The fourth and final regional bracket of the tournament encompassing the Southside, Univeristy Hill, and Westcott neighborhoods pits Swallow's against Dorian's Gourmet Pizza & Deli and Varsity Pizza against Chuck's Cafe. For a list of qualifying teams, how the bracket looks, and tournament rules, click here.
Southside / SU Hill Opening Round: Game 1
(1) Swallow's "Hot" wings: 5
(4) Dorian's Gourmet Pizza & Deli's "Hot" wings: 1
This match-up featured two much anticipated wings joints going head-to-head. Swallow's (pictured left), which is a small tavern on South Ave that many people including myself may have heard of but have never ventured to before, brought some serious competition to the tournament with their hot wings. The standout, without a doubt, is their signature hot sauce which blends a bit of peppery spice, garlic, classic Buffalo sauce, and even a hint of an Asian chili sauce mixed in. Not only were they substantially hot, but it's a sauce I had never tasted before and was certainly a welcomed surprise. Dorian's, on the other hand (pictured right), were a slight let-down. Although the meaty wings were a good size and packed a punch in the heat department, its classic hot sauce flavor lacked depth, and more critically, their extremely soggy skins made them unappetizing after about half a dozen. While their tangy and chunky blue cheese and crispy celery was some of the best in the tournament, the wings themselves were no match for Swallow's. My mouth may have remained on fire and the sauce may not be classified as Buffalo despite looking like it was, but Swallow's easily took the match-up with tender wings, perfectly crispy skins, and a surprisingly bold and original flavor.
Winner: Swallow's
***
Southside / SU Hill Opening Round: Game 2
(2) Varsity Pizza's "Hot" wings: 4
(3) Chuck's Cafe's "Hot" wings: 3
Next up is Varsity Pizza (pictured left) taking on Chuck's Cafe (pictured right) in what would turn out to be a less than exhilarating match-up. Chuck's hot wings didn't have much going for them: a thin skin with no crunch, no heat (some of the mildest in the tournament), and a flavor that seemed nonexistent. While its one redeeming quality was its jumbo-style wings, Varsity's wings were able to pick up points where Chuck's could not with good chicken meat and a medium heat. Despite Varsity winning 4-3, I wasn't too keen on the flavor of the sauce, which was a bit thicker than usual Buffalo sauce, and they also suffered the same fate as Dorian's with a slight sponginess to them. While both Varsity and Chuck's may have been underwhelming, Varsity was able to move forward and take on Swallow's in the Southside / SU Hill Championship Game.
Winner: Varsity Pizza
***
Southside / SU Hill Championship Game
(1) Swallow's "Hot" wings: 5
(2) Varsity Pizza's "Hot" wings: 0
Even though Swallow's wings were under-matched, it wouldn't take much for them to pull out a win in this match-up. Varsity's meat and wing size were above average and on par with Swallow's, but suffered a shutout in every other category. It's hard to fault Swallow's in any aspect with a great amount of uniquely flavorful sauce, peppery garlic wings that were some of the hottest in the tournament, excellent crispness, and an separate bin filled with chunky blue cheese and big pieces of fresh celery. No battle in this one. Swallow's wins hands down with completely original, spicy, and superior all-around wings and easily deserve the title of best wings in this bracket.
Winner and champion of the Southside / SU Hill bracket: Swallow's
***
That leaves four places remaining: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que taking on Change of Pace and Nibsy's Pub taking on Swallow's with the winners advancing to the championship game. It should be a tight race. I'll put an actual bracket up this week on the blog with updated brackets and results. Make sure to check for the Final Four results and Pulled Into Syracuse's 2011 City Wing Tournament Champion which will be crowned this Friday.
Apparently, the Ponchito's location in The Valley does not serve wings (though I did satisfy my hunger with a tasty chicken burrito on my visit instead). I was really looking forward to having their Dr. Pepper BBQ wings in the 2011 Wing Tournament, but it looks like I'll have to try them separately at the Lyncourt location some other time. I'll be substituting Dorian's Gourmet Pizza & Deli's wings in their place instead and they'll be taking on Swallow's in the Southside / University Hill bracket.
For Final Four winners of the three brackets, click here: Downtown, Northside / Eastwood, and Tipperary Hill
Following the Northside / Eastwood and Downtown 2011 wing tournament results, is the much anticipated Tipperary Hill bracket featuring Blarney Stone vs. Rosie's Sports Bar & Grill and Nibsy's Pub taking on Patsy's Pizza. To see a list of qualifying teams, how each neighborhood bracket looks, and tournament rules, click here for the initial post. Let's get rockin'!
Tipperary Hill Opening Round: Game 1
(1) Blarney Stone's "Hot" wings: 2
(4) Rosie's Sports Bar & Grill's "Hot" wings: 1
Kicking off the highly competitive Tipp Hill Bracket, is Blarney Stone's hot wings (pictured left) vs. Rosie's hot wings (pictured right). This was a tight race as both sports bars featured well-above average wings. Rosie's deserves credit for outstanding wings with great meat, great skin, and a slight hint of garlic, but more so were highlighted by an intense heat and some of the hottest wings in the tournament. I also liked the fact that a few wings still had the tips on them, which was a welcomed surprise and leads to the possibility that they cut the 3-joint wings themselves, but some of the drumettes suffered as a result and were boney, small, and in some cases indiscernible. While most categories were a draw (hence the low score), Blarney Stone was able to come up solid in just about each category and pulled out a 2-1 victory over Rosie's wings that had great, slightly crispy and chewy skins, above average meat, great heat level, and delicious wings covered in plenty of flavorful Buffalo sauce.
Winner: Blarney Stone
***
Tipperary Hill Opening Round: Game 2
(3) Nibsy's Pub's "Hot" wings: 5
(2) Patsy's Pizza's "Hot" wings: 0
The next Tipp Hill match-up featured Nibsy's hot wings (pictured left) ushering in the first shutout of the tournament in a 5-0 victory over Patsy's Pizza (pictured right). Patsy's was only able to muster up a fight in the heat department, with wings soaked in plenty of tasty hot sauce that had a great Buffalo flavor, albeit vinegery. Aside from that, uninspiring chicken meat, small wings, dry skins, and a flavorless blue cheese with no celery made it easy susceptible to a defeat by the opposition. Nibsy's wings, served in a wooden basket lined with tin foil and in a pool of mouth-watering hot sauce, easily took the match-up and were by far some of the best wings in the entire tournament. Though its wings had hints of fattier meat and an exterior skin that was slightly thin, Nibsy's were otherwise flawless. Its tasty, jumbo-style wings were coated in a perfectly balanced hot sauce that made them, in my opinion, the definition of classic Buffalo wings that contained just the right amount of heat.
Winner: Nibsy's Pub
***
Tipperary Hill Second Round: Championship Game
(3) Nibsy's Pub's "Hot" wings: 2
(1) Blarney Stone's "Hot" wings: 1
The championship round of the Tipperary Hill bracket featured Nibsy's and Blarney Stone in a fierce battle for the 3rd spot in the Final Four. Blarney's hot wings are truly excellent and admittedly, will always be my biased wing of choice when on Tipp Hill. With a perfect amount of heat, outstanding skins, and tasty and chunky blue cheese, it's hard not to pick them, but the "oldest tavern in Syracuse" barely edged them out. While Blarney's had an excellent amount of sauce that made getting fingers messy enjoyable, Nibsy's overwhelmingly better flavored sauce was the deciding factor and helped by its jumbo-style wings that put Blarney's to shame. A battle royale going down on Tipp Hill between Nibsy's, Rosie's, and Blarney made it difficult on this wing judge, but Nibsy's was able to come up the victor over them all with outstanding Buffalo wings and deservedly earns the title of best wings on Tipp Hill.
Winner and champion of the Tipperary Hill bracket: Nibsy's Pub
***
One division remains and the three teams in the Final Four, Change of Pace, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, and Nibsy's Pub, await the winner of the Southside / University Hill bracket which will be revealed within the next several days. Pulled Into Syracuse's 2011 Wing Tournament Champion will be crowned within the next week so stay tuned!
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.
And here we go... the Downtown bracket kicks off the 2011 Pulled Into Syracuse Wing Tournament. Dinosaur Bar-B-Que will take on J Ryan's Pub, followed by Bull & Bear Pub vs. Syracuse Suds Factory. Winner of the Downtown bracket advances to the Final Four and will take on the winner of the Northside / Eastwood 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 Downtown bracket ended up...
Downtown Opening Round: Game 1
(1) Dinosaur Bar-B-Que's "Wango Tango" wings: 4
(4) J Ryan's "Hot" wings: 0
As a 4 seed facing a 1 seed, J Ryan's wings (pictures on the right) put up a good fight against Dino's heavily favored Wango Tango variety (pictured left). A zero in the score shouldn't imply that J Ryan's were bad by any means. They were delicious and fared surprisingly well. They were just no match for Dino's smokey, spicy, and sauce slathered chicken wings. J Ryan's were above average in most aspects despite the sauce having had no indication of Frank Red Hot (which may have been blanketed a bottled brand). Regardless, they still had that great Buffalo-style flavor. If you love crispy wings, look no where other than J Ryan's as these were the crispiest I've ever had. But Dino pulled out the stops with an amazing skin that was slightly charred and had enough crispness to balance the chewiness, a lingering heat that makes you want to eat more, and some of the most tender chicken wing meat ever.
Untraditional, yes. But for perfectly crispy and smokey wings, Dino doesn't mess around.
Winner: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
***
Downtown Opening Round: Game 2
(3) Syracuse Suds Factory's "Fiery" wings: 5
(2) Bull & Bear Pub's "Hot" wings: 2
Somewhat of an under-matched 2 and 3 seed match-up pitted Bull & Bear's hot wings (pictured left) against Suds' Fiery ones (pictured right). For what it's worth, J Ryan's probably could've beat either contestant, but alas, this is what happens in a single-elimination tournament. Since Bull & Bear's wings were advertised as "Award Winning!", some serious competition was expected, but they were certainly the weakest among the Downtown seeds as there was almost little to no Buffalo flavor, or any flavor, going on. Its generally small wings were topped with sliced pickled jalapenos, which were a nice touch and added some much needed heat that was nonexistent otherwise. I'd consider Bull & Bear's wings slightly below average bar wings in most aspects as they picked up a few points where Suds could not. Despite being served on the cold side and a sauce that could've been a notch hotter, Suds Factory's Fiery wings did well. It's jumbo-style sized wings had an excellent skin that was not overly crispy and was perfect on my account. There was a slightly odd flavor to the sauce that was lingering, leading me to believe that it may have been a less than higher-end bottled brand. Suds' main downfall however, was that the meat was incredibly dry; which had it not, and had the sauce had a little more kick, they certainly could've been considered excellent wings.
Overall, Suds' fared better and could probably even do really well in other cities that aren't in Upstate NY.
Winner: Syracuse Suds Factory
***
Downtown Second Round: Championship Game
(1) Dinosaur Bar-B-Que's "Wango Tango" wings: 6
(3) Syracuse Suds Factory's "Fiery" wings: 1
Despite the lopsided score, Suds' are decent wings. But with dry meat, a slightly odd flavor, and blue cheese that was tangy but a bit watery, it never really stood a chance against any 1 seed and its great skin just wasn't enough to overcome Dino's perfectly balanced wings. Dinosaur indeed brought its "A" game: covered in a spicy and smokey barbecue sauce, with a lingering heat that makes you want to eat more in each bite, and a good blue cheese that doesn't cloud its wings.
If my entirely cleaned plate of with Wango Tango wing bones soon thereafter wasn't any indication, these are delicious.
Winner and champion of the Downtown bracket: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
***
Stay tuned for the remaining 3 brackets, the Final Four, and Pulled Into Syracuse's 2011 Wing Tournament Champion which will be crowned later this month. Also, I'll add an actual bracket sheet at some point before the Final Four.
Now that college basketball season is in full gear, what better way to watch the Syracuse Orange than when accompanied by wings? After plenty of extensive research, devouring pounds of chicken, and Buffalo sauce drenched fingers, I've decided to mesh the two together on the blog and do a City of Syracuse wing tournament in the style of an NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.
The field will separate into four divisions loosely separated by region with seeds of 1 through 4 based on rankings on my own account and from other online review sites and internet search results. Each participant will be judged on wing tenderness, size, skin, sauce flavor and amount, balance, and heat-scale with maybe a couple extra points (free throws?) for blue cheese and celery.
Each bracket will start off with 1 seeds playing against 4 seeds and 2 seeds playing 3 seeds. Winners will be determined after tallying up the points in each category (i.e. the wings with the better tenderness, sauce, etc... will each receive a point and the wings with the highest point total out of the 7 categories advances to the next round. If one particular category is a tie, no point will be awarded).
To encourage a little continuity, all wing orders will be ordered "hot" unless no other option is available (i.e. barbecue, char-grilled, Sal's, Asian-style, and breaded, will only be ordered if Buffalo style is unavailable). I realize the argument will be to have all participants judged on a basis of serving traditional Buffalo wings, but maybe that will be a tournament for another time. Also, no chains (I'd love to include the "Wings Over" franchise because I love their wings and sauces, but I gotta omit them). Mind you, this is not an official tournament or anything. Just for fun and for reference.
Here we go... the 16 teams in the 2011 tournament... cue the appropriate music...
Downtown
1) Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
4) J Ryan's Pub
2) Bull & Bear Pub
3) Syracuse Suds Factory
| Tipperary Hill
Blarney Stone (1
Rosie's Sports Bar & Grill (4
Patsy's Pizza (2
Nibsy's Pub (3
| Northside / Eastwood
1) Shifty's Bar & Grill
4) Gianni's Bronx Style Pizza
2) Change of Pace
3) OIP (Eastwood)
| Southside / SU Hill
Swallow's (1
Dorian's Gourmet Pizza (4
Varsity Pizza (2
Chuck's Cafe (3
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Results from each regional bracket will be listed in the coming weeks. The Final Four and champion of Pulled Into Syracuse's 2011 Wing Tournament will be crowned in March, so stay tuned!
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