2011 Wing Tournament: Northside / Eastwood Results

On the heels of the Downtown results, next up on the 2011 Wing Tournament is the Northside / Eastwood bracket. Shifty's Bar and Grill will take on Gianni's Bronx Style Pizza, with Change of Pace taking on Original Italian Pizza. Winner of the bracket will advance to the Final Four and take on the winner of the Downtown bracket. To see a list of all qualifying teams, how each neighborhood bracket looks, and tournament rules, click here for the initial post. Here's how the Northside / Eastwood bracket ended up...

Northside / Eastwood Opening Round: Game 1
(1) Shifty's Bar & Grill's "hot" wings: 4
(4) NY Gianni's Bronx Style Pizza's "hot" wings: 3

The closest match-up to date pitted Shifty's hot wings (pictured left) against Gianni's hot wings (pictured right). While Gianni's "dart" style wings, which almost consist of a hot, garlic, and barbecue mix, should not go unnoticed on any visit, their hot wings were barely edged out by Shifty's - and more specifically, the first time in the tournament where blue cheese actually had to play the tie-breaker.

As a 4 seed, Gianni's puts out strong competition with wings that have a great skin and a good balance of slight crunchiness covered in a very vinegar-based Buffalo sauce. Make sure you have napkins for these! While hotness and amount of sauce may have been in favor of Gianni's, Shifty's homemade sauce was slightly more classic and even contained tiny pieces of tomatoes and chillies hiding around the wings. Shifty's also boasted tender meat (5 out of 5 on my account) and overall, were great bar wings, though with the downsides being that the lack of heat was rather disappointing (which was more like a strong mild) and the sauce tended to dry-out midway through the meal. Gianni's weren't bad for take-out and on this visit, were a winning combo with their delicious sheet pizza, but Shifty's takes the battle with larger and more consistent wings, tender meat, good flavor, and perfectly chunky blue cheese.

Winner: Shifty's Bar & Grill

***

Northside / Eastwood Opening Round: Game 2
(2) Change of Pace's "Hot / Extra Crispy" wings: 5
(3) Original Italian Pizza's "Hot / Char-Grilled" wings: 1

Don't let the lop-sided score fool you, both of these competitors faired very well and were above average in most cases. OIP (pictured right) was able to pull out perfectly tender chicken coated in a char-grilled hot sauce that had a great peppery flavor, but Change of Pace (pictured left) was highlighted by jumbo chicken wings covered in an excellent and traditional Buffalo sauce with a lingering heat that, in terms of this bracket, was refreshing to taste. I'd do OIP again for take-out wings, but this one goes to Change of Pace. While their brand of wings were a bit under-cooked and contained an above average amount of tendons, it's hard to resist their classic flavor and what were otherwise perfect and traditional Buffalo wings in all other aspects.

Winner: Change of Pace

***

Northside / Eastwood Second Round: Championship Game
(2) Change of Pace's "Hot / Extra Crispy" wings: 4
(1) Shifty's Bar & Grill's "hot" wings: 3

Shifty's sure likes a close match-up, but it just wasn't enough to surpass Change of Pace. Both even had excellent blue cheese (some of the best in the tournament) with a slight edge going to Shifty's for a chunky style, which I'm a fan of. Honestly, I was hoping Shifty's would bring the heat with their wings, seeing as how they come in various styles like fatal, xtra hot, and f-bomb, to name a few, but Change of Pace's were actually hotter. Shifty's great chicken meat and excellent homemade sauce flavor wasn't enough to pass Change of Pace's jumbo wings the contained a slightly crispy skin covered in a great, classic wing sauce.

Winner and champion of the Northside / Eastwood bracket: Change of Pace

***

There you have it. Change of Pace will take on Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in the Final Four. Stay tuned for the remaining 2 brackets. And Pulled Into Syracuse's 2011 Wing Tournament Champion will be crowned within the next couple weeks.

Review: Shifty's Bar & Grill

Name: Shifty's Bar & Grill
Address: 1401 Burnett Ave, Syracuse, NY
Neighborhood: Eastwood
Website: www.shiftysbar.com
Menu: View Menu
Cuisine: Traditional Bar Food
Alcohol: Full Bar
Kitchen Hours: Monday to Friday 11 AM - Midnight, Saturday to Sunday Noon - Midnight
Bar Hours: Monday to Friday 11 AM - Close, Saturday to Sunday Noon - Close
Parking: On-Street
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Take-Out: Yes

Opened in 1969 as a small, corner bar on Burnett and Greenway Ave, Shifty's Bar & Grill has been home to some of the best live music in the city for decades. And if that isn't enough, the slogan underneath their logo says it all: Shifty's - cold beer, hot wings, and live music.

Parking can be a bit of a nuisance. It's on-street, and Burnett can be a little sketchy at night sometimes. Personally, I've never had a problem, but you may have to do a block or two of walking depending on how busy of a night it is. As you walk in, you immediately know what kind of vibe the place has - look up and you'll notice a large, red model plane with "Burnett" and "Greenway" painted on the sides, with a brazier hanging over the back. The atmosphere is upbeat, music is loud and fun, and it's what you would expect from a good neighborhood bar. Clientele is predominantly in the 40-60 age range, but even if you are a 20-something like myself, you won't feel out of place here. Everyone is smiling and having a great time listening and dancing to live rock and roll.

Framed pictures cover all the walls: the area around the stage has black and white pictures of blues musicians and past musicians who have played on stage and the entrance area has framed pictures of former Yankee, Mets, and Brooklyn Dodgers players, Syracuse University athletes, and historic photographs of downtown Syracuse. The place is definitely a Yankee bar through and through (No worries if you are a Mets fan like myself. They are happy to change over one of the many flat screens that hang on the walls - unfortunately, I can't vouch for Sox games). Shifty's also features a pool table (which takes up a large portion of the entrance room), darts (both English style and electronic), and a pinball machine. To the right of the bar, there's a gigantic, live music schedule of everything going on during the month. It's easy to see that Shifty's prides itself on hosting local music. This also includes their open mic night on Wednesdays which is the longest running in Syracuse.

Seating is limited as there are only a few tables (they tend to put some of them away when a band is performing), so don't be surprised if you have to wait for a table to open up or stand to eat your food. Most of the food on the menu is "hand food" anyway (sans knife and fork) so it's not too big of an issue.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a good look at the beer selection. I only noticed a few beers on tap. From what I've read online though, Shifty's has roughly 99 different kinds of beers available and also features a "Shifty 50" beer tour - finish them to become a member of their "Hall of Foam".

As far as ordering food goes, there's no waiter service, so your best bet is to make your way up to the small, ordering window on the left side of the bar.

For such a small establishment, the menu actually has a lot to offer: Chicken Tenders, Fried Mushrooms, Homemade Potato Chips, Pizzas, Salads, Subs, Wraps, Gianelli Sausage Sandwiches, Burgers, and so on. But, considering Shifty's advertises it on their slogan, I had to go with wings.

The order...

Blue Moon on tap: $3.50
Dozen Hot Wings: $6.50
Total Money Spent with Tax & Tip: $11.00

The food took a little while to cook. It was a hoping, Friday evening, so maybe they were just backed up with a lot of orders on this particular night. And just a heads up: getting your food can be a bit of a hassle depending on how busy the place is. Keep your eyes (and if possible, your ears) aware of when the bartender signals to you that your order is ready.

Pictured above are Shifty's hot wings.

These wings were excellent. Just the right amount of crispy skin and juicy chicken. So tasty. My only real complaint was that there was no indication of any sauce on the outside. Normally, this would lead to a dry chicken wing, but it wasn't the case here as the meat provided just enough to contradict that. Temperature-wise, they leaned slightly on the medium side and didn't strike me as being that hot (I'm always a little apprehensive about ordering hot wings - one man's "hot" is another's "medium"), so I think next time I order wings here I may be a bit more inclined to ask for their award winning "F-Bomb" sauce. At any rate, these were really great chicken wings.

Some other notes...

- They have a 25 cent wing special on Mondays

- There's never a cover charge at the door

Overall, I liked pretty much everything about the place: it was a fun and lively atmosphere, the wings were great, the music assures you that you are in Syracuse, NY and it's an excellent spot for local flavor and local pride. I'll be going back in the future.

My rating of Shifty's Bar & Grill: