Chicken Wings Archives ~ NC Triangle Dining Food Blog

April 16, 2013 by Ron Wen 5 Comments

Retake: Lilly’s in Raleigh for Fragrant Pizza, Oven-baked Wings

Counter at Lilly's, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining — Counter at Lilly’s, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

As a pizza afficionado, I never knew what to make of Lilly’s down in Five Points. I’m a fan of thin, crust Neapolitan and Lilly’s doesn’t do za, that way. I’ve eaten at Lilly’s many times but never knew what the big deal was, and wasn’t always interested in the lines and limited parking. Which is a shame since I live about a mile away from this Raleigh classic. But tonight, I think I got Lilly’s. She’s a sweet girl and you just need to appreciate her for what she’s good at.

Dining room at Lilly's, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining — Dining room at Lilly’s, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

Decor at Lilly's, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining — Decor at Lilly’s, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

Inside Lilly’s you’ll usually find super-eclectic decor (airplane on ceiling, funky pictures, bumper stickers ), rock music blaring out of the overhead speakers, all making for a hip neighborhood scene. It’s really a spot for locals given the location. Salads, strombolis, pizza and wings, the menu is small with an emphasis on high-quality ingredients. I go with the Thai wings and a slice of sausage pizza to keep things simple. A nice cold pint of Newcastle keeps me company at the table.

Slice of sausage pizza at Lilly's, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining — Slice of sausage pizza at Lilly’s, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

Ten minutes after I put my order in, I get my slice and it’s a puffy triangle covered in melted muzz and thick slices of sausage. Lilly’s pizza is probably best eaten with knife and fork until it cools down. The crust here is definitely different. Tastes like whole-grain so there’s some texture and bite on the bottom but inside it still remains really fluffy. The dough has some sweetness along with the sauce so it’s definitely different than what I usually get elsewhere. But overall still a very good, if UN-traditional slice of pizza. What really blows me away for me are the wings. A dozen wings arrive in a ceramic plate. Very little coating, no sauce, just a pretty bare wing with some coconut milk and spices baked in. And here’s where the magic happens. By baking the wings you get super-tender, juicy chicken which is just really enhanced by the crisp skin and light spicing. As much as I like my fried wings, I’d say oven-baked is a better barometer of good chicken and here it’s where Lilly’s really rocks it out. I’m wolfing these down and realizing I am eating WAY too much food but it’s that good, yum!

Thai oven-baked wings at Lilly's, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining — Thai oven-baked wings at Lilly’s, Raleigh- NC Triangle Dining

Service during my visit was fine but during busy, peak periods, things can get hectic and that’s where I usually hear complaints. But can you really fault Lilly’s for being the uber-popular girl on the block? So it’s been a while since I’ve eaten here but really glad I made an effort to come back for a delicious visit! So glad we could hook up tonight, Lilly’s. You’re a little bit different but in a really, great way…

Lilly’s Pizza

1813 Glenwood Avenue

Raleigh, NC 27608

919.833.0226

Lilly’s Pizza menu

Location on Google maps

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August 30, 2017 by Ron Wen

First Take: BottleDog Bites & Brews Delivers Great Beer, Pizza and Poutine

Front of Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary - NC Triangle Dining — Front of Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary – NC Triangle Dining

Along with beer and brewery boom here in North Carolina, one other type of storefront has proliferated: the bottle shop! A place where you can sample some craft brews or grab a specialty 4-pack to enjoy at home. And usually they have one thing in common, no food! But they usually give you the option of BYOF or ordering food from a nearby restaurant or delivery service. Recently I ran across BottleDog Bites and Brews in Cary online and the reviews mentioned the food quite often. Could it be true? Might there be a bottle shop in the area that’s now offering great food on top of their beers? Well it was time to find out!

Patio at Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary - NC Triangle Dining — Patio at Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary – NC Triangle Dining

We head on over to the address looking hard for BottleDog Bites & Brews and the GPS is only somewhat helpful getting us to Chapel Hill Road. We find ourselves in a small plaza with Woody’s Sports Tavern and not much else, we start scratching our heads. But we’re not ready to give up and head to the right-hand side of the plaza and find BottleDog’s storefront. Located in the old Maximillians Pizza Kitchen, there’s a nice covered patio up front that looks dog-friendly!

Dining area at Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary - NC Triangle Dining — Dining area at Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary – NC Triangle Dining

Heading on inside to BottleDog, we find a large beer bar on the right hand side and a retail beer section and dining area to the left. BottleDog is airy and open, there’s plenty of space to stretch out in here, it definitely feels different than most other bottle shops I’ve been to in the Triangle! It neatly fills the space between bottle shop and restaurant, similar to State of Beer in Raleigh. But there are some more pleasant surprises to come!

At the bar, BottleDog has 10 or 12 beers on tap, I go with the Bond Bros American IPA, Obfuscate! It has a super floral palate but also a nice clean afterbite with just a touch of hops, dee-licious! My beer loving buddy gives BottleDog’s beer selection a big thumbs up on its quality. Peering through the food menu, we find some really cool options for lunch. Poutine?! A beaver tail? Or how about some smoked meats? So in addition to the usual hot dogs and flatbreads, BottleDog seems to be going a bit Canadian with the menu which is fine by me, I love Canada! We put our food orders in and just sit back and enjoy our beers. It’s pretty quiet given a holiday weekend but slowly people start trickling in with kids and dogs in tow.

Nashville hot chicken at Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary - NC Triangle Dining — Nashville hot chicken at Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary – NC Triangle Dining

Poutine with smoked meat at Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary - NC Triangle Dining — Poutine with smoked meat at Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary – NC Triangle Dining

Poutine at Bottledog Bites and Brews in Cary - nctriangledining.com — Poutine at Bottledog Bites and Brews in Cary – nctriangledining.com

Soon enough, our food starts coming out starting with my friend’s Nashville hot chicken tenders. Served up on some white bread and thick pickles, it looks fantastic and spicy! I hold back on a taste since I need to save room for my meal. My Quebecois poutine comes out next and it starts with their basic poutine (fries, brown gravy and cheese curds) but adds in some smoked meat and pickles, yum-may! I haven’t eaten much poutine in my life but this dish is G-O-O-D! The warm potato is soaked in the gravy and the cheese is just decadence on top. Add in the peppery smoked meats and you’ve got yourself a mouthful! I’m already looking forward to trying some of the other poutines, stat.

Sweet Caroline flatbread at Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary - NC Triangle Dining — Sweet Caroline flatbread at Bottledog Bites & Brews in Cary – NC Triangle Dining

The Sweet Caroline flatbread also hits the spot with a perfectly done thin-crust topped with mozzarella, onions and grilled chicken. House-made barbeques sauce is drizzled on top making for a delicious barbeque chicken pizza (I know, they call it flatbread here, but…) While the crust at BottleDog isn’t a perfect Neapolitan style, it’s similar but with a crisper bottom to hold all the toppings. An excellent pie and plenty to eat for one person, you can certainly share for two lighter appetites.

Service at BottleDog was solid and pretty casual which is fine for a place like this and prices this low. All you really need to know is that the food at BottleDog is really good! I’m not often surprised by restaurants but BottleDog did it for me in a very pleasant way. I get the strange idea that there may be some leftover culinary talent from the old Maximillian’s Grill here at BottleDog which would explain the great, bar eats here. So rock on BottleDog Bites & Brews. Your name is a mouthful but then again, so is your delicious food. I’ll be back again, soon…

Bottle Dog Bites & Brews

8306 Chapel Hill Road

Cary, NC 27513

919.694.5377

Location on Google maps

May 10, 2015 by Ron Wen Leave a Comment

Buffalo Wild Wings in Morrisville!

Front of Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining

In the world of chicken wings, Buffalo Wild Wings (BW3) was always on the top of the heap in my mind. My favorite location in Chapel Hill closed down years ago so cravings for their wings would come and go but there were no convenient locations near home! Thankfully, two new locations opened up in Durham and Morrisville. Finally after years of waiting, it was time to get my chicken wings on. So on a chilly September night, we headed out to Morrisville in search of wings and some Monday Night football!

Main dining room at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining

Located in one of those huge strip plazas that dot the Morrisville landscape, it’s hard to not miss this Buffalo Wild Wings location because it’s BIG! We step inside and the place is aglare with neon lights, large high-def panels and more. Young waitstaff in outfits that look like ref uniforms bustle about and we head on back to the bar area. TV’s dot the entire back area along with some trivia games and video machines. BW3 is bright and noisy, a mix of sports and Top 40 from the speakers overhead. With the domestic beer specials, this is about as Merican as you can get! We grab a seat at a large, round high-boy and try to figure out the menu.

Bar at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining

I put in an order for some pretzels to get things started. With the 30 or so flavors and dry rub options at BW3, it may take you a while to figure out what you want. I go with my fave garlic-parm wings, mango-habenero wings along with some pretzels to get things started. It takes about 10 minutes before the pretzels show up and they look quite nice. Three steaming, hot, plump pretzels with some Southwest sauce and more. A good and fattening start to the meal!

Pretzels app at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining

About 10 minutes after that, our wings show up. I’ve got about 16 in my medium order ($14.49). I bite into my garlic-parm wings and they are good, a bit different from what I remember, less garlicky! But still solid. And the wings at this location are well-fired and a good size. They’re well-sauced so they are coated but not dripping, wing pro’s in action here! I bite in the mango-habanero wings and there’s fruit on top with some sweetness. Waiter had warned me they were spicy and he was RIGHT. After 5 or 10 seconds, the heat kicks in on the back of your throat and it keeps on going. I reach over for my beer knowing that it won’t douse out the heat but I don’t have any milk at the table! I eat three or four more of these wings and everyone agrees that they are H-O-T, hot. Probably about a 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, the only thing that saves me is that I had some Bida Manda wings recently that were probably 10 out of 10.

Medium wings (garlic-parmesan, mango-habanero) at Buffalo Wild Wings, Morrisville- NC Triangle Dining

A basket of onion rings finished off the night along with the Kansas City Chiefs finishing off the New England Patriots, boo! We ask for the checks and it’s time to go home! Service at Buffalo Wild Wings was ok but the place was nearly empty so it should have been. My tab come out to about $38 which is the kicker. While I love my wings from time to time, at this price point I could have gone to nearly any restaurant in the area ($25 entree, app, beer) for about the same price. i mean I really was glad to have gotten my fave wings but the equation for eating at chain restaurants was reinforced for me. Passable food in corporate surroundings with usually, below average service. That’s the formula for chain restaurants and every single time I give one a shot, the end results are about the same. Buffalo Wild Wings, I missed ya. I’m glad you’re back in the area but outside of a night when you’ve got some real specials, I don’t imagine I’ll be back in anytime soon…

Buffalo Wild Wings- Morrisville

1300 Village Market Place

Morrisville, NC 27560

919.469.7872

Location on Google maps

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August 5, 2015 by Ron Wen Leave a Comment

Heavenly Buffaloes, Durham: Amazing Wings on the Go

Heavenly Buffaloes, Durham- NC Triangle Dining

If you’re a fan of 9th Street in Durham, you’ve probably been to my favorite Duke bar, Dain’s Place. Well guess what, my friends? Dain has expanded his empire into a second business with Heavenly Buffaloes now open on Markham Street! And if you’re into chicken wings, you’re gonna love this place!

Bright building for Heavenly Buffaloes, Durham- NC Triangle Dining

You can’t miss the place, decked out in bright neon pain, Heavenly Buffaloes is take-out only with a trio of picnic tables on the side offering an outside dining option. With a tight menu of food options: wings, boneless wings, vegan wings, waffle fries and 20+ wing flavors/dry rubs. I order up three baskets of wings and a large waffle fries which comes out to about $27 or so, not inexpensive.

Wings from Heavenly Buffaloes, Durham- NC Triangle Dining

We hang out a bit at the bench near the take-out window and in 15 minutes our order comes out. We head on over to Dain’s Place and unpack our food over there. We’ve got Ol Vinnie’s (vinegar-based), Peri Peri and garlic parmesan dry rub, it all looks great! But the starter waffle fries are the big winner here.

Waffle fries from Heavenly Buffaloes, Durham- NC Triangle Dining

This large side can feed 3 – 4 people and pairs a crisp crust with tender potato underneath, perfect! The wings from Heavenly Buffaloes are well-sized, tender and the sauces and rubs are done well. You can tell they use some high-quality ingredients here, you don’t get that gummy feel from commercial sauces.

So all-in-all I enjoyed Heavenly Buffaloes but the lack of seating does create some challenges. Not to say that wings should be eating off of white tablecloths but the limited picnic tables leaves you at the whims of the weather and crowd. Rock on Heavenly Buffaloes! Because I’m sure I’ll be back soon to work further down your sauce and rub list…

Heavenly Buffaloes

1807 W Markham Avenue

Durham, NC 27705

919.237.2358

Location on Google maps

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May 6, 2018 by Ron Wen

First Take: Get Your Chicken On at Heavenly Buffaloes in Chapel Hill

The new Heavenly Buffaloes in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — The new Heavenly Buffaloes in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

When you think of the ubiquitous chicken wing, you usually think of sports bars and chain restaurants but every now and then, you find someone who really steps up their chicken wing game! And that, my friends, is what Heavenly Buffaloes is all about. The first and original Heavenly Buffaloes was quietly opened up back in 2014 and people loved their wings. But as a tiny, take-out only spot, I admit that I only ate there a couple of times as much as I like my wings. Fast-forward to 2018 and Heavenly Buffaloes is now opening up it second location in downtown Chapel Hill, hooray! And believe it or not, there will be seating in this location. So of course it’s now time to get my wings on at the new Franklin Street location of Heavenly Buffaloes!

Order counter at Heavenly Buffaloes in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — Order counter at Heavenly Buffaloes in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

Oftentimes when I review a restaurant, I try to give hints on how to find the place but you will have NO problems finding Heavenly Buffaloes Chapel Hill! Decked out in near-fluorescent orange, green and blue, this brightly colored location will beckon to you from the street. A covered patio up front and inside, Heavenly Buffaloes strikes a balance between quick-casual restaurant and sports bar with a handful of screens tuned to the latest sports. And no surprise, there’s a decent line inside since it’s opening week!

Dining area at Heavenly Buffaloes in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — Dining area at Heavenly Buffaloes in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

The one good thing about there being a line is that you get to review the Heavenly Buffaloes menu that’s on the wall. While the menu is simple: wings, waffle fries, chicken sandwich and salad, there are about 20+ choices for wet wing sauces and another 6 dry rubs. So you’ve got some decisions to make, my friend! The standard bone-in wings come in odd increments of 7, 13, 25, 51 103 and 251 (Party! Party!) and prices are consistent over different quantities, a little over a $1 per wing. If you want to mix and try out multiple flavors, I’d recommend doing multiples of 7 wings given the pricing. For my first visit, I order up the garlic parmesan dry rub along with a small order of waffle fries. Extra blue cheese, ranch or sauce is .50 per cup. I’d have to say the menu here is pretty quirky overall at Heavenly Buffaloes!

Garlic parmesan wings at Heavenly Buffaloes in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — Garlic parmesan wings at Heavenly Buffaloes in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

Waiting for my food is a bit tough. Heavenly Buffaloes is pretty busy and I’m sure they’re still working out the kinks to their operations so my food takes 20+ minutes to come out. I get two baskets lined with red and white checked paper for my wings and fries. Heavenly Buffaloes’ wings look awesome! I’ve got a good mix of drums and flats in my basket and they are well coated with the dry rub. Heavenly Buffaloes obviously uses high quality chicken and they are meaty pieces raised on local farms according to their website. I take a bite and the wings are certainly a bit crispy with the dry rub. The garlic-parm dry rub is solid and not over-powering but I am a garlic fiend and would have like more flavor!

Waffle fries at Heavenly Buffaloes in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — Waffle fries at Heavenly Buffaloes in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

And while the chicken is really good here, I’m even more enthused about the waffle fries which are nice and crisp with a tender interior. I go with the basic Idaho potato waffle fries but note there’s no ketchup on the tables. You’ll have to request it from a manager or order some side-sauce for some dipping. Overall I still like Heavenly Buffaloes a lot. They do one thing and do it very well. Heavenly Buffaloes is certainly not inexpensive and you can’t be in a rush for your food since it’s cooked to order. But for sure, the wings here are some of the best you can find in the Triangle so when you’re in the mood, you’ve now got a second great location in the Triangle to get your wings on! Enjoy….

Heavenly Buffaloes Chapel Hill

407 W Franklin Street

Chapel Hill, NC 27516

919.914.6717

Location on Google maps

Retake: Lilly’s in Raleigh for Fragrant Pizza, Oven-baked Wings