Gloucester Township Food Tour: Wings

Last week, when I wrote my first wing review, of Riley's Pub at Valleybrook, I wrote the following: 

The first win for these wings was that the sauce was fried into each wing. It's a total violation when the wing has to be dipped into the sauce. If a place can't figure out how to adequately distribute its sauce onto an order of wings, shame on them. And it happens more frequently than you'd think. You know I'm right. How often do you order a batch of wings that are dry, or even worse, drenched in Buffalo sauce, leaving your order soggy and inedible?

So, needless to say, I'm a proponent of wings that come with sauce on them, not with a puddle under them. This is exactly why I was initially disappointed when I received my order from Mario's Pizzeria during last night's Eagles game and saw that the order of 20 wings came with sauce on the side.

Frankly, I needed Mario's to be a home run—a clear-cut must-have when it comes to wings.

Thus far, nary a bar or pizza place in Gloucester Township has matched what are my apparent unreasonable expectations. Thus far, there’s been no obvious choice for the best wings in Gloucester Township. Thus far, not only have I consumed what has to be an unhealthy amount of wings and calories, I don’t even have a winner to show for it.

But I digress.

As for the wings from Mario’s, aside from the fact that the sauce came on the side, I was pleasantly surprised. The wings were crispy, but not overcooked, and once I worked each wing through the sauce and capped them off with a touch of blue cheese, I found the order to be quite good.

The hot sauce had some bite to it, but wasn’t impossible nor did it require five drinks to consume.

Perhaps the best thing I can say for this order of 20 wings is that by the time I finished my share from the 20 divided among myself and two friends, I wished we had ordered more.

In the end, though, while Mario’s offers up a solid wing option, it’s only that—solid. Certainly, these wings were better than some of the others I sampled over the last two weeks, but they were far from legendary. I was disappointed to conclude no wing I consumed was that much-needed home run.

If I had to make a selection based on the places I went, I’d have to give the nod to Antonino’s, albeit an unconvincing nod. Still, I’m hesitant to hoist the lofty title of “Best Wings in Gloucester Township” upon Antonino’s. So I won’t.

When it comes to the best wings in Gloucester Township, it looks like you are going to have to find a different opinion because I’ve yet to come across them.