Nina’s

Basic Information:

• Finally made it to Nina’s - 01/24/19
  Overall Rating: 68

  Lynch Serniak

  Lynch's Rating: 34 out of 50

  Environment: 8
  

  Nina’s Wing Bites and Pizza is another place that we went to recently that has been a long time coming. We’ve stopped adhering to our unwritten rule of only reviewing places that have a wing night, so that opened up the option of visiting Nina’s. Nina’s has really been making a name for themselves in the wing world of NEPA within the last couple years. I feel like over the past 5 or so years, they’ve expanded to  four total locations – one each  in Dunmore, Carbondale, Blakely, and Clark Summit. Plus they have the Bite Mobile food truck often making its way across NEPA to serve up wings on the go. I bet most people in the Scranton/Dunmore area have only experienced Nina’s wings in bite form and as part of delivery or take-out. For our wing visit, we wanted to partake in the eat-in experience of Nina’s at the Dunmore location. The Dunmore location is a bit on the smaller side, with a small bar section that fits maybe 8 people or so and something like 5 tables. I’d be surprised if more than 5 other people stopped in to eat while we were there. We picked a small table and took our seats. With it being so small, we got our orders in almost immediately. We were advised that the bone-in wings would take 30 minutes to cook, but we were willing to wait. Realistically, they were closed to 15 minutes, so no complaints there. The waitresses were very friendly and nice. We had no issues getting our food and checks timely. Overall, it was a good experience. It’s not really a sit-down dining kind of place, in my opinion. Like I said before, the Dunmore location is more of a take-out/pick-up kind of place. I haven’t been to any of the other locations, but from the outside, the Blakely location one seems a bit bigger to accommodate a more sit-down-like dining experience

  
  Wing Size: 7
  

  I wanted a well-rounded review, so I ordered some boneless and bone-in. Normally, we tend to stick to bone-in only, but since Nina’s is more known for their bites, we figured we needed to get at least one order of the boneless wings. For $8, you can get 10 bone-in wings, or for $7.75, you can get 1 lb of boneless wings. The bone-in wings are average size – nothing crazy here. The boneless bites seem like a better deal to me. You get a very good amount of wings at a cheaper price. I am willing to bet the meat from the 1lb of boneless wing sis more than the meat from the 10 bone-in wings. While Nina’s doesn’t have a wing night, keep an eye on their social media as it seems every once in a while they post about a $5 Boneless night. From what I saw, these seem random, but if I’m wrong, please correct me. Also, it doesn’t hurt to follow their Facebook page in general as they are always doing some sort of free wing giveaway

  
  Wing Flavors: 5
  

  There’s nothing too outlandish at Nina’s when it comes to wing flavors. They’re mostly known for their Hot and Mild, and I bet that is the vast majority of their sales, so I have a feeling they aren’t too eager to venture outside what sells. Personally, I would like more variety. I do like the Cajun, Caesar, and Garlic Parm options on the menu, but I think most people are happy enough with their Hot and Mild options

  
  Wing Taste (x2): 7
  

  I’ve had Nina’s wings in the past before – mostly as sloppy seconds from a friend who didn’t finish their full Bites order. I wasn’t impressed, but I have a feeling this was due to eating some cold or slightly reheated leftover wings. This wasn’t fair to Nina’s, so I placed a fresh order of the Hot bites and an order of bone-in Buffalo Garlic Parmesan. The bites came quickly, well before the bone-in wings. They are smaller bites, think of something like popcorn chicken, with a thin, breaded, crispy coating filled with juicy white meat. The bites were swimming in a Hot sauce that had only a bit of spicy heat to it. There was also a hint of sweetness, which I feel like is a signature flavor for Nina’s wings. I was happy with the vinegar and butter balance in the hot sauce. In fact, I enjoyed the Hot bites quite a bit. The Buffalo Garlic Parmesan came out shortly after and they were also swimming in sauce. The sauce has the same Hot base with chunks of cut-up Garlic and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese added. I saw the Parmesan and Garlic, but I didn’t get them too much in the flavor. I think the Hot base just kind of overpowered the other flavors. Plus, the wings had a subtle taste of old oil to them. These wings just didn’t do it for me. If I were to order again, I would get a single order of the Hot bites and leave feeling full and happy

  Serniak's Rating: 34 out of 50

  Environment: 8
  

  Nina’s is a place that we’ve been asked to do for a while. I’ve had their wing bites a few times in my life, but that was for pleasure. This encounter was for business purposes only.

  We went to the Dunmore location, which is extremely close to Scranton. There are three other locations that you’ll find Nina’s and they are Blakely, South Abington and Carbondale. It’s pretty cool that Nina’s has succeeded to the point that they can have that many locations. They also have their bite-mobile that they drive around and serve food out of as well.

  Nina’s in Dunmore is not the kind of place you’re going to go to and have a drink after a day of work while you have dinner. They don’t serve alcohol and to be honest, the place seems more of a takeout kind of place. That’s not to say that they don’t have tables and bar/counter to sit at. They do. I’m just saying that I bet the majority of their business comes from takeout. The place was very clean and had a nice wholesome vibe to it. It had the vibe of a one of those diners that the same crop of people go everyday and and everyone knows everything about everybody. Just super friendly about everything.

  The servers were these two girls who were very nice, personable and had a good sense of humor.

  We ordered bites and bone in wings. The bone in wings took longer so they brought out the wing bites before hand. That was nice because the bites were basically an appetizer to wings. Can’t go wrong with that.

  
  Wing Size: 6
  

  There is no wing night to be had at Nina’s. For there bites, it’s $7.75 for a pound and their bone in wings are $8 for 10. I wish that a place none for their wing related items would have a wing night, but sadly, they don’t. But, the size of their bites and wings are very good. Excellent cuts of meat for their bites, that were cooked very well. Their wings were also very large. I got 10 of them and they were a struggle to finish after consuming all the bites.

  
  Wing Flavors: 6
  

  I also would rather if Nina’s had more flavors than the 7 they have. But, they’ve been doing pretty well without having an extensive variety of flavors. The flavors they have hot, mild, bbq, honey mustard, Nina’s Buffalo Garlic Parm, hot Caesar and Cajun. Again, I wish they had more. Just including ranch, something I’m sure they have in the kitchen, would add a ton to what they already have.

  
  Wing Taste (x2): 7
  

  Very solid tasting flavors that I had at Nina’s. Like I said earlier, I got bites and wings. The bites I got were the hot Caesar. They were very good. I really enjoyed the amount of Caesar dressing that were in them. Sometimes, folks don’t put a lot of Caesar in and its not as good. This wasn’t the case. Mixed with their hot, this flavor did everything it needed too. The Cajun, which were regular wings, were also very good. They had a good crisp to them and were loaded with a Cajun spices. Each bite was very flavorful.