Last night, following a suggestion by reader Dave under a post asking for the best places for hot wings, my wife, Art and I headed down to Babe’s Music Bar in Lakeville for their happy hour wing special. Art and I are prepping for the Ghost Wing Challenge in two weeks (if anyone is interested in attending for support or to compete, please let me know!) and we are trying to get our palettes used to the spicier things in life. As such, we’re on tour of any restaurant around town that will satisfy our cravings for the hottest of the hot. Anything we can do to get ready for a tongue burning experience which could cause us some discomfort is good enough for us.
We walked in at about 6 and found the available seats in the restaurants full. They had removed most of the tables and chairs, including those at the bar, due to the upcoming Pan-O-Prog event and live music they were having because (according to the waitress and I hope she was joking) people like to throw chairs and it’s better that they just take them out. As such we had to wait for a seat and we finally slid into a booth at about 6:30.
I already knew what I wanted but I took a look at the menu and found it to be a nice mix of foods that seemed worthy of a second look on a different day. When the waitress came to take our orders, we all picked up a variety of wings ranging from plain old Buffalo to “Carolina BBQ”. I had been looking forward to the “Atomic” wings all day and of course I ordered half of mine that way. My wife also picked up some mozzarella sticks and onion straws.
Now, while the place was crowded, there were plenty of staff members on hand wandering around and they were missing what I assume was the majority of their seats. You’d figure with that type of setup that service would be fast. Unfortunately, on this night, we found the opposite to be true. Our meals took a long time to arrive and our check even longer. I appreciate giving people time to enjoy their meal and pay at their own pace but last night’s slow service was a bit on the poky for my tastes.
The wings arrived and my order was mixed up with Art’s. He got more wings of his type than I got of mine. I started with the jerk wings and found them almost tasteless. The wings were large and meaty but the sauce wasn’t all that great. I’m all about jerk that’s not the slightest bit spicy but these just tasted like chicken with goop. Art had already sunk his teeth into the “Atomic” wings and said they weren’t hot at all. I stared at him blankly and thought to myself, “no way,” but sure enough, he was absolutely right. These weren’t even remotely spicy nor were they very good. Similar to the tasteless jerk wings, these were saucy but carried no discernable flavor. In fact, after eating all of them I finally decided that the “Atomic” wings were probably Tabasco with butter and one or two red pepper flakes per wing. Not exactly what I was expecting for something that I assumed to be “hot”. Now, everyone knows that I drink Frank’s straight from the bottle as if it were candy. I also enjoy making myself pour sweat and feel lightheaded when I eat something spicy. I have mentioned before that the only way for Sriracha to be hot is for me to eat half the bottle in one sitting. With that I asked my wife to eat some and tell me what she thought. She’s not into hot stuff and routinely orders her wings mild. She admitted that she would rate the “Atomic” wings as nothing more than medium. If that doesn’t tell you something, I don’t know what does.
At the end of the day we ended up paying $26 for two beers, 24 wings, onion straws, and mozzarella sticks. Definitely an inexpensive dinner for us and one that I’m hoping would have been better on another night but one that I really have to say was a major letdown in our quest to prep for the Ghost Wing Challenge.
I know that a couple of you have eaten at Babe’s and even recommended their wings. I’d really like to hear what you have to say about their food. Was this an isolated incident? Are the wings usually just chicken with thick sauces and little flavor or were they just having an off night as they prepared for their own festivities tomorrow? What about Babe’s other offerings? Is it worth going in there for a burger, a sandwich, or possibly their ribs? Whatever you think, go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear what you have to say.
Address:
Babe’s
20685 Holyoke Ave
Lakeville, MN 55044-9639
Phone:
952-469-5200
Hours:
11 AM – 2 AM 7 Days
See all the pictures from Babe’s in Lakeville on Flickr here.
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July 10th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Gotta Love the WAIVER: I understand that Ghost Wings are extremely spicy hot. Good hot wings always burn twice. Girvan Grille is not responsible for next day discomfort. Girvan Grille is not responsible for all other wings tasting bland and lifeless after consuming our Ghost Wings.
Let us know the day and time and will see if it works for the trek to Brooklyn Park.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:09 am
In my defense, I did tell you that the “Atomic” wings would not be hot enough for you. Although it does sound like you had a different experience than I did. Mine were nicely fried and although they were floating in sauce, they stayed pretty crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Not the best I’d ever had, but better than BWW in my opinion.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Dave, you never had a chance. The wings in the picture certainly look good, and maybe they were having a bad night, but I would NEVER recommend anything hot to Bill unless I watched them dump acid or something in it myself before they fed it to him.
I think from a Culinary perspective Bill probably has burned portions of his taste buds to the point he will never recover.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:16 am
/\ LOL
July 10th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Try the wings at Pepitos (48th and Chicago Ave So.) — awesome!!!!
July 10th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
1. You did and I’m not blaming anyone except the cooks for what we experienced yesterday.
2. They weren’t even “hot” for my wife and believe me, she’s into the mild wings.
3. Yes, it was obviously a much different experience and I’m sure that it wouldn’t be the same if we went back in again on another day but I honestly have too many other places to try in the mean time :-)
That all said, it was a great deal (with beers?!) and was just a few dollars more than our lunch buffet today at Sambol with only water!
July 10th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
The first bio in the Girvan Grill link says “the hardest part of the challenge was being unable to clean the heat from your face…”.
What does that mean? You can’t wipe your face with a napkin? That is a must for me – even more so than any accompanying beverage.
July 10th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Yeah, I don’t know what the fuck that person is talking about as that isn’t listed in the rules.
July 10th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Babe’s might not be the place to go for wings, but the happy hour app specials are great. We take the kids there every once in a while and order 3-4 different apps for the family to share. Makes for a very inexpensive night out. Next time you go, try the ribs or the “magna” fries.
July 10th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Dave, thanks for the recommendations. I can definitely see us returning again when their seating returns to normal :-)
July 10th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
can’t trust the pallets of the palletless… :)
i hear greenmill has great wings. i used to like awada’s. not sure if that’s around anymore, but trucadero’s (or whatever it’s call) has these southern style friend chicken wings. not super hot at all, but very flavorful and unique.
July 10th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
My husband and I have eaten at Babe’s and I agree that the wings aren’t the best. But I agree with Dave on the recommendation of the ribs and Magna Fries. Both were good when we were there last.
July 10th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
In Bill’s defense, while we went in with high expectations for the atomic wings, we weren’t being unrealistic. I think either of us would have cut Babes a break if there had been *any* heat at all in the wings. There just wasn’t. That was disappointing for so-called “atomic” wings. On the plus side, the onion straws I had were good. I also agree with Bill that the jerk and Carolina BBQ wings lacked flavor, though they were big and meaty. They didn’t seem to lack sauce, it was just that the sauce didn’t pack very much flavor. Maybe Babes was having an off night. I’d be willing to give them another shot if I were in the neighborhood, but I would steer clear of the wings. Maybe. Probably. I think.
July 13th, 2009 at 10:36 am
I have to agree with all the other posts so far, the wings are not the greatest. I would recommend going to Babe’s on Wednesday when they have their all you can eat ribs. The meat falls right off the bone and for the price, it is a great deal.
On another note, avoid Babe’s for lunch. I never have any luck with the service and once I had to wait 30 minutes to put in an order.
July 14th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I have been drawn in by the description of the Atomic wings and the presentation when seeing some passed around on neighboring tables and also walked away disappointed. The sauce is not ‘hot’ by even my 10 year old’s definition and both times I tried it, it had a gritty texture that was unsettling. Service is always spotty at best.
Looking for spicy? Check out the Lone Spur Grill in Minnetonka and order up the Coyote Wings (tell the waiter not to skimp on the sauce).
July 14th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Chad M., I have changed your “username” to avoid confusion with another prolific poster who goes by “Chad”.
Here’s the menu for the Lone Spur Grill which talks about their Coyote wings: http://www.twincitiesdiningguide.com/pages/LoneSpurGrillMenu2.asp
Thanks for that, I will definitely try them when I get a chance.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Despite growing up in Lakeville, I’ve never been to Babe’s. My brother worked there for a summer as a dishwasher in the early 90′s, though.
When I worked for the Parks department for a couple of summers later in the decade, it was the after-work hangout for quite a few city employees. Though with it being the only bar in town back then besides Ole Piper (well, not counting the Legion or the bowling alley), it wasn’t surprising.
December 21st, 2009 at 6:40 am
[...] of the sauces going into this especially after our lackluster experience at sister restaurant Babe’s in Lakeville (they are owned by the same guy along with 4 other places) so we were apprehensive when the wings [...]
December 31st, 2009 at 10:48 am
[...] Dogs 13. Suzie’s Kitchen 14. Molly Cool’s 15. Pilot Knob Pizzeria 16. Cam Ranh Bay 17. Babe’s 18. Ansari’s Mediterranean Grill and Lounge 19. Anthony’s Parkway [...]
February 14th, 2010 at 9:25 am
I have eaten at babes a couple of times, worst food ever. twice i ordered wings, first time they tasted more like fish than chicken (am assuming same oil was used), second time they were cold, not luke warm, but cold like out of the fridge, when I told the waitress she became very defensive and told me that she didn’t cook them….duh.
Good place to drink, horrible place to eat.