EDITOR'S NOTE:  It was a sad day in March 2010 when we showed up at Turkey Joe's, only to find a vacant building.  There are no more good buffalo wings in Louisville, Kentucky as we speak.  Thus begins the search for a source for wing perfection in Kentuckiana...

An update from our previous visit: We waited about 2 weeks after our initial visit to conduct a follow-up visit to check on Turkey Joe's progress from the homework assignment we gave them

We were pleased to see that the celery had no knuckle joints on our follow-up visit. That was a clearly defined improvement over the initial visit.  Unfortunately, the other two items have not been addressed.

We placed an order for wings with all "flats" or "flippers" or "wingettes."  We placed another order for all drummettes, and a third order where we did not specify the type of wing.  The all "flats" order contained a 50-50 ratio of both pieces.  The unspecified order had a 39-71% ratio, with "flat" dominating.  The all drums order was correct.

We strongly recommend giving a lot of direction of what type wing pieces you desire, because if you leave it up to Turkey Joe's, there's no telling what you will get.

If you care about your ketchup quality, you'd better bring your own bottle as Turkey Joe's ignored our coaching about Heinz® or Red Gold®, and still has the cheap, low grade GFS ketchup only. 

In spite of their faults, Turkey Joe's remains the best destination in the Midwest for great wings.  We hope to be able to remove the 2 negative comments as soon as Turkey Joe's makes the corrections.  For now, we're saving up our wing splurges for more follow-up assessments.

We recently discovered Turkey Joe’s in Louisville at the intersection of Hurstbourne Lane and Westport Road.  We heard about it on the radio on the Jim Rome show, and decided to check it out in hopes of finding a decent place for wings in Louisville.

Our hunch turned out to be a good one.  Turkey Joe’s is a sports bar with a wide variety of menu items.  The menu includes appetizers, soups & salads, dinners, sides, wraps, sandwiches, smashed sandwiches, gourmet burgers, house made desserts, under 12 kid’s meals, and wings.  We were pleased to see that Turkey Joe’s does not have a pasta salad on the menu, so the Wing General will be pleased.

We placed our order for a 12 piece wings, extra crisp, with fries on the side.  We started our stopwatch and began our investigation of the facility.

The sports bar is equipped with a dining area and a separate bar area.  The dining area seats 32, and the bar seats 20.  Indoor-outdoor carpet blankets the floor.  There are 9 TV screens throughout the facility, so it would be an ideal place to watch a game.  There is a beer special during Louisville and Kentucky basketball games.  AC/DC was blasting “Highway to Hell” as we waited and observed.

Each table had its own roll of paper towels, the mark of a good wing joint.  Turkey Joe’s even had a container of wet naps on each table, an impressive touch.  If you need artificial sweetener, each table has an assortment of Sweet & Low, Splenda and Equal. 

There were 11 different wing sauces to choose from, with a wide variety of flavors.  We settled for “We Double Dare You” on the side.

The wings arrived after a 14 minute wait, and the wait was worth it!  Freshly cooked crisp wings looked up at us from the white paper liner in the traditional red plastic basket.  The aroma of the chicken was marvelous.  We could tell by the texture and aroma that the wings were cooked to perfection.  The sauce was a generous portion in a nice, wide container for dipping.  Swirls of what looked like (and turned out to be) Dave’s Insanity Sauce ran throughout the bowl.

On our first bite, we realized we had arrived at Louisville’s wing mecca.  The sauce continued to capture our interest throughout the meal, as the steam began rising off our domes and tears of delight filled our eyes.  These were the best wings we’ve had, outside of Café Hot Wing 8 in Atlanta.  Although the wings were a little large for our taste, the crispness of the skin made up for the quality deficiency in size. 

One item we discussed with the management was the imbalance of drummettes to wingettes (or flippers).  Our order of 12 wings only had three drummettes.  According to the management, you can get all drummettes at no extra cost if you like.  We like that, but it penalizes the next person ordering if they don’t get the expected 50-50 ratio.  Oh well, next time we’ll pig out on drums and hope that the person behind us has read this review and knows to order all drums.  I guess if you like “the flats” you could order only “flippers” and be perfectly happy.

The fries were equally crisp and delightful.  We ordered ours without any extra seasoning, as they are already seasoned before cooking.  The portion size was just right for our taste.  One item we discussed with the owner was the lack of a brand name ketchup.  Crown Collection Ketchup from Gordon Food Service just doesn’t measure up to the standard we’ve come to expect from Heinz or Red Gold.  We hope to see that corrected before our next visit, or we may be forced to import some of our own.

The celery and blue cheese turned out to be a generous portion of vegetables and milk fat.  We had to ask for it, but the menu states that you get a choice between blue cheese or ranch.  Another item discussed with management was the presence of knuckle joints in the celery.  Again, we expect to see that corrected on our next visit.

Our next visit will certainly come on a Monday or a Wednesday, when the wings are priced at 50 cents apiece.  That represents a savings of 19 cents apiece, or $2.28 on a 12 piece order (more than enough to pay for the fries). 

Turkey Joe’s is the first restaurant we have discovered that has really great wings and ice cream on the menu.  We’ve always wanted to see that, a place where you can pick your poison and get the antidote under the same roof.  Other “Buffalo” variations include a Buffalo Chicken Salad and a Buffalo Chicken Wrap.  Turkey Joe’s original claim to fame is the Almost Famous Fried Turkey Dinner, a large portion of hand carved, deep fried turkey breast, covered in gravy, served with cranberry sauce, with two sides and a hot roll for only $10.99.

Turkey Joe's made a meteoric rise near the top of The Great Wing Pyramid!

We will definitely return to Turkey Joe’s for more We Double Dare You wings.  You should make it a point to visit if you’re ever in the Louisville area.

Home        Wingazette® Today        Recent Reviews