Wing-Off 12 - The Final 4, Part 1 - Bar-Coastal vs. Croxley Ales

From the same people that bring you Burger Conquest, we bring you the New York City Wing-Off. A crew of men on a search for the best wing in NYC. Wing-Off judges solely on quality of the Medium and Hot wings only. Service, ambiance, beverage selection, price and other menus have no factor but they sure do count for a good time! Also, NO WOMEN ALLOWED!!

In January of 2007, 2 men had an argument over where to get the best hot wings in New York City. The debate grew intense and while an audience watched, they agreed to battle it out, wing vs. wing, to see who was right. Some rules were established, some friends were invited and some wings were eaten. In the end, everyone had so much fun that we decided to do it again, and again and again. Thus, the NYC Wing-Off was born.

After 3 and half years of eating delicious wings, we decided it was time to crown a champion. 4 of the top Wing-Off winners were picked to battle it out for the top spot. The would be the semi-finals and which ever wing won, they would go on to face the victor of Wing-Off 13. So with that, I give you...

WING-OFF 12
BAR-COASTAL vs. CROXLEY ALES
-The Final 4, Part 1

Bar-Coastal
1495 1st Ave (at 78th St)
New York, NY 10075-1355
(212) 288-6635
www.barcoastal.com

Croxley Ale House
28 Avenue B
New York, NY
212-253-6140
www.croxley.com

BAR-COASTAL

Bar-Coastal beat out both Brother Jimmy's and the Back Page Sports Bar to wing Wing-Off 10. They're crispy and flavorful wings left a mark on our tongues that we would not soon forget. Jason who owns the place, takes his wings very, very seriously. Serving up quality food is really important to him and with one bite of a wing, you will understand.

Bar-Coastal is one of the original Atomic Wings licensees in NYC. Atomic Wings is a chain located in NYC that imports their chicken directly from Buffalo, NY and claims to serve them in the authentic buffalo wing way. Most of them are stand alone, but Bar-Coastal, much like Down the Hatch (inspiration for the first ever Wing-Off), serves them in their bar.

While we only judge on Medium and Hot, Jason and his crew also had us taste the Jerk BBQ, A-1 / Old Bay and the off-menu special, Kerry's Way (a mix of honey mustard, BBQ and traditional buffalo sauces). There wasn't a single wing in the bunch that did not qualify as "awesome!" The Bar-Coastal wing is crispy, meaty, big and exploding with delicious flavor. Most wing places just use something like Frank's Red Hot with a couple of other drippings, which makes for a classic hot wing sauce. But that isn't how it's done here. These wing sauces are made practically from scratch right in their kitchen. The flavors dance around in your mouth like a drunken Leprechaun on vacation.

The crowd fave, again, were the Jerk BBQ, which had a smoked black pepper accent and a heat that lingered. They're amazing but, they don't count towards the Wing-Off competition. In this particular instance, that didn't matter because the Mediums and Hots were right on the money with temperature, flavor, taste, size and quality.





CROXLEY ALE HOUSE


The night before Wing-Off 12 was supposed to happen, the news was delivered that Point break's chef wasn't going to be in on the day of the event. Not wanting to cancel or postpone, we gave Croxley Ale House a bye into the final 4. Although losing at Wing-Off 5, Croxley is known for great hot wings so we were happy to have them as the substitute.

A few of the Wing-Offers were not able to make the appearance at Bar-Coastal and joined us here. As a result, the party nearly doubled in size. That's a lot of wingers! We ordered up a couple of plates of Medium, Hot and BBQ wings and began the challenge. I have to say, the BBQ wings seemed to the be the crowd favorite but as you know, that doesn't count for the battle. Croxley came with some meaty, well prepared and flavorful wings. The sauce was good, the wings were meaty and cooked appropriately. While the sauce was good and well distributed, there wasn't a ton of difference in the heat between the Mediums and Hots.

WING-OFF 12 OFFICIAL WINNER - BAR-COASTAL!

The only loser in this competition was Point Break and anyone who didn't show up because both places made a strong showing. In the end, both locations are worthy of consumption but someone has to win. Bar-Coastal - congrats, you advance into the final round.




WING-OFF HISTORICAL

WING-OFF 1
January 28, 2007
Scruffy Duffy's vs. Atomic at Down the Hatch
WINNER: SCRUFFY DUFFYS

Scruffy Duffy's
www.scruffyduffys.com
743 Eighth Avenue
(between 46th & 47th)
New York, NY 10036

Atomic at Down the Hatch
http://www.nycbestbar.com/downthehatch/
179 W. 4th St
New York, NY

WING-OFF 2
June 3rd, 2007
Scruffy Duffy's vs Blondie's
WINNER: SCRUFFY DUFFYS

Scruffy Duffy's
www.scruffyduffys.com
Scruffy Duffy's 743 Eighth Avenue
(between 46th & 47th)
New York, NY 10036

Blondies's
www.blondiessports.com
212 W 79th St
(Between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway)
New York, NY 10024-6225

WING-OFF 3
September 11, 2007
Mudville 9
http://www.mudville9.com/
126 Chambers St
(Btwn Church and W.Broadway)
New York, NY 10007
Phone: (212) 964-WING

WING-OFF 4
January 20, 2008
Scruffy Duffy's at Lansdowne Road vs. Texas Arizona
WINNER by disqualification, SCRUFFY DUFFYS

Lansdowne Road
www.lansdowneroadnyc.com
599 10th Ave (Btwn 43rd and 44th St)
New York, NY 10036-3008

WING-0FF 5
June 27, 2008
Lansdowne Road vs. Croxley Ale House vs. 1-2-3 Burger Shot Beer
WINNER: SCRUFFY DUFFYS

Lansdowne Road
www.lansdowneroadnyc.com
599 10th Ave (Btwn 43rd and 44th St)
New York, NY 10036-3008

Croxley Ale House
www.croxley.com
28 Avenue B
New York, NY

123 Burger Shot Beer
www.123burgershotbeer.com
738 10th Avenue
New York, NY

WING-OFF 6
October 6th, 2008
Scruffy's Retirement Party at Lansdowne Road

Lansdowne Road
www.lansdowneroadnyc.com
599 10th Ave (Btwn 43rd and 44th St)
New York, NY 10036-3008

WING-OFF 7
TOWN TAVERN vs. WOGIE'S
WINNER; WOGIE'S

Town Tavern
http://www.towntavernnyc.com/
134 West 4th St
(at MacDougal)
New York, NY 10012

Wogie's
http://www.wogies.com/
39 Greenwich Ave
(btwn Charle's & Perry)
New York, NY 10014

WING-OFF 8
BLIND TIGER ALE HOUSE vs. THUNDER JACKSONS
WINNER; Both DQ!

Blind Tiger Ale House
http://blindtigeralehouse.com/
281 Bleecker St (@ Jones St)
New York, NY

Thunder Jackson's
http://www.thunderjackson.com
169 Bleecker St (@ Sullivan St)
New York, NY 10012

WING-OFF 9
Tuesday, August 4th
Johnny Utah’s VS. Point Break (formerly Nation)
WINNER: POINT BREAK
EX-PRESIDENTIAL RUBBER MASKS ENCOURAGED!

Johnny Utah’s
www.johnnyutahs.com
25 W 51st St (Between 5th and 6th Aves)
New York, NY 10019-6902
(212) 265-8824

Point Break
http://pointbreaknyc.com/
12 W 45th St (Between 5th and 6th Aves)
New York, NY 10036-4202
(212) 391-8053

WING-OFF 10
Saturday, November 21st, 2009
Bar-Coastal vs. Brother Jimmy's BBQ vs. The Back Page Sports Bar
WINNER: BAR-COASTAL

Bar-Coastal
www.barcoastal.com
1495 1st Ave (at 78th St)
New York, NY 10075-1355
(212) 288-6635

Brother Jimmy's BBQ
www.brotherjimmys.com
1485 2nd Ave (at 77TH St)
New York, NY 10075-2001
(212) 288-0999

The Back Page Sports Bar
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7175125/new_york_ny/the_back_page.htm
1472 3rd Ave (Btwn 83rd and 84th)
New York, NY 10028-1967
(212) 570-5800

WING-OFF 11
Sunday, February 28th, 2010
The Wing Bar vs.Bonnie's Grill
WINNER: BONNIE'S GRILL

The Wing Bar
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-wing-bar-brooklyn
275 Smith St (between Degraw St & Sackett St)
Brooklyn, NY 11231

Bonnie's Grill
http://brooklyn.citysearch.com/profile/7356065/brooklyn_ny/bonnie_s_grill.html
278 5th Ave (1st Street)
Brooklyn, NY 11215

WING-OFF 12
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010
The Final 4, Part 1 - Bar-Coastal vs. Croxley Ales
WINNER; BAR-COASTAL

Bar-Coastal
1495 1st Ave (at 78th St)
New York, NY 10075-1355
(212) 288-6635
www.barcoastal.com

Croxley Ale House
28 Avenue B
New York, NY
212-253-6140
www.croxley.com