I had lunch with my mom at Buffalo Wild Wings newest location in Columbia. Here's what I experienced walking in to the restaurant on Grand Opening day.
With out a doubt, this was the warmest welcome I've ever received at a restaurant.
The interior is so cool. There was literally a large screen TV everywhere I looked. I counted 23 TV screens spread out in all three seating areas. In addition, there are fun arcade games located in various corners throughout the restaurant.
It's called Buffalo Wild Wings so we had to try the legendary wings. There are 22 different sauces and seasonings to choose from with our order of traditional bone-in or boneless wings.
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| The waiter gave me some rad headgear! |
The flavors ranged in intensity from "Smilin'" (Swee BBQ, Honey Mustard) to "Sizzlin'" (Jammin' Jalapeno, Asian Zing, Thai Curry) to "Screamin'" (Mango Habenero and Blazin')
We ordered a snack size (5 pieces) of traditional wings with sweet BBQ sauce. The flavor was sweet and savory but the chicken wasn't fall off the bone tender. We had to work to get the meat off the bones. I thought there was too much sauce on the wings. I expect eating wings to be messy but these were exceptionally wet. I was happy to find packages of moist hand wipes at the table.
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We decided to wash down the wings with the signature Huckleberry lemonade. It was sweet and bursting with flavor. The berry flavors were definitely more pronounced than the lemonade, but we both liked it. Since we got free refills, we tried the Mango flavor too. It was also good but we preferred the Huckleberry flavor.
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| Huckleberry Lemonade |
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| Mango Lemonade |
For lunch, I ordered the Philly Cheesesteak with fries. This was a large sub packed with moist pieces of steak, sautéed onion and peppers and velvety cheese. The only problem was the seasoning was off. It didn't taste like a traditional cheesesteak with hints of garlic, salt and pepper - where the taste of the steak is king. There was a seasoning that I could not identify but just didn't care for.
She liked the sweetness of the cranberries and sugared walnuts with the saltiness of the bacon and BBQ chicken. Unfortunately, the chicken breast was not tender - similar to the problem with the wings. The dressing was bland, so she didn't use it.
I was really hopeful that the restaurant was going to be amazing - especially after being greeted at the door by so many happy and excited employees, but the food fell short for me. Since my first experience with Buffalo Wild Wings was on their opening day, I 'm going to try this restaurant again because the place has a really fun atmosphere.
- Charles
