Barely acceptable locations: Columbus, Ohio
Valley View (Cleveland), OH
Bad locations: Milford, OH (Cincinnati) Dayton, OH
Knoxville, TN
Worst location: PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA
In November of 2007, QS&L has drifted further and further into mediocrity in
Valley View (Cleveland), OH. We had the displeasure of having the short
portioned salad with only half a plate of lettuce, just before the "early"
fries, which were delivered 10 minutes before the wings. The wings were so
large that 14 minutes of cooking did not yield extra crisp wings. We are
now about one visit away from condeming the Valley View location.
We visited QS&L in Columbus and Cleveland in October of 2007 and found both
to be barely acceptable. You have to do a lot of coaching to get a decent
product. They don't understand the definition of extra crispy any more.
Tell them you want the wings cooked for 14 minutes, and they will be about
right. The fries are still out of this world when they are done right.
The Suicide sauce is still to die for. You can still get a decent meal,
but it will take some work on your part.
We visited the Quaker Steak & Lube at
PNC Park in Pittsburgh, home of the Pittsburg Pirates. We arrived at the
ballpark with much anticipation, as we have always loved the Quaker Steak
concept from our initial discovery in 2004. The Pirates were hosting the
Chicago Cubs, and we were certain that we would not only enjoy the ballgame, but
would host some serious hot wings in our belly before the night was over.
We called ahead of time, just to be certain that the concept integrity would
be preserved at this location. We remember from many years ago when
Wingazette® Magazine issued a warning after sampling wings at the
Omni in Atlanta – never order wings in a place that has seating for over
16,000. PNC Park in Pittsburg had a crowd of 19,701 during our visit, and
probably has seating for twice that many – so call us dumb for even trying this
evaluation. Since there was not a listing in the phone book for Quaker Steak &
Lube at PNC Park, we called a nearby location to inquire about the ballpark
location. “Yes, they have all the flavors of sauces at the ballpark,” the
courteous young woman proudly stated. That’s all we needed to hear, as we
headed out in anticipation of some Suicide wings and a cup of Atomic dipping
sauce just to add some injury to the insult of our taste buds.
We arrived on a beautiful May evening at the loveliest ballpark that anybody
could possibly imagine. What a beautiful view of the Pittsburgh skyline! The
topiary of “Pirates” in the outfield has to be seen to fully appreciated. The
grass was spectacular, and the anticipation of baseball and great hot wings was
in the air. We started looking for the Quaker Steak & Lube.
After a few minutes of searching, we found the location. We studied the
menu board, and with a sinking feeling in our stomachs, we notice there were
only six flavors listed on the board, with the hottest of those being “hot”. We
approached the counter with some caution, as we started to feel that there might
be a disconnect with this location and the real Quaker Steak concept.
“Do you cook all of your wings to order?” was our first question. “Oh,
yes!” replied our server, failing to glance over her shoulder to see the 24
orders of pre-cooked, pre-packaged wings going stale in the holding bin. “Do
you have all the flavors?” was our next question. “Oh, yes!” replied our server,
although the other kid behind the counter was quick to reply – “we just have the
flavors listed on the menu board.” We should have known to have walked away,
gotten the standard hot dogs that had been on the rollers since 3PM – loaded
those bad boys with mustard and onions, and suffered through the typical
ballpark experience for a mere $8.
“OK, so you don’t have the flavors we are looking for, we’re so anxious to
have some wings that we’d like to get your hot wings, freshly cooked along with
some onion rings and a beer.” It was at this time that we found out that this
location doesn’t take credit cards. Now it’s REALLY our fault –
we should have known to walk away.
We didn’t.
After waiting for a mere 8 minutes, after having paid $40 cash and emptying
our wallet (literally), we were served the par-cooked wings (remember, we
ordered freshly cooked) and waited a few more minutes for the onion rings. At
least they were fresh.
The wings sucked. They were all wingettes (probably our fault for asking
for the smallest wings possible – a mistake – since they were all almost 4
inches in length – gargantuan by any standard) which increased our indigestion
and reduced our satisfaction rating even more. One of our observers noted that Domino’s
wings were hotter and spicier than these pieces of crap. Having paid our $40
and being a captive audience, we suffered through the gummy, fatty, greasy,
tasteless pieces of goo, and then slummed off to our seats to see the Pirates
act like Pirates and blow a 3-2 lead in the 9th inning, only to loose
to the Cubs 4-3.
We plan on contacting Quaker Steak & Lube to complain about our experience.
How they handle the complaint will determine whether or not we will give them a
chance to remain as highly rated on the Great
Wing Pyramid as they are today.
Now comes the question…do we try to visit a real Quaker Steak & Lube to get
the bad taste of the ballpark wings out of our mouth…or do we quit while we’re
way behind?
Stay tuned…
Editor's Note: We happened to visit the Quaker Steak & Lube near the
Pittsburg airport the following evening and had the best experience ever!
Boy, are we going to pay for these in the morning...
Home Wingazette®
Today Recent
Reviews