New Buffalo Wild Wings-- Hoffman Estates

Hi there--

I know it's a chain, and it's pretty hit-or-miss most of the time, but there is a new Buffalo Wild Wings opening on Sunday in Hoffman Estates-- and their website says nothing about it!! It's at the SW corner of Route 59 and Higgins Road. Come on in and watch the games, play some trivia, and ask for Lara... I'll take good care of you

That is all!!

Thansk Lara -- is that where the target is? anything else open in that mall? it's a barren food wasteland out there....

Yep, it's in the same shopping center as the Target, TJ Maxx, Linens n Things, etc... they are also opening a Claim Jumper Restaurant there (although honestly, wouldn't you rather come hang out at BWW?? I know I would!!!;)) a coffee shop, and 1 or 2 sandwich shops. Luckily that area is going to explode soon, they're building it up alot, not to mention the Sears Center is opening... so us not-so-lucky West Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates people might actually have something to do that doesn't involve Woodfield!!!

I ws there last night for a VIP only pre-opening event. It's laid out exactly like every other recent, stand-alone BW3s/Buffalo Wild Wings I've ever been to. Although I do have to say that the new mango habanero sauce is pretty good.

I actually like BWW. There's one near me in Bolingbrook, and I'll stop in every 5-6 weeks on a Tuesday night and pick up two dozen 35c wings and save the leftovers for part of my lunch the next day. And their 50c legs (Thursdays?) are not bad either.

I'll have to try the Mango, I liked their Asian sauce. The only thing I don't like about them is that I find the Medium too mild, but the Hot too much.

I am a little concerned about their foray into ribs, however. It makes me wonder if they're not doing so well.

Hmm.. we've been eagerly awaiting the opening... But I will say, I'm much less a fan now that you guys ditched Smoky Southwestern sauce. That was SO good.

I have been heading to the Buffalo Wild Wings in Lake in the Hills on Randall Rd. and it is pretty much the same as the ones in Cleveland. I ONLY consider going there because they have 10-15 screens to watch football games and I do not have a television.

The food is completely unremarkable and the prices are extremely high considering the quality and quanity of the food. The chicken wings are among the smallest that I have ever seen - and I have been to most of the chains. And on occasion, they sit for a while and are pretty bad. Sometimes, when the pace is busy, the wings are a lot better.

And they nickle and dime you to death. 0.50 for extra sauce, 0.50 for celery and carrot sticks, 0.50 for dressing. At times, I am wondering when they are going to charge for both napkins and wetnaps.

I went to one of those once. I couldn't believe how expensive it was. The service was offensively bad, too.

jlawrence01 wrote:The chicken wings are among the smallest that I have ever seen - and I have been to most of the chains.

Agree 100%.

bibi rose wrote:I went to one of those once. I couldn't believe how expensive it was. The service was offensively bad, too.

Agree 100% on both counts.

I was introduced to what was then called BW3's when I started school in Milwaukee 8 years ago. The downtown Milwaukee location, on the Water street bar strip, is very convenient to my college (MSOE) and the Tuesday special, then 10¢/ea, was very easy on this student's wallet. Over the years, the Tuesday deal has risen in price to 20, then 25, then 30, finally 35 cents. With the higher prices and horrible store layout, it has become more and more difficult to convince me to go here for wings. Take away Tuesdays and I'll hardly ever step foot into the place*.

I will say that the Lincoln Avenue location is in an older building and the pub-like ambiance goes quite a long way.

*I did pick up some wings for a Superbowl party early this year. The sweet to fiery variety of sauces allows everyone to be happy.

My first BW3 experience in Cleveland was about the worst. I was there to watch the Las Vegas Bowl (Nevada vs. Toledo). their set up was that you had to go up to the counter and order the food and be called up to the counter to pick up your food. The counter help was indignant because I did not leave a tip. What am I missing? I did all the work. Egads.

While I do agree that the setup of the restaurant sucks and that it's overpriced, the real reason the service can be iffy there is because we don't have foodrunners or busboys. While it's the easiest serving job I've ever had, I think it could be a lot more organized of a process. The intelligence of your server will determine whether or not you get good service.. because otherwise you will never get anything cleared off of your table!!!! But on the plus side, the nickle and diming brings the check averages up which helps us make more money, remember, servers only get paid $3.90 an hour in Illinois...

I understand not having food runners, but not having busboys? And it's a national chain? That must be how they can afford to power the nine-thousand TVs on a daily basis.

Since it's been a while that I've been there, does BW3 commit the ultimate sin of breading their wings? I can't remember. And I've never been very impressed with any of their sauces--last time I went in there a few years ago I asked for a dozen spicy BBQ wings, and one - just one - in their spicy super insanity sauce, just to see how hot it was.

Apparently that couldn't be done. I had to cajole my kind server into bringing out a sample serving of the sauce, one unsauced wing, and I'm surprised they didn't upcharge me for it.

lk wrote:But on the plus side, the nickle and diming brings the check averages up which helps us make more money, remember, servers only get paid $3.90 an hour in Illinois...

Any GOOD server in the Chicagoland area is making several times the minimum wage. I have been on all sides of the equation (waitstaff, customer, manager, etc.) over the years and I am tired of hearing all the poverty and "poor me" talk. All my waiter friends and clients like to complain about their wages but their lifestyle belies their income.

When people get tired of the "nickle and diming", they quit going to your restaurant which reduces your income. When you are paying $3.99 for six wings that fall short of six ounces and barely have any sauce on coming out of the kitchen, after a while, you feel ripped off. ( I am to the point where I bring my own favorite sauce (and salad dressing).

Eh, most restaurants stink, that's really all there is to it!!

And yeah, I make WAY more than minimum wage... assuming people know that the standard tipping procedure is 18-20%... if I got 10% for every table I would be making just about minimum wage.

lk wrote:While I do agree that the setup of the restaurant sucks and that it's overpriced, the real reason the service can be iffy there is because we don't have foodrunners or busboys. While it's the easiest serving job I've ever had, I think it could be a lot more organized of a process. The intelligence of your server will determine whether or not you get good service.. because otherwise you will never get anything cleared off of your table!!!! But on the plus side, the nickle and diming brings the check averages up which helps us make more money, remember, servers only get paid $3.90 an hour in Illinois...

That's rediculous to not have a busboy. A good busboy can make a good restaurant great. Another server almost- assisting with refills, talking with customers, another set of eyes on the floor.

As a salaried employee at a restaurant my servers tend to make twice as much as me on a busy night. My bartenders three times. The only servers that are struggling to get by in the city, or depend on their $3.90 an hour, are poor servers.

pizano345 wrote:As a salaried employee at a restaurant my servers tend to make twice as much as me on a busy night. My bartenders three times. The only servers that are struggling to get by in the city, or depend on their $3.90 an hour, are poor servers.

And after about three weeks making $3.90/hr, they realize that perhaps waiting tables in not their cup of tea and decide to bad groceries at Jewel. and that is not a bad thing.

For the record, so that I am not perceived as some non-tipping cretin, I was making about $8/hr in 1977-82 as a CARHOP (where the average tio was 8%) at a Big Boy restaurant. Been there, done that and have a deep respect for those who do it well.

I have only been there once, and it was at the Village Crossing location in Skokie. I went for lunch and I thought it was pretty good. They had some reasonable lunch specials that filled me up!