Restaurant: The Loading Dock
Location: Dunmore, PA
Date: January 2012
Ordered: 10 Hot Wings, 5 Special Sauce Wings
Price: $6.95 per dozen ($.35 on wing night)
Eat In/Take Out: Eat in
The Loading Dock in Dunmore is a bar and restaurant that is known for one thing - it's famous chicken wings! In recent months, I have heard quite a bit about these famous wings from friends. I also received quite a few email suggestions to try the wings there, so I finally got around to driving to Dunmore and checking this place out. The bar and dining room are relatively small for the large crowds that the place has to accommodate based on strong demand, but I was able to get a table with ease. I happened to strike gold and show up on wing night, which features the unheard of price of $.35 per wing. They have to be taking a loss at this price, and it's important to know that you have to eat your 35 cent wings in the restaurant because you can't take any home.
The wings themselves were pretty big and meaty, which made the 35 cent price that much better of a value. The chicken was fried to crispy perfection without being burned. The sauce was well composed, very flavorful, full-bodied, and overall quite good, except they were a bit sweet for a hot wing in my opinion. I'm pretty sure I'd lose this argument with 90% of NEPA residents if I were to chalk up the sweetness factor to anything other than personal preference so I won't go any further with the flavor. If you've ever had Nance's pre-made mild sauce in the jar, it is pretty close to The Loading Dock's hot sauce. I also tried the "Special Sauce" wings which were VERY sweet, and weren't something I was into, but the sauce was again well composed and I'm pretty certain that a broad spectrum of people would enjoy them!
Sauce Quality: 3.75/5
Proper Amount of Sauce: 4.5/5
Sauce Heat Accuracy: 2/5
Overall Taste: 4/5
Size of Wings: 4.5/5
Crispy/Cooked Properly: 5/5
Overall Value: 5/5
OVERALL RATING: 4.25/5
Sauce Quality: 3.75/5
Bell's is a newcomer to the NEPA food scene, but I've visited nearly a dozen times to order their famous wings and enjoyed them immensely every time. On this Sunday, my friends picked up a few dozen for the big Eagles vs Steelers game and the wings delivered the goods as usual. The sauce is my favorite type, with a blend of Franks Red Hot, Butter, and possibly a little tomato to add body. I wouldn't speculate what the real recipe is, but I will tell you it's among the best in the area. I might add that the sauce is incredibly flavorful without killing you with heat. I personally enjoy spicy foods, but I am amazed at how flavorful, vibrant, and full-bodied the mild sauce is. Where many mild sauces just add more butter or tomato to tame the heat, this sauce is meticulously reformulated to stand on it's own. If you are familiar with Kelly's wings in South Scranton, it's probably the closest comparison I can make. I would HIGHLY recommend you get to Factoryville and grab a dozen of these chicken wings as I guarantee you will not disappointed!!!
I visited Salerno's Cafe based on a poll on my NEPApizzareview website and thought I would piggy back the review and order some wings to go with my pizza. I found the wings to be very lacking in flavor as the sauce was overly simplistic and thin. They were at least crispy, but not very meaty at all. Most of the flavor came from the fryer oil, which wasn't very pleasant. If the sauce was considerably thicker and applied more generously, it would be a start to getting these wings moving in the right direction, but they need a lot of help to get into even the average category.
Proper Amount of Sauce:
1/5
