Wingapalooza 2009 (Stop #1)

A few weeks back, we received an email asking about where we liked
to eat chicken wings in the area.

Instead of just blurting them out as we normally would, we took the time and came
up with maybe the greatest idea ever.

Better than the telephone.
Better than electricity.
Better than smut on DVD.

Yes, it's that good.

We decided to ask you, the reader, what place serves your favorite c-wing.

The response was overwhelming.
(You can read about it here.)

And thank goodness for that, as we now have more reasons to head out and
eat those deep-fried treats from flavor heaven.

All aboard!

First stop: Phillippi's Family Dining and Pizzeria in Natrona Heights

After a much debate, and a little bloodshed, the tasting team was finalized.

It consisted of me (the person writing this), the always fabulous
David "Super Duper" Cooper ("DSDC" as he's known around here), and the third
member was my wife (who doesn't eat wings).

Now many of you may ask, "why take a non-wing eater to a wing eating event?"

We actually have 3 reasons for that...

1. We needed someone to sample other menu items.
2. Someone without "wing fingers" had to take notes for us.
3. I hate sleeping on the couch.

There you have it, three perfectly valid reasons.
Happy?

This past Monday we showed up right in the heart of the dinner wing rush.

See, Phillippi's has wings specials every Monday (all day), and that is no secret
around these parts. People are well aware of the great wings and deals they have.
And they show up for them by the bus load.

They were nice enough to offer us a great spot right near the window.

We couldn't have asked for a better place, as you will soon be able to tell by the
photos that were snapped by DSDC.

We jumped right to the wing section of the menu...

So many different choices, it was going to be hard to decide what to order.

I prefer my wings dipped in a tasty sauce, but am willing to try just about anything.
Unless it's crazy hot, then I tell David to try those ones.
(He's a brave and honorable man.)

But after speaking to Kim and Belinda, we found out that their regular seasoned wings
are the most popular, with the brand new breaded style coming in a close second.

Now being equipped with knowledge, we could make our educated selections.

We in turn ordered a couple of every wing they offered.

How smart are we?

As we patiently awaited our wings to cook (done so to perfection by wing chef Brian,
our new best friend), we sampled the famous Birdville Pie.
We now understand why the 65 year old recipe has never been modified.

As we finished our last bite of the Birdville, our wings made their much anticipated arrival.
(Belinda must be quite strong, as those wings must have weighed a ton.)

There they were, all laid out in front of us...
Seasoned Wings
Breaded Wings
Buffalo Style Wings:
Garliquin Romance
Peachburgh Express
Sweet BBQ
General Tso's
Afterburner
and Too Fargin' Hot

(All wings with special Monday pricing of only 50 or 60 cents each.)
This is for full on jumbo wings, people!

It was a wingtopia.

Here are a couple wing pics.

The popular seasoned wings...

The new breaded wings...
And my personal favorite of the group, the General Tso wings...
Wing sauce, ranch dressing and beer driblets covered our hands
like a Jackson Pollock painting.

We gave each other a high-five (in our minds), as the physical act of doing so
may have joined our sticky, yet delicious mitts together for eternity.

It turns out that David was unable to choose a definitive favorite.
Which is not surprising, as each and every wing we sampled was a taste explosion to
our palate. We surely made a great first choice of stops for Wingapalooza 2009!

But we're not done yet!

The third and most beautiful member of our team decided to make a go of the
Mini Angus Burgers, served on pretzel buns. She also ordered the Baby Bird's Nest.
Which is a fabulous dish of fries, topped with 3 shredded cheeses and smoked bacon.

What was that sound?

Oh, it must have been your stomach.

That wraps up the food portion of this write-up.
The wings were great (even the hot ones that scare me), the atmosphere was
fun, and the great service topped it all off.

We couldn't have been happier.

Oh yeah, we have one more David Cooper picture to show off.
It's a pic of the Baby Bird's Nest.

But first, we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight what DC has done for this
posting. So I tried to copy one of his photos, using only the crafty lens of my trusty
blackberry digital camera.

David's Picture (www.davidcooperphoto.com)...

My blackberry attempt...

I know which one makes me hungrier.


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Article Facts and Info:
Phillippi's Family Dining and Pizzeria
2105 Freeport Rd. Natrona Heights
724.226.3505
Kitchen open daily until midnight (10pm on Sundays).
Breakfast served daily (We will surely check that out).
Yuenglings are also on special on Mondays.
"Free Topping Tuesdays" gets you up to 3 toppings free on any pie.

Thanks:
Kim, Belinda, Lynette, and wing chef Brian.


You can see all of David's photos here.
http://www.davidcooperphoto.com/theNEWK/PhillippisWings/


Bonus Fact:
We used the word "fabulous" twice in this article.