Flaming Stars)

Cheesy Where's The Beef? = Poutine - Fries + Wings. That's basically what it is but instead of using cheese curds, they use shredded cheddar (1 Pacifier)

Christine: Honey Garlic - Standard honey garlic (1 Pacifier)

Honey BBQ - Didn't like it. It was too sweet and there wasn't enough barbeque taste (1 Pacifier)

Shirley: Wings Gone Wild - This flavour is the BEST. Not spicy has a honey mustard taste.

Teresa: Sicillian - Breaded, dry and slightly spicy. (No rating because it's on the dry style side of the menu)

Victoria: Hot Hawaiian Honey - Tangy, Sweet and Hot (3 Flaming Stars)

Myself: Fourplay - This is disgusting. It was spicy and it is a blend of four different sauces (I have no idea which four) The sauces might be great alone but they come together to form the taste of ass (4 Flaming Stars)

Wings Gone Wild - My favourite flavour. It definitely has a honey mustard taste to it. A bit sweet. A bit of kick would make it even better (3 Flaming Stars)

Nero's Epilogue - I didn't think this tasted like My Ranch is on Fire. It wasn't all that flavourful. It was topped with parmesan though. (4 Flaming Stars)

There are still over 100 flavours left to be tried but I'm simply not adventurous to go for them after experiencing the disaster known as Fourplay. If you have tried any flavours that we missed out on, I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment with your review!

Value: 3/5

Okay so wings are expensive anywhere you go (I don't know why, it's just chicken wings and sauce) so I doubt we will ever see a 5/5 on value. I got a double order (20 wings) and a coke and it was around $20-22 after tax and tip. I guess it could be worse but that's at least a dollar a wing...

Verdict: 3.5 Peters in your Mouth out of 5

Peters, Buffalo, Wings, get it? Nevermind...

The location is a bit lousy and the price definitely isn't for the budget-minded but the awesome wings (once you find your flavour) certainly makes up for it. However, I find that they're outdoing themselves by listing so many flavours on their menu without a description. While some flavours are certainly worth its weight in gold, the fact that picking a new flavour is such a crapshoot kind of sucks. Who doesn't want to try a Kama Sutra or a Pandora's Box?