With the re-opening of AJ’s Bar-N-Grill after their recent remodeling, we knew we had to make another visit. Plus, they are under new management, so it’s pretty much a whole new place. The inside is very nice, including a long bar and a good amount of tables for dining. They also have a well-placed pool table on full display for those who into it. I say well-place because I was impressed at how there was plenty of room on all sides without seeming to distract from available seating. AJ’s also has a separate section for live music, which is mainly on the weekend. Be sure to check out their social media for nights when it will be open. We were told the live music section can open up during warmer weather, so it will really be a place to check out. It looked they are still in the process of getting everything set-up as all the TVs were off and not quite hooked up. Once it is all together, it will be a good place to stop in for some good food to watch the games. They are also non-smoking now, but do have a back room for those who want their nicotine fix, including a couple skill games to pass the time. It’s a smaller room, so it’s not a place to hang out on much, plus where we were sitting, we were still getting hints of cigarette smoke. On our visit, we had a new waitress who I thought was doing a great job with it being one of her first nights. She was willing to answer all our questions on flavors and splitting, and if she didn’t know the answer, she would ask someone more veteran. The service was fast and wings didn’t take long at all. They get a bit of a knock on points because we were told we could split order, which is awesome for trying as many flavors as possible, but we were not told they would be at regular price, which was $7.50 for 5 wings. If we knew that going into it, we would have coordinated our orders differently, especially since we did have some overlap.
When it’s not wing night, the wings are $13.95 for 10. If you want the orders split, base don our experience, you will pay $7.50 for 5. For their wing night, they offer 10 wings for $9. Be careful with splitting on wing night as I call out in the Environment section that splitting does not get reduced on wing night. As a whole, the wings are what you’d expect for wings. They aren’t jumbo wings and they aren’t small, so pretty average. I had no issue taking down all my wings.
AJ’s offers a good variety of flavors, offering the classics you know and love, plus a couple of outside-the-box options for those who are more adventurous. In addition to Mild, Hot, and Honey Mustard, they have some good mixes like Hot Ranch, Hot Bleu, and Ranch Parm. Plus they offer some interesting flavors that caught my eye like Ranch Dill, Teriyaki, and Garbage, which is a mix of a bunch of different sauces. I always love seeing this option on a menu. They also have a flavor called Gravy. We should have asked while we were there what it was. I could go two different ways on this, whether it is more of a tomato based sauce, or truly like a gravy sauce. You’ll just have to order it to find out for yourself and report back to us on Instagram, Facebook, or our Contact Form.
The flavor of the wings is where AJ’s Bar-N-Grill really shines. We got a good variety, and all the flavors were delicious. The Hot Ranch was a great looking creamy, orange sauce. It had a great balance of flavor and was really tasty. Their base Hot sauce is really good, so I think any flavor with the Hot sauce base is going to be solid. For example, I also got the Hot Garlic. This was loaded with garlic, which is more than OK in my book. While the garlic was front and center, there was still that great Hot sauce base – another well-balanced wing. The Ranch Dill was a very thick and creamy, white sauce. It was definitely Ranch forward with that dill flavor on the backend. Finally, it has been a while since I had a Teriyaki wing, so I gave it a go. I was happy I did because it is what I look for in a Teriyaki sauce, with a darker, brown runny sauce with a good kick of saltiness. My only gripe was that maybe the sauce was a bit too runny, so much so that I struggles to get a good coating on the wing. What I did get though was very tasty. Based on my experience at AJ’s, you’re going to struggle to find a wing you won’t enjoy.
Like many of the places we’ve gone to as of late, AJ’s in Carbondale has experienced a big-time makeover since the last time we were here which was about 8 years ago.
They upgraded the entire place. The inside has pretty much new everything which seems to have taken off because everyone in the bar was having a good time. I love going to a place where everyone is in a good mood.
There are TVs on the walls, but none of them were on. I feel like the place is still in the process of remodeling and not every element is 100% up and running.
Our server was very nice and fun to talk to. It was only her 2nd night there and she was getting a feel for the place.
I didn’t go explore myself but I think there’s another room on the other side of the area we sat at and I think that area is a smoking area. The area we sat in was not a smoking area.
There’s a pool table and I thought about putting my quarter down but I didn’t want to mess with those sharks. They were good and I didn’t want the smoke.
What’s going to be fun is when the outdoor patio/venue spot is in full gear when the weather breaks. I feel like AJ’s is going to be a destination spot not just for the locals up North but all surrounding areas because the acts they’re going to get there are going to be good.
Alright here’s the deal with the wing night at AJ’s; first off it’s on a Thursday. Secondly, the wing night price is $9 for 10. But we ended up paying $7.50 for 5 because we wanted to have the 10 wings split into orders of 5s so that we coud get more flavors. Essentially, if you want to get 10 wings on wing night and split them so that you can get 2 flavors in that 10 wings, you’re going to pay more. Not what we want to hear, but it is what it is.
The wings are a pretty good size and have a solid MPB(meat per bite) ratio. There’s bigger and smaller out there so I’d say AJ’s are in the middle of that.
16 flavors are what you can get at AJ’s. They have all the standard ones along with some unique ones such as dill ranch, Oldbay, and Sweet Thai Chili gravy.
The wings have a good amount of crisp but the calling card for these wings is the amount of sauce they put on them. I’m talking saucy wings like you read about(and you are) is what you’re getting here.
First was the hot. They were a very traditional hot sauce. They reminded me of wings from yesteryear. They weren’t overly hot but they had a lot of flavor.
Next was the hot bleu. They were as advertised with sufficient heat and coolness that only a hot bleu sauce can bring. And again, because of the amount of sauce they come with, every bite is epic.
Moving on to the Oldbay. I loved what they did here. Yes, there was a very good amount of seasoning but there was also a faint wetness to them that I crave. I love dry rubs but I also like it when there is a trace amount of butter or whatever making the seasoning get caked onto the wings ensuring that every bite has flavor. That’s what happened here and I’m all for it.
Finally, we had the Garbage wings. Not sure what it is about Carbondale, because the Peanut Bar also has a garbage sauce, but it’s the only area I feel has this Frankenstein of a flavor. You see, the garbage sauce is a concoction of several different sauces coming together to make one all-purpose sauce. Do I know exactly what sauces are involved? No, I don’t. But there is some heat, there’s some creaminess, there’s some tang and when that all comes together it’s a beautiful thing. Make sure you get this one when you go there.
