It’s been quite a while since we’ve made a visit to Buddy Clarke’s. In fact, the last time we made a wing stop, they were under different management. Since the new management came in, which I believe has already been a couple years, the place has been modernized while still having some of the same feel of the original Buddy Clarke’s. There is a long bar with plenty of seats, a good amount of bar height tables across from the bar, and a couple options for sit-down tables as well. While the places wasn’t packed during out visit, they had a good showing for their Tuesdays wing night. We opted for the bar this visit. If you’re into craft beers, they offer some good options that will be sure to catch your fancy. Our bartender was very friendly and quick with service as well. Plus our food came out relatively quickly. In the end, it was an overall great experience during our visit.
Unfortunately, I didn’t capture a picture of their everyday menu to see the normal wing prices. On Facebook, they do have an updated menu (as of 4/3/24), but no prices. On their website, they list the wings at 10.50 for an order of 10. I feel like that is outdated because on our visit for wing night, they were offering wings at $1.10 each. For those who are not the greatest at math, that comes out to $11 for 10. It’d be a very interesting strategy to have a a more expensive wing night. Perhaps you’re paying more for the convenience of order a smaller volume of wings, but I doubt that’s the case. Regardless, $1.10 per wing is one of the most expensive wing nights we’ve seen. Additionally, most of my wings were below average in size.
I was torn on what to rate the flavor options for Buddy Clarke’s. On one hand, they don’t have a huge selection. On the other hand, the options to do provide are pretty unique and a bit outside the box. While they do offer your usual Mild and Hot, it seems most of their other flavors have a bit of a twist. For example, instead of BBQ sauce, it’s a BBQ dry rub. In fact, they offer a lot of varieties of BBQ, such as Jerk, which is a Spicy BBQ, and a Dirty Honey BBQ. I’m a sucker for an Old bay wing, so I was happy to see Crabby on the menu. And I knew once I saw that Nashville Hot, that was going to be one of my options.
As a whole, all the wings I ordered were cooked great, They had a nice fried crispness that made each bite enjoyable. My first order that I sunk my teeth into was Crabby. I really liked that the Old Bay wasn’t a dry rub and was mixed into a dark red, hot sauce base. They had a good buffalo flavor with a decent old bay spice flavor. The Buffalo Garlic Parm were delicious. They also had that dark red hot sauce base mixed with a great balance of the garlic and Parm flavor. I really enjoyed these wings. Finally, my favorite wing of the bunch, was the Nashville Hot. It was a sticky, spicy, dark sauce popping with lots of flavor. It had a slight brown sugar sweetness mixed with a really enjoyable spice that was not overpowering. I highly recommend these wings. If you look for a cheap wing for wing night, this is not the place for you, but if you look beyond that, you’re in for a treat with some delicious wings.
One of the first places we, your NEPA Wingmen ever went to, was Buddy Clarke’s. Without doing any research, I think that was about 8-9 years ago. Things have changed since then. We now have AI, which has presented the very real possibility that our days are numbered and that we will be conquered by our metal overlords, roughly 50 World War 3s have begun, and Buddy Clarke’s got a massive facelift.
I don’t know when they revamped the place but man alive they did a good job giving the place a boost without axing what makes the place great, and that is the ultimate corner bar. It’s my favorite quality about Buddy Clarke’s: when I walk in there I feel a very relaxed vibe. A vibe that says “Take a seat, hang out, watch the game, and shoot the shit about anything.” I know that’s a bit cliche but it’s the absolute truth when it comes to Buddy Clarke’s.
The inside houses some tables but many. But, they do have about a 50ft bar top attached to the wall that you can do everything you need. There’s also a massive bar that will easily accommodate you. I really think Buddy Clarke’s houses one of the best literal bars in the area. It has a classic setup that’s equipped with several TVs that give the chance to get a wide range of drinks.
Our bartender was very diligent, knowledgeable, and added some excellent conversation as we dined. The guy was a real pros pro of a bartender.
I knew it was going to be a good time when we got there because the door was open due to it being a nice day. When the door is open of any bar, it’s 100% going to be a good time.
I’m giving 6 here. Might seem low but when it’s wing night and wings are $1.10 a wing and they’re only, at best, medium size, that’s what score I’m giving.
I’ve said this before; I don’t run a restaurant thus I don’t buy any inventory from companies that supply me with food. So, I don’t exactly know what goes into everything that makes up why some places choose their prices. What I do know is that some places are much less per wing than others and we document that here.
I also understand inflation affects everyone and everything. I get all that.
I got 20 wings and I walked away full. I imagine most would as well.
I love the uniqueness of the variety of wings at Buddy Clarke’s. You can get all the standard wing flavors, but you get them in an interesting and thought-provoking way.
For example, it’s not just BBQ it’s Jerk, Dirty Honey BBQ. It’s not just hot ranch, it’s hot honey ranch. Little things like that go a long way with me.
There are also solid additions such as Spicy Korean, Nashville hot, and Porketta.
I feel like the wings at Buddy Clarke’s at some point in the cooking process grilled. I say this because they had an excellent char on them.
First was the hot and they had a wonderful flavor to them. They had some spice, nothing too wild. But they were more tasty than they were hot.
Next was the spicy Korean. These were loaded with a BBQ sauce. But, like in the name, they had chili notes that brought good spice. Again, nothing at all overpowering. Just good all-around taste.
Moving on to the Jerk BBQ. Loved this sauce. Maybe because I went to Jamaica for my honeymoon but I can’t get enough jerk sauce and jerk rubs. This sauce had all the jerk notes and spices you’d expect. Adding the char from the grill and this was a stellar combo.
Lastly was the porketta dry rub. What I enjoyed the most was that though it was a dry rub the wings weren’t simply dusted with the dry rub and bites were literally dry. There was a moistness that covered the wing and then the dry rub was applied and it was terrific. I think you need that slight wetness when it comes to dry rubs. To me, it enhances the flavor and in this case, the Porketta run was caked on. That’s the way to do a dry-rub.
