Beer Boys

Basic Information:

Location: 176 N Washington St, Wilkes-Barre, PA, 18701
Phone Number: (570) 820-0555
Normal Wing Price: $9.75 for 12
Wing Night: Thursday
Wing Night Price: 60 cents each
Wing Flavors:

Mild, Hot, Cajun, Honey BBQ, Butter & Garlic, Mild Garlic, Hot Garlic, Old Bay, Mild & Blue Cheese, Hot & Blue Cheese, Cajun & Ranch, Hot Honey Bacon, Honey BBQ & Cajun, Jesus Sauce, Red Chili Sauce, Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Diablo 80%, Chipotle

*Wings can be ordered deep fried or smoked with the sauce on the side

Links: Facebook
  • Beer Boys Podcast Review - 11/28/18

    It’s been quite a while since we’ve posted a podcast, so we figured it was about time. We decided to make a second trip to Beer Boys for their smoked wings and delicious brews. We were so excited to try the wings, that we forgot to even take our signature picture of our order. I guess we were a little rusty.


    Beer Boys - 11/28/18

  • Outdoor Visit to Beer Boys - 06/22/17

    Overall Rating: 76

    Lynch Serniak

    Lynch's Rating: 37 out of 50

    Environment: 10

    Beer Boys is a restaurant/bar in Wilkes-Barre that has been established for quite a while, although when we decided to take the trip, it was my first time ever hearing of the place. When we arrived, I was surprised I haven’t heard of it before because it was right up my alley. You enter into a large bar/dining area with a big, square bar right in the center. Beer Boys certainly lives up to their name by offering a huge selection of craft beer on draft and in cans or bottles. In addition to the indoor area, Beer Boys offers a large covered bar area with huge doors that can be opened or closed depending on the weather. On top of all that, they have a completely outdoor area with high-top tables to enjoy some outdoor eating. With the weather being so nice, we decided to dine outside. There is no table service, so head up to the bar to garb a menu and place your order. The bartender who took my order was friendly and helpful in case I had any questions about the wing sauces. We went with a larger group of people and most of us ordered wings. Even with all those orders going into the system, the wings came out pretty fast, which was a pleasant surprise. If you haven’t been to Beer Boys before, definitely give it a try if you’re into craft beer, wings, and outdoor seating.


    Wing Size: 4

    While Beer Boys excels in most categories, they are a bit lacking when it comes to wing size and price. On wing night, which is a Thursday, Beer Boys offers 60 cent wings. They do have a minimum order of 6, which could limit the variety of flavors you can order. It may actually even out though because you will need to order more wings than normal to fill up, meaning that if you usually order 15, you should be able to handle 18.


    Wing Flavors: 9

    Beer Boys offers a large variety of flavors. In fact, you could argue that the flavor list is actually double that because they offer their wings either deep fried or smoked. I really dig that they allow you to choose between to different preparations for wings. On top of that, Beer Boys offers a good amount of flavors. In addition to your classics like Hot and Butter & Garlic, they create some unique flavors and combination of flavors that are just dynamite.


    Wing Taste (x2): 7

    Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the wings I ordered at Beer Boys. Once I saw that they offered a smoked wing, I immediately knew I was going to order at least one wing order smoked. With the smoked wings, they put the sauce on the side, so I ordered plain Hot with mine. The smoked wings themselves were a bit of a letdown. There is a bit of a dry rub on them with a pretty good flavor, but didn’t really get any smokiness from the wing itself. The Hot sauce made up for it though by providing the right level of spice with a tasty zip to it. The Cajun & Ranch was a sauce that combined the spices of Cajun with some ranch flavoring. It was hard to tell what the base sauce was because it didn’t quite seem like Ranch dressing, and it didn’t quite seem like a hot sauce. It had a decent Cajun flavoring with a strong black pepper taste. It lacked a little bit in the ranch department though. I tried a friend’s Honey BBQ & Cajun, which I recommend over the Cajun & Ranch, even though I’m generally not a BBQ dude. The Hot Honey Bacon was an interesting wing. It had a nice hot sauce taste that was only slightly spicy along with a hint of smokiness in the sauce. It certainly wasn’t overly sweet, but I felt like it could have used a bit more bacon flavor. Maybe that was the smokiness I got from the sauce. Finally, I ordered the Chipotle. This was the best of the bunch. It was a nice orange-colored sauce packed full of great flavor. Again, I got a slight smokiness from this wing as well, most likely from the chipotle pepper, which I loved. I just wish these wings had a bit more of that chipotle sauce on them.

    Serniak's Rating: 39 out of 50

    Environment: 9

    You want to wrangle in the NEPAWingmen to come to your joint and sample your livelihood, then you gotta smoke us out. That, or have someone else who’s been there tell us that we need to go there. That works too. I’m very glad that I have some good people in my corner because without them the Genesis of this trip to Beer Boys in Wilkes Barre would never of happened. This place really delivered in terms of atmosphere. As soon as you walk in you’ll notice a big bar plastered(nice) with tvs, very optimal for game watching or reality moms, your call, in front of you with tables surrounding it. The bar is loaded(nice) with many different craft brews to choose from. Attached to the indoor bar area is a whole different outside world that you enter by using a classic door. On the other side of that door lies a super fun outside environment that includes another bar, a basketball game that will no doubt frustrate you as you never will do as well you think you should do. There’s an area with around 7 tables that is not accompanied with a roof so check the weather before you head out to see if you can take advantage of it. I’m not saying that it was written in the stars or that there was divine intervention, but we had an evening of weather that is mostly reserved for p̶r̶o̶p̶h̶e̶t̶s̶  royalty. Here’s a little weather tip from the Wingmen; it’s June 16, if you get to Beer Boys after 6:30, you could sit outside and not have any sun in your eyes. Thank us later for that. The service was a little different. They have a sort of setup where you need to order drinks and food up at the bar. They will bring all your food to your table. I actually don’t mind that. Don’t get me wrong, try getting me right, but I enjoy getting waited on like I’m a Pharaoh like the next person but I also like having to be a grunt worker and going up and taking care of business myself. Whether it’s telling aliens to shove it and hauling 10 ton blocks to complete a pyramid or walking up to the bar to order my food or drinks, doing things myself is just fine. One thing I’ll say is it be nice for places that have you go up to the bar to order to put up a sign that says that’s how they roll. There’s always that moment where we’re sitting there trying to figure out the operation. A nice well placed would be nice. As for the bartender, she was very pleasant, and commanded the the outside all by herself. It was impressive to see. She also was helpful in explaining what the wing sauces were.


    Wing Size: 5

    Now, this rating comes from a guy who never operated a restaurant and never had to purchase food. So maybe I have no idea how much wings cost. But as a guy who rates wings all I can really do is compare prices and size to other places we’ve covered. The wings at Beer Boys are not small by any means. I’d say they are typical size. They come in orders of at least 6. You can order your regular amount and walk out full. But on their wing night, wings are 60 cents each. The absolute majority of places are between 45-50 cents a wing. I know we’re only talking 10-15 cents difference and in the grand scheme of things it’s not going to put a major dent in your wallet but it is a noteworthy difference. Anytime I see the 60 cents price I just say to myself, “really, alright.” I also have been told that wings are going up in America so maybe people are starting to feel the effects of that already, I really don’t know. Not to get to political except for how political this statement is going to be but if you really wanted to make America great again bring back back 25 cent wing nights. I think you’d win any election in a landslide. Also, bring back TGIF, that be really great.


    Wing Flavors: 9

    Excellent showing for the amount of flavors while including some unique and downright original names for them. Here’s another pro tip; if you label some of your wings with an interesting and off the wall name people will be intrigued to order them. Wild names get me all the time and Beer Boys knew exactly how to get the hook in my mouth by naming a wing Jesus sauce. The balls it takes to name a sauce after the son of God is nearly blasphemous but Beer Boys aren’t afraid of any rapture and know that JC would take it as the ultimate respect. All and all, they have 21 sauces. Several are mixed with ranch and blue cheese, which full disclosure, is a mighty easy way to expand your flavor list with ingredients that you have anyways. They also have a smoked wing that you can add any of their sauces on side with as well.


    Wing Taste (x2): 8

    Even with having to get at least 6 in an order, that was not going to stop me from getting my usual 4 flavors. That’s 24 wings for all you mathematicians out there. First up is the old bay. These were naturally a dry rub and they were everything I needed in an old bay dry rub. There was a good amount of seasoning that delivered flavor throughout each bite. Next, we have the cajun ranch. With these, I had bit of a Revelation with them and that was they tasted like the sauce that comes with a quesadilla from Taco Bell. So what I’m saying is that they were fantastic. If you’ve never had the opportunity to truly live, the quesadilla sauce from Taco Bell has a very flavorful southwest type sauce that has a kick of spice accompanied with a smoothness of silk. That’s what the cajun ranch at beer Boys was like. Thirdly, I went for the smokehouse which are rubbed in house seasoning and smoked in cherry wood. I also got a side of chipotle sauce with them. They were actually better just by themselves without the chipotle sauce. The seasoning was surprisingly pretty sweet but I didn’t really taste any of the smokiness to them. You could have told me they weren’t smoked and I would’ve agreed with you. They were still a solid flavor however. Finally, the best wing I had were the Jesus wings. Now, I know what some of you are thinking, that the only reason I’m making this my favorite wing of the evening is because if I don’t that I’m afraid of eternal damnation. Let’s just put that future rumor to bed. I don’t cower to anyone even if they have the power to smite me into another plain of existence. This wing sauce was legit awesome. What it was was a leg up from their regular hot sauce but it was much more. It brought sufficient heat but it was nothing to crazy hot. It also brought a dynamite flavor that was due to spices and pepper that ran through the sauce. I’m not saying ordering this sauce will get you into the kingdom of Heaven but I do think ordering this sauce looks good on your resume.


    Notes:

    PS- If I get smited, tell people my story