While up in Long Island again for yet ANOTHER trip, I was traveling down Main Street in Farmingdale and I started to get an urge for some wings. Could it be that I just passed Croxley’s Ale House and have eaten their wings before? Very possible. But just a couple of doors down was yet another wing joint with a crazy ass sign that read “Wings Over Farmingdale.” So, I parked the car and headed in to see what it was all about.
Wings Over Farmingdale is primarily a take-out joint, from the “Wings Over…” chain, where you can grab your wings and eat them in the comfort of your hotel room (for example). They also have a small area if you wish to dine in, but the chairs were so light and “cost effective,” it felt like they were made of aluminum foil and weren’t that inviting.
Everything here had an aviation theme, hence the name, so I ordered up 7 of the “Cruisin’ Altitude” with their hottest sauce, “Afterburner,” on the side. Now, because I took these to go, I wanted to make sure I tried at least two while I was still there and the food was hot, so I didn’t base my opinion on cold, soggy wings when I got back to my room.
The first thing I noticed when I cracked open the container was an unpleasant odor. I was expecting to find more of a “Happy Buffalo” sauce smell that gets my mouth watering, but this was more of a stinky pepper. Like if you were in pepper school, and there was a pepper that was never talked to and made fun of because of his odor… Yeah… Smells like him.
The wings themselves were huge and the meat was nice and juicy, but the sauce had what tasted like too much crushed red pepper and the overall flavor was extremely poor. When I got back to the hotel, it was just what I expected: cold, flavorless wings. The good news, however, was that the wings were still moist and didn’t dry up like take-out wings tend to do. So, I took this opportunity to taste the dreaded “Afterburner” sauce. This stuff looked like a scary dark cup of matter that took a cool 5 minutes to plop out onto my wing. I’m exaggerating, of course, but that stuff was like tar. I took a bite and tasted the same crushed red pepper taste, but this time joined with an immense heat that was too hot for this wing eater.
Ultimately, the wings at Wings Over Farmingdale were a great size and stayed nice and juicy even on the ride home, but the sauce has GOT to go. It was not enjoyable to smell, let alone eat. A great sauce is key in any Buffalo wing place, especially a take-out joint. Because when you return home with cold wings, it doesn’t matter as much as long as you can drown them in a delicious sauce which this place failed to provide.
Wings Over Farmingdale
221 Main Street
Farmingdale, NY 11735
(516) 756-9464