Paradise Park – Buffalo Wings [QUARANTINE EDITION]

Non-Ranking Info:

• Price/Wing: $1.33/wing at 9 (WTF?) wings
• Drum/Flat Ratio: 1:1
• Heat Level: Par
• Flavor Type: Buffalo
• Dry Rub or Sauce: Sauce
• Side of River: North Side
• Neighborhood: Wicker Park

I am not going to lie I was nervous when unboxing these wings. I had no idea what to expect. Here I am, alone in my apartment, about to do my first wing review of an actual Chicago establishment, and I’m sweating like a whore in church. We’re not talking about just any old Chicago establishment, we’re talking about Paradise Park of the Happy Camper group. That’s a heavy hitter.

Here we go:

A sigh of relief as I bite into my first drum. The weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. Inspiration move me brightly and light my world with sense and color! The fear of being forced to publicly shame Paradise Park for having subpar wings has abated.

The first thing you notice about these wings is that there was some actual thought put into them. A little bit of love. A little bit of passion for God’s sake! An actual human being (and not some corporate frauds from a shithole like Wingstop) actually made some strategic cooking decisions when designing the menu.

There’s something different about these wings. They do appear to have what I think are some nice grill marks on them if you look closely. And the wings have a darker tinge to them too. Possibly multiple rounds of saucing? Either way – a nice touch.

These wings could have used a little more sauce in my opinion. But I didn’t feel like there was any gross mismanagement in regards to the saucing operation. I’m always one for erring on the side of more sauce though.

The quantity threw me off – I got 9 wings. And it never specified on UberEats what the quantity was so I was kind of rolling the dice. So if it was a situation where I was supposed to get 8 and they hooked me up, props to the kitchen staff. But if I was supposed to get 10, which is closer to a standard wing order size, did I get completely bamboozled here?

Times are tough. I won’t hold it against them.

I’m giving these wings an 84%, solid B. Did I get absolutely launched into flavorown? No. But are these respectable wings that someone put a little unique twist on and has some pride in? Yes. B. Good job.

The wings came with a side of ranch instead of bleu cheese. I’m a big believer in ordering both ranch and bleu cheese (it’s a free country don’t ever feel like you need to pick just one or the other like a sheep). But I would have preferred bleu cheese.

Bleu cheese = main bitch. Ranch = mistress. There is still a pecking order.

The ranch they delivered had a unique almost smokey flavor to it. It was different but I still liked it. Solid ranch.

Overall these are good wings. For a place that’s mostly focused on putting out food so it looks good on Becky’s Instagram I was pleasantly surprised. I could see these wings pairing well with a nice Black Cherry Whiteclaw and with the sound of a group of six 24-year-old white girls wearing black leggings, white Adidas, and jean jackets scream-singing happy birthday to one of their besties at the table next to me.

Dammit! I need bars back in my life so bad.

But I digress..

I don’t get the sense that Paradise Park is in the business of doing bulk wing orders so maybe don’t plan on dialing up the phone to call them for your Superbowl order. But if you’re looking for some good wings you’re not going to go wrong strolling into Paradise Park on a nice summer day. Order yourself a nice cold Miller Lite, a basket of wings, and sit back and watch the Instagrammers.

See you post-QT Paradise Park.