Buffalo Joe's in Evanston

I tried search to see if anyone had written a review of Buffalo Joe's here, but I couldn't find anything.

Buffalo Joe's
812 Clark St., Evanston
Tel: (847) 328-5525

Buffalo Joe's is a little fast food joint specializing in buffalo wings, from mild to suicidal. It is a cult favorite among Northwestern students, and many people say that they serve the best buffalo wings in the world. I am of course, skeptical when I hear this. I have never dined there, but merely driven past it a couple of times, since I've never been a huge fast food fan. It looks like any typical fast food joint, small, and rather dirty.

I was just wondering if any of you guys have dined there and if you could please review it for me? Are the buffalo wings and waffle fries really THAT good? Please let me know!

search it again. i came up with over 10 hits here. iirc, latest reviews were lukewarm.

First time poster who has "only driven by" a place, yet knows the menu fairly well......

Call me a skeptic.....

But what we really want to know is, have you tried State Street Bread Company? How about Absolutely Delicious? It's a restaurant! In Westmont!

To be somewhat useful, here's the other aforementioned thread:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=11297&highlight=buffalo+joes

I concur with the most recent postings about the decline. If I'm going to have mass-produced fast food wings, I'll take Caribbean Jerk or Asian Zing at BW3, all "flats," if you please.

In its heyday (90s or so), I feel Buffalo Joe's really did put out the best wings I've ever had, and I've been to several places in Buffalo (Duff's, Anchor Bar, Casa di Pizza, etc.) These days, I still think they're pretty okay when they're on, but the wings they source are too small and skinny.

At any rate, even with the decline, I think they're better than anything I've ever had at BW3.

As a former NU student who recently moved back to chicago, I was anticpating my return to Buff Joes, afraid that they would have lost a step. I stopped by on a saturday for lunch and have to say that I felt the wings were divine. Piping hot, perfectly sauced, and the right size and crispiness. Caveat: I prefer wings medium size and crispy, not brontosaurus size.

Any recs for great wings in the city?

Thanks,

chico

Sorry, I guess I'm not the best with the searching. But thank you to Santander for posting a link.

Okay, sounds like nobody's too impressed with them. Thanks for the opinions. I doubt that I will go and try them anytime soon.

We used to cut class at New Trier and order a full pan of suicide for 4 guys. The pleasures of being sixteen, having fresh arteries and dad's car. I still think Buff Joes has the best Buffalo style hot wings in the area. It is true that the wings themselves have gotten a little smaller and the sauce is not quite as hot. I never understood why they dont offer blue cheese dressing as an option. I never felt the ranch was as good.[/code]

misterchico wrote:As a former NU student who recently moved back to chicago, I was anticpating my return to Buff Joes, afraid that they would have lost a step. I stopped by on a saturday for lunch and have to say that I felt the wings were divine. Piping hot, perfectly sauced, and the right size and crispiness. Caveat: I prefer wings medium size and crispy, not brontosaurus size.

Any recs for great wings in the city?

Thanks,

chico

Yakzie's on Diversey is pretty good. I also had Mother Hubbard's (just west of State on Hubbard) wings for the first time a few weeks ago, and I thought they were absolutely authentic Buffalo wings. One misguided online reviewer complained the wings were "too large." If you've ever been to Buffalo, you know that the wings there are gigantic. My experience at MH's was the wings were normal Chicago-sized wings, maybe a little bit bigger, but nothing out of the ordinary. The acidity and spice, though, were perfect matches for the style and the wings were served fresh and crisp right out of the fryer, something I've never experienced at BW3.

To give you a point of comparison as for flavor preference, I don't consider Buffalo Joe's to be a traditional Buffalo-style flavor--it's a bit more mustardy, sweeter, and well-rounded. (At least the sauce I remember from the 90s). Mother Hubbard's and Yakzie's are more the straight Buffalo style, with Frank's and margarine (or butter), for a pure taste of heat and acid.

Binko, please tell me you know of a good place for wings on the south or southwest side. I'm hurting here. Dine-in required.. which is why I haven't made it to Wings Around the World in Bridgeport yet

I would love to hear an answer for that. Other than my house, I don't know of any good sit-down wings place in this neck of the woods. All I know around here are chains like BW3 way out in Orland Park (which I don't like) and Hooters (which I've never been.) I can't think of any bars around here that serve wings. Well, some do, but it's of the breaded variety sans sauce, not Buffalo style.

Binko, please tell me you know of a good place for wings on the south or southwest side. I'm hurting here. Dine-in required..

Is South Loop okay? I had absolutely no high expectations of Cactus at Van Buren & Wells but found the wings surprisingly good. Nice and spicy sauce, good sized drums & flats, but here's the weird thing - they're grilled, not fried. I liked it nonetheless.

Everything else there seems pretty "meh." $4 High Lifes and margaritas from a machine, very heavy on the "Jimmy Buffet" attitude.

Dine-in required.. which is why I haven't made it to Wings Around the World in Bridgeport yet Sad

Yeah, I liked the wings I had there (the one time I stopped by) but the lack of even a couple tables in the front is extremely prohibitive for me. I had to eat 'em on the El - which got me some sideways looks, but I managed to keep somewhat clean.

I'm fairly close, it's probably only about a 10 minute drive, but wings just are one of those things that I don't think travel well at all, so I try to avoid it as much as possible.

I've got a craving now, and I owe them a shot, so maybe I'll swing by this weekend or something.

Oh gleam, if you have a buffalo craving, the wings at cactus aren't going to do it. They have a very strange non frank's sauce. All three of my dining companions (ok drink buddies) made comments on them.
Try, Dylans for more authentic ones.

Dylans
118 S Clinton St.
Chicago 60661

My bad, I was referring to Wings Around the World, not Cactus.

And no, south loop is as bad as Lakeview I'm looking for something that attracts a more working class crowd. Vito and Nick's for wings, if you will.

Happened to be up in Evanston last weekend and in the area I smelled the wonderful smell of wood smoke of the BBQ variety and looking around I thought it might be coming from Buffalo Joe's. It wasn't but decided to have our lunch there. The Burger was on my list anyway.


Tucked away off of the main street.


Clean and well staffed. Samples of the wings and soups were generously given which made our decisions easy.


I ordered the Cheeseburger, Minestrone Soup (very good and homemade!) and a small order of Wings.


My friend ordered the Buffalo Chicken sandwich, Cheese Broccoli soup and shared and order of the Cheese Fries. She enjoyed everything very much.


My Cheeseburger was cooked perfectly with a nice amount of 'salad' on top. The bun was up to the task of keeping everything in order.


The Chicken Wings were a touch dry but nice and meaty. The mild sauce started off mild and the heat grew as it settled on the tongue.


The Cheese Fries were waffled and well done. Coulda used a bit more cheese. Also I prefer a straight fry with my cheese.

For me the soup was the standout from the meal. Although all the rest of the meal was good.

The smoky smell of beef you encountered is from Merle's BBQ down the street. I know because I was there last night! The brontosaurus beef ribs are truly the biggest in town, and pretty good, but i much prefer heading to Lincolnwood and getting my beef ribs at L Woods.

On topic - Buffalo Joes throught the 90's offered the best wings I've ever had. Perfect balance of sauce heat, tang, skin crunch and internal mositure. But the wings have dropped in quality, the place is dirtier, and the sauce even seems to have suffered.

But i must say, when you get a tray of their wings, even to this day, its something that most other places will find hard to beat.

They're like the Diane Lane of wings. They were the most gorgeous wings around for years; Now they are older and not as good as they used to be. BUt still better than most out there. And you would be joyful by their presence at your table

Ghazi wrote:On topic - Buffalo Joes throught the 90's offered the best wings I've ever had. Perfect balance of sauce heat, tang, skin crunch and internal mositure. But the wings have dropped in quality, the place is dirtier, and the sauce even seems to have suffered.

But i must say, when you get a tray of their wings, even to this day, its something that most other places will find hard to beat.

They're like the Diane Lane of wings. They were the most gorgeous wings around for years; Now they are older and not as good as they used to be. BUt still better than most out there. And you would be joyful by their presence at your table

I couldn't agree more. I must've eaten at Buffalo Joe's three dozen times growing up. Their super-spicy suicide wings were sizable and juicy.

A few months back, I convinced RAB to try the wings with me (it had been 15 years since I'd visited). We couldn't have been more disappointed. They're just not the same. I won't be going back.

Ronna

While I generally agree with the comments about Buffalo Joe's here, I should mention that I think the Howard Street location has not experienced any recent changes in quality (I can't speak to what it was like in the '90s, we moved into the area in 2000) I generally like their burger (it's no WASC or Patty's or anything, but it's fine - a nice, thick, cheap burger cooked to order) and the wings are, as mentioned above, better than BW3 or (god forbid) Pizza Hut.

Buffalo Joe's
1841 W Howard St
Chicago
(773) 764-7300

Ghazi wrote:Buffalo Joes throught the 90's offered the best wings I've ever had. Perfect balance of sauce heat, tang, skin crunch and internal mositure. But the wings have dropped in quality, the place is dirtier, and the sauce even seems to have suffered.

But i must say, when you get a tray of their wings, even to this day, its something that most other places will find hard to beat.

They're like the Diane Lane of wings. They were the most gorgeous wings around for years; Now they are older and not as good as they used to be. BUt still better than most out there. And you would be joyful by their presence at your table

One thing I noticed was that they must of had 5 fryer racks setup and ready for cooking. Perhaps they were partially cooked and ready for finishing? That would explain them being somewhat dry. Could of used a bit more crunch too.

Ghazi wrote:The smoky smell of beef you encountered is from Merle's BBQ down the street. I know because I was there last night! The brontosaurus beef ribs are truly the biggest in town, and pretty good, but i much prefer heading to Lincolnwood and getting my beef ribs at L Woods.

The BBQ smoke was really getting to me and I was constantly getting distracted when in the area. We were about to leave joe's when they started pushing samples on us and we changed our minds.

While having a good meal I wish we had then found the source of the BBQ. Next time!

Merle's Barbecue
1727 Benson Ave
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 475-7766

My wife used to live in Evanston, so Buffalo Joes was a regular place to either visit, or get carryout from. I always thought their wings were ok, better than the chain places, but not better than many bars, or what I can make.

It would be too bad if they are par-frying the wings, and finishing them when ordered. When I go out for fried chicken, or wings I expect a wait while these items to cook, if there isnt a wait I know it isnt going to be good.

I used to live in Evanston and always enjoyed the wings from their original, Clark St location, which I would patronize fairly often. However, several more recent visits have not been satisfying. I felt like things changed -- the wings become much more sweet. Honestly, it's been a couple of years but after a few visits during which things seemed amiss, I stopped going.

=R=

jimswside wrote:When I go out for fried chicken, or wings I expect a wait while these items to cook, if there isnt a wait I know it isnt going to be good.

There is decidedly a wait at the Howard Street location.

Is there really a difference between the clark and howard st locations in terms of the wings? Can someone please elaborate in detail? Thanks in advance.

I haven't been to the Clark location in years, but I'm guessing based on what's posted here that they par-fry their wings and this is at least in part some of the reason for the decline.

Based on my last wait at Buffalo Joe's Howard Street, they're either frying them from raw, or they've introduced a heretofore unknown low and slow methodology of wing frying . Again, I don't think they're worth driving across town for or anything, but they were very serviceable wings.

Ghazi wrote:
The smoky smell of beef you encountered is from Merle's BBQ down the street. I know because I was there last night! The brontosaurus beef ribs are truly the biggest in town, and pretty good, but i much prefer heading to Lincolnwood and getting my beef ribs at L Woods.

Panther wrote:

The BBQ smoke was really getting to me and I was constantly getting distracted when in the area. We were about to leave joe's when they started pushing samples on us and we changed our minds.

While having a good meal I wish we had then found the source of the BBQ. Next time!

Panther: DON'T DO IT! Don't be fooled. Merle's is all hat and no cattle. The food is mediocre, the aroma meant to lure the gullible NU innocents - once. There is a reason you don't see glowing reviews of the place here.

You have been warned!

The one time I tried Merle's (several years ago), absolutely everything on my BBQ sampler plate was sopping wet and tasteless. It had evidently been on the steam table a long time.

Sorry to drag this off the topic of Buffalo Joes, but I did wanna clarify a point on Merles.

It's true - stay away from the brisket. I've been there twice and its never been better than average. In fact last week it was plain awful.

But the beef ribs were average the first time i went (last year), and last week they were actually pretty good (slow night. . maybe they paid special attention to this wayward traveller). They were exceptionally large and meaty, and the beef was tender and full of flavor. To be fair, this was a great contrast to the experience i had there last year when the ribs were all bone, with very little meat.

Based on my last experience, i would be willing to give Merles another shot ,but only when i'm wantig a change of pace from the superior Honky Tonk or LWoods.