Glory Days Grill

Despite the fact that my aging body doesn't agree with spicy foods anymore there is something about a good buffalo wing that makes me ignore all the future hurt I'm sure to endure. Sure, I'll be waking up around 3AM in the fetal position and popping Tums like there is no tomorrow. But whatever, a heat head has to do what a heat head has to do. And when I'm in the mood for wings one of the first places that pops into my mind is Glory Days Grill. 

Their wings, specifically their hot wings, are spicy pieces of perfection. The wings themselves aren't breaded, but are simple meaty wings fried in a way that leaves the skin crunchy and the meat inside juicy and tender. I hate when I order wings and I get those little wimpy wings with no meat. Glory Days hooks you up with wings from the buffest birds around. 

The sauce on their wings is perfect. They are covered in hot sauce, but you aren't served chicken hot sauce soup. There is a nice burn to the sauce, but it's not the type of burn that has you in tears. Something unique to Glory Days is the jalapenos they serve with their hot wings. The jalapenos seemed like a waste the first time I saw them come out like that, but I learned to love how the juice leaches out on to the wings. The mix between the jalapeno flavor and the wing sauce makes for a unique taste.

And most importantly, they are served with some of the best blue cheese dressing I've ever come across. One of my favorite bites on this planet is dipping a perfectly sauced wing into the dressing only to find a huge chunk of blue cheese mixed in with the creamy dressing. The coming together of the flaming wing sauce and blue cheese is something I would like to live over and over again. 

This weekend when you're friends are wondering where to go for some good wings be sure to check out Glory Days. They never disappoint. 

Price: Average

Recommendation: A great weekend spot to watch a game, grab a beer, and snack on some wings. 

What to Order: I think you know by now. 

The Feisty Goat Pub

I'm just going to come out and say it. The Feisty Goat Pub was a huge letdown for me. They have the word Feisty AND Goat in their name. How can it not be good? Well, let me count the ways.

Once again, Groupon was the reason we ended up visiting this place as neither of us had ever heard of it before. We weren't worried though. With Groupon you either find a diamond in the rough or you're only paying half price for something you're not totally enamored with.

When you walk in you'll notice right away that it's very small and dimly lit. There isn't a whole lot going on by way of decoration. Most disappointingly, they really under deliver on the whole "Feisty Goat" theme. The only thing goat related is a head hanging up behind the bar. Other than that there's nothing goat related and I think they really missed a fun and easy way to market the place within the actual restaurant. Probably my favorite part of the restaurant is the copper bar top they have. It's not something you see every where and is without a doubt the distinguishing mark of The Feisty Goat Pub

But whatever. I like a cool ambiance and all that, but if the food is good that kind of overwrites nearly all other shortcomings when it comes to a restaurant experience. The menu was very small. It was mostly sandwiches and typical pub grub. As much as I wanted to venture off the typical wings as an appetizer path I really didn't have a choice and ended up ordering them anyway.

They weren't bad. The wings came out hot and were nice and meaty, but the sauce tasted very "out of the bottle" and that's never a good thing. In my opinion, if you're going to offer a limited menu you really need to hit a home run with the menu items you do offer. Something as simple as a wing sauce should be executed with a little more pizazz to make it stand out a little more.

For dinner, I decided to go with the burger they referred to as "The Big Goat". Being that this was The Feisty Goat this seemed like it had to be the signature dish of the place. Deana, begrudgingly went with a buffalo chicken sandwich.

The burger wasn't bad at all. You get an 8 ounce Angus burger served on brioche with roasted red pepper, garlic aioli,  melted goat cheese, lettuce and tomato. The only thing I would change about the burger is reducing the size of the red pepper. I love red pepper, but too much totally over powers whatever it is you're eating it with. The goat cheese, though, that was a nice change up to the typical burger.

Deana's buffalo chicken sandwich, on the other hand, was very bland and dry. Again, it was very disappointing to end up with mediocre food when we were almost pigeonholed into choosing the items we chose due to the lack of options.

The worst part of the entire dinner was when I took the first bite of my burger. Just as I bit into it a wave of garbage juice smell shot right up my noise. At first I was a little concerned about what I was eating. As I turned my head to tell Deana about how bad my burger smelled I saw someone from the kitchen dragging a garbage can through the middle of the bar and realized then it wasn't my food that was the issue. Rather, it was the lack of sense by the staff. I don't know the logistics of their building setup, but why they would think its acceptable to drag stinky ass garbage through the bar/restaurant while people are trying to eat is beyond me.

At that point, I had my mind made up that I wouldn't be visiting again anytime soon. The food wasn't all that good, was actually kind of expensive for what they were offering, and call my crazy but I don't want to smell garbage juice while I'm eating.

Price: Expensive for what they offer
Recommendation: I would pass on this place
What to order: The Big Goat

Tilted Kilt

When I tell people that they should visit Tilted Kilt for dinner I always feel like one of those guys who say they have a subscription to Playboy to read the articles. For anyone that hasn't been there Tilted Kilt can be described as a Hooters with class and food that's worth eating. Yes, the waitresses look nice but the food truly is good. And beyond that, their beer selection is top notch when compared to other chain restaurants. Any place that semi-regularly carries Boddingtons Pub Ale on tap gets my full support regardless of the attire the waitresses are wearing.
Deana and I often find ourselves there before we visit the movie theater across the street. The service is quick and even on the busiest of nights they have so much seating that you rarely have to wait. You'll really love the decor inside. The walls are full of cool British knickknacks and there are HD TVs everywhere. And on summer nights there is a pretty significant outdoor section for those that like to people watch.

My go to meal when I visit the Kilt is always the wings with tilted sauce. The wings are always meaty and the sauce is a thicker sauce rather than the thin red hot soup you find at a lot of places. To be honest, I wouldn't go out of my way just for their wings but if you're already in the neighborhood they are more than worthy of your hard earned cash. Deana is big fan of their Sloppy Jane (essentially a Rachael sandwich) and I've had their Irish Dip in the past and it was rather tasty. Word to the wise, though, I'd probably stay away from their pasta dishes.

No, their food isn't going to change the way you view cuisine but the overall experience of visiting this place makes it one of my go to restaurants when I'm feeling lazy about picking somewhere to eat.  Ladies, are you convinced this is a place you could actually walk inside yet? There are pool tables to keep you occupied, dart boards, and I've seen them promote Wii bowling tournaments and things like that in the past as well. One event that had my interested was their beer themed dinners. The one I saw them promoting was a Sierra Nevada dinner that was 4 courses for around $40 and included 4 beers. I would have been all over it had it not been for the fact that Salmon was the main course and I don't eat fish.

If you ever find yourself in White Marsh for a movie or just strolling The Avenue don't be afraid to hop inside Tilted Kilt. It's a good time....I promise.

Price: Average
Recommendation: Nice place to visit while at The Avenue
What to order: Wings with Tilted sauce and a Boddingtons

Dogwatch Tavern

Once again Groupon has helped introduce me to another great restaurant/bar in the Dogwatch Tavern. I'm not sure if they are a new bar (couldn't find anything on their website), but when I originally looked them up on Urbanspoon they were nowhere to be found. If anyone from Dogwatch reads this, you can thank yours truly for getting you added to the site with a free beer. Just kidding......but not really!

We were down there for the O's opening day and by the time the game was over we were quite hungry. Dogwatch came through in a big way. We knew a couple sandwiches wasn't going to be enough to fill us up so we decided to go with what we thought were Honey Mustard wings. They were delicious. I remember both Deana and I thinking at the time that they didn't taste like honey mustard, but we were thrilled with them either way. To us, all we could taste was honey and old bay seasoning. After studying their menu a little more in preperation of writing this post, I'm pretty sure they screwed up our order and gave what is clearly labeled honey/old bay wings on their site and not honey mustard afterall. Best restaurant screw up of all time! The taste was so unique that it has me and Deana dying to go back for round two. Also key to the wing experience was their homemade blue cheese dressing. I'm a fiend for blue cheese and this was as good as it gets. The salty blue cheese was awesome up against the sweet honey.

After indulging in the celestial culinary achievement known as honey/old bay wings it was time for our sandwiches. I decided to go with a cheesesteak while Deana went with a grilled chicken sandwich. Of the two, Deana came out the winner. The chicken sandwich is marinated chicken breast topped with red onion, roasted red peppers, provolone, arugula and lemon-thyme mayo served on toasted Rosemary Foccacia. To put it succinctly....juicy and delicious.

My cheesesteak was okay. It wasn't great. It wasn't terrible. It was kind of dry, but the wings and Deana's chicken sandwich gave me more than enough taste bud pleasure to convince me that I'll be visiting this place again.

Besides the food, this just seemed like a cool place to be. I noticed they were having a contest to win the right to put your name on the back of a bar stool if you could make it to the Dogwatch Tavern 30 days in a row. If you walk into the bar and someone is in your seat you are well within your right to boot them out. That's AWESOME.....and so is Dogwatch Tavern!

Price: Everyday Pub Prices
Recommendation: Next time you're in Fells, this is the place to be.
What to order: Honey/Old Bay Wings and a Chicken sandwich.