Willis Felecien Sevin
October 2, 2013
Not your average QB: THS star shines, despite desire to be halfback
October 9, 2013
The brainstorm of Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery, Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar is – no surprise here – best known for its authentic buffalo-style chicken wings.
Situated on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Houma, the eatery screams sports. Upon entering, you’re immediately drawn to the 30-plus multiple-sized flat screens along the ceiling that surround the dining and bar areas. Stations are tuned in to the biggest games of the hour. And guests can opt to wile their time playing trivia or card games on a couple of screens. The waitress will provide a game console upon request.
It’s safe to call Buffalo Wild Wings a fun place to reconnect with friends, catch a game and grab a beer and wings.
On this visit, however, even enjoying one of those things was challenging.
The restaurant was busy, but not overpacked. The Saints weren’t scheduled to play until the following night, and a festival downtown was the big draw. The friendly hostess quickly seated us, and then promptly forgot us.
A parade of waitresses passed – I counted at least six working the floor, with another three staffers who appeared with food at surrounding tables and then, just as quickly, disappeared for the evening. Five minutes later, after a large table was seated and immediately waited on, I approached the hostess in hopes of getting our order taken.
She brought us drinks and then mentioned to our waitress that we’d been ignored. It wouldn’t have been so frustrating had she not already served tables to our left (they’d been seated ahead of us) and our right (they came long after).
Not willing to take a chance we wouldn’t see her again, we ordered appetizers and entrees and requested a drink refill.
Then we waited. And waited. And waited.
Ten minutes later, the drink refill came.
“The Book of Manning” on ESPN ended. Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos had foiled Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles. And the dining area was finally starting to thin out before the mini-corndogs ($6.19) arrived.
The appetizer includes about 10 small hotdogs coated in cornbread and deep-fried. It’s served with a mildly spicy honey mustard sauce.
Fortunately, our entrees soon followed. As the crowd thinned, our waitress’s demeanor also greatly improved.
I enjoyed an order of boneless wings coated in honey barbecue sauce. The small order ($9.99) includes a dozen all-white chicken pieces, breaded and crisply fried. It was served with a veggie boat, a sampling of celery and carrot slices with ranch dressing on the side for dipping. Our boat must have sprung a leak; we poured almost two tablespoons of water from the bottom of the container.
My guest ordered the pulled pork sandwich ($8.99), which she kicked up a notch with the sweet barbecue sauce. The sandwich is served with vinegar coleslaw and fries.
The pork was hickory-smoked, hand-pulled and tossed in the sauce. You have to request lettuce, tomatoes and onions; otherwise it comes plain.
The hoagie-like bun proved to be too much bread, but my guest enjoyed all of the pork.
We decided to forego dessert, only because the service breakdown at the start of the meal caused our stay to go into overtime.
Despite the rough night, I’ll be the first to admit Buffalo Wild Wings is a fun sports joint. The domestic, import and craft beers are hard to beat. Any sport, any game is just a request away. We’ve always found the staff accommodating, even with the most obscure games. And the service is usually spot on. Anyone can have an off night, I suppose.
All in all, I think Disbrow and Lowery had the right idea. Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar hits the spot if you are looking for a fun place to take in a game or enjoy a night out with friends.
If you’re taking young ones, don’t worry about the noise level – theirs, that is. They’ll just blend in with the TVs and the crowd. On the other hand, if your guest is autistic with sound sensitivities and a regular mealtime, Buffalo Wild Wings may not be the best place for you, especially if your waitress is not on the ball.
Buffalo Wild Wings may be the place to ravish wings while taking in a ballgame or two or three, but for regular dining, it left the Guru unsatisfied.
