Quaker Steak and Lube
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Quaker Steak Podcast - 04/29/14
We’ve got the Quaker Steak Podcast posted for you. I know what you’re thinking, “This place is a chain, how does it deserve to be on the list.” Well, bring a wing buffet into the equation and you will begin to understand. Head on over to the Quaker Steak Review page to see our written reviews from the past. Also, you can listen to the podcast below or search The Wing Men on iTunes.
Quaker Steak and Lube - 04/29/14
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Quaker Steak and Lube 2nd Visit
Overall Rating: 71
Lynch SerniakLynch's Rating: 36 out of 50
Environment: 8
Quaker Steak is a chain restaurant, which I’m prone to not like as much, but what it does, it does well. They have a buffet for their wing night. They give you a wristband and let you go to town. Not every flavor of wing is at the buffet, but you can place an order with your waitress for any wing on the menu. They also have other appetizers at the buffet like chili, French fries, pita bread, and broccoli and cheese. It has a real menagerie of options. The overall ambiance of the place is supposed to give off the vibe of a biker hangout. People who like NASCAR and Harleys would go bananas here. It is a nice restaurant though, with seating outside for those warm days. With a buffet, you don’t get too much feel for service, but our waitress had a waitress in training tagging along with her. Together, they did a decent job. There was one time though where we placed an order for wings not on the buffet, and it took quite a while to get. If you only use the buffet, you can get your wings as you please, except sometimes you get stuff that has been sitting there a while.
Wing Size: 4
You would think a place with a wing buffet should get a high score for size, but let me try to explain my score. Yes, you could technically eat an infinite amount of wings, but I’m a skinny dude. At 14 dollars for the buffet, that means I would have to eat 28 wings for the price per wing to be $0.50 cents, which is a pretty high amount of wings. I would say I ate closer to 20 wings, which would put the price around $0.70 cents each. Of course, your mileage will vary, but for me, it is a bit steep. You’re paying more for the options and convenience.
Wing Flavors: 10
If you like a wide variety of wings, this is the place for you. Take a look at their menu online; they are bound to have something unique that catches your eye. The menu lists all the wings in a great way too. It has all the flavors in level of hotness. I like the way it’s set up so you can eat the wings you enjoy at the level of hotness you prefer.
Wing Taste (x2): 7
I’m not going to list what wings I ate, because I had a huge variety, but I will describe the highlights. The menu provides a good description of the wing. Parmesan Pepper is a good butter-parm wing with a strong taste of freshly ground pepper. The parm on these wings do not come out to strong, but it is still an enjoyable taste. I always have such high hopes for the Thai ’R’ Cracker, but I’m ultimately let down. You’re expecting a nice sweet and spicy, but it ends up being a more bland wing. It’s interesting, because the Thaisian is a mixture of the Thai ‘R’ Cracker and Asian Sesame, and it is one of my favorite wings there. It is a sweeter sauce, but is delicious, especially on the boneless wings. The fiery BBQ were not that impressive. The Louisiana Lickers are another wing I have high hopes for, but always let down. They don’t have a very strong flavor. On the other hand, the Arizona Ranch are great. They are another one of my favorite wings at Quaker Steak. One last wing I would like to mention is the Dusted Mango Habanero. I don’t remember this wing being on the menu in the past because I definitely would have ordered it. I am a sucker for habanero and mango. I highly recommend these wings. I was expecting something much spicier, but it ended up being pretty sweet. It still had a great kick to it, but not overwhelming. The dry rub on it really complimented the flavor. Next time I get wings from here, this is a ringer.
Serniak's Rating: 35 out of 50
Environment: 6
Quaker Steak and Lube is the only chain wing place that we have gone to. We actually went there early on last year when we started the Wingmen. The atmosphere at Quaker Steak is one of a few different kinds depending on who you are sitting by. You can either be sitting at the bar, where bar talk would be had or you might be sitting at a table next to a family with kids. Or you might be sitting by guys my own age where the conversations are a little more racy. Overall, I would say you will be in a festive mood when you are there. Our server was training someone to be a server so we expected the trainee to screw up but in fact the server who was doing the server forgot some of the wings we ordered.
Wing Size: 5
I understand you literally can eat as much as you want during the wing buffet. But at 13.99 for the buffet, you would need to eat 28 wings to make it 50 cents a wing. Not a great deal especially when I know that majority would never try and eat that much. The wings themselves are bigger and that somewhat makes up for that.
Wing Flavors: 10
Yes they get a ten. It’s a buffet and they have about 13 or so different boneless and mainly regular style wings. Also, you can get an order of 4 wings of any wings they have from their wing lest. Wings from all ends of flavor spectrum from different types of garlic, ranch bbq and dry rubs are included in the buffet.
Wing Taste (x2): 7
I think a lot people would be surprised at the quality of flavors at Quaker Steak. There are some that aren’t worth your time like Cajun, buckeye bbq and their hot. But they have more that are worth a damn like Arizona Ranch, Golden Garlic, Parmesan Pepper and Thai R Cracker to name a few. One thing that could happen on the buffet, is having wings that have sitting there for far too long. That can happen at any buffet. But with the amount of wings there and the other items that are included on the buffet, I assure you will consistently have good food and wings on your plate.
- Quaker Steak and Lube First Visit