The Best Chicken Wings #7: St. Louis Bar & Grill

Here's another entry for all you gluttons out there. This is my second wings entry and it was one I was very excited to try. A few days after I posted my All-Stars Wings & Ribs review, stlouisatrium started following me on Twitter. I don't know how they found me, nor did I care. It just seemed like fate and if fate was going to lead me to their delicious wings then so be it. I've never been to St. Louis Bar & Grill before but I do recall these commercials that The Fan 590 used to air a few years ago where St. Louis claimed that through blind taste tests, they have the best wings in Toronto. Needless to say, the hypetrain was going full speed.

I logged into Twitter, holla'd at stlouisatrium and told them I was coming for lunch that day and he replied.


Sweet, they had a promotion too! Fate is one sexy bitch, my friend.

Location: 5/5

The St. Louis Bar & Grill I went to is located inside The Atrium on Bay (I know there's a few of them). The Atrium is across from Eaton Centre and the actual restaurant is right across from Spring Rolls. The location is great. It is basically right in the middle of downtown Toronto and you're pretty much there once you get off at Dundas station. Sure, there may be a few homeless people in the area, but doesn't that give it an authentic St. Louis feel?


Taste: 2/5

I went to St. Louis with two co-workers and the first thing I noticed was that they served Dos Equis. I've never tried Dos Equis before but I'm a sucker for good advertising so we got a bucket. I thought it would taste like Corona, Sol and other similar Mexican beers but it didn't. It was rather crisp, albeit light and went down easy. It's a satisfying patio beer but nothing I would buy for the house. While we were becoming the most interesting men in the world, we took a look at the menus. St. Louis has a total of 13 flavours on their menu (unlike All-Star wings and their billion flavours) and none of them had names that were double entendres! This would make picking a flavour that much easier. We all decided to get a different flavour to get a good idea where their wings were at. We ordered a serving each of Hot & Honey, Hot and Authentic Buffalo.

Hot - This was the flavour I ordered. It wasn't hot at all. They don't even taste like they are meant to be hot. They were just very salty.

Authentic Buffalo - This tasted slightly like the "hot" wings I ordered but with more of a buffalo flavour. They weren't spicy and again was too salty for my liking.

Hot & Honey - Sticking with their theme, this flavour was more sweet than it was hot. Actually, like the other two, it wasn't hot at all. Though the sweet tanginess is what makes this flavour what it is. I thought it was the best of the ones we got.

As for the wings itself. They were a bit small and were dry; almost as if they were overcooked. I was disappointed to say the least.

The saving grace of the visit is the packet of dill sauce they include with your order! I used it for my fries and it was delicious. If you do make the trip, you may want to ask for extra because you won't be able to get enough of it (though each extra packet costs $0.50).

Value: 1.5/5

As I've previously written, getting wings anywhere will usually put a dent in your wallet but the wings at St. Louis Bar & Grill are small, mediocre tasting and already over $1 per wing before taxes. The 9 piece wings combo is $10.45 and the 18 piece wings combo is $19.95. The combos do come with fries and a packet of dill sauce, but I didn't see anything for just wings on their menu.

But wait, they have deals, don't they? I mean, you just read the tweet earlier on my page that if I mentioned it and got a large drink, I would get a free regular order of wings. Well, when I brought it up with the waitress, she had no idea what I was even talking about. When I asked to talk to Manu (less than a half hour after his tweet asking me to say hi), he wasn't in. Go figure.

Verdict: 2 Poo-Holes out of 5

St. Louis...Poo-holes, get it?

I have to say that St. Louis Bar & Grill was rather disappointing considering that they have a reputation for solid wings. I've had better wings at more commercial franchises like Shoeless Joe's and Jack Astors. The fact that their own employees weren't aware of promotion offers via twitter seemed rather dubious. It wasn't all bad though. Their fries and dill sauce were very good and I heard good things about their ribs as well. They are also becoming a Raptors spot (though I've read this on their twitter so who knows if this is true) so they may be a decent place to catch a Raps game at. However, if you're just craving for wings, I would advise going elsewhere to satisfy those cravings.