Buffalo Soldier: Wing Off #2

Your very own Buffalo Soldier is a product of Buffalo, New York, the home of abandoned factories, national sports teams who seem to have a stranglehold on the “runner up” category, and perhaps most notably, the very place where Buffalo wings were invented: at the fabulously divey Anchor Bar.

My quest for a little slice of home in Park Slope is something I don’t take lightly, so here's the second edition of wing offs as I eat my way through the Slope looking for the best of Buffalo.

In my first review, everyone said that Bonnie's was the ultimate place to go for wings. So it's a tall order for the Wings Sampler Platter at 200 Fifth to beat—can they do it? Do you care? Whatever.

Bonnie's Grill (278 Fifth Ave. between 1st Street and Garfield Ave.):
Owned and operated by Western New York natives, it's to be expected that Bonnie's would get wings right--and they didn't disappoint. The wings were medium-sized, but crispy. One of my main gripes about douchebags who masquerade as people who know how to cook wings, is that they douse them in hot sauce and then just call it a day. They figure that your mouth will be on fire and your eyes will be watering so much, you'll forget that you're eating second-rate wings. Bonnie's gets a "mild" order right—flavorful, but not too spicy.

200 Fifth (200 Fifth Ave. between Union St. and Sackett Pl.):
While 200 Fifth seems to be a little confused about what they are (they look like a sports bar but have a menu whose prices and entrees look like they want to be something more upscale), they get their wings right. My Penne Arugala was pretty bad (the menu boasted that it was cooked with shrimp and scallops—a bowl full of chewy mini shrimp and tiny diver scallops is what I got), but the Wings Sampler appetizer was outstanding. For $14.95 you get 16 wings, in four different flavors and styles. It was served with the standard Buffalo style wings, honey BBQ, Southern style (marinated in fresh garlic and crushed red pepper), and the restaurant's signature 200 Fifth wings (breaded and fried). All were crispy and flavorful and really ran the gamut of flavor combinations.

So who's the winner here?

Despite the outrage that this is going to cause from a posse already hateful and hungry FIPS readers, I can't declare Bonnie's the outright winner in this competition.

This one's a tie. Bonnie's is great for traditional wings, but 200 Fifth wins points for serving great wings with a creative twist.