WING QUEST PHILLY: Ten Stone Bar & Restaurant

QUICK UPDATE: Wing Quest 2011 is now four members strong. We’re proud to introduce, as

the newest inductee into the perilous quest to find Philadelphia’s best wings, Rick Sauce.

Thursday, January 6th, 2011 marked the beginning of the epic journey that is Wing Quest.

With our quartet cut down to a trio for the night (Nick being violently ill), we loaded up the car

and headed down to Ten Stone Bar & Restaurant, located on the corner of 21st and South in the

nice neighborhood of Rittenhouse.

While finding free parking may not be a hurdle for everyone, travelers in motor vehicles

be warned, it took us a good amount of searching. Once inside the establishment however,

we were quickly ushered to a quiet table in the back. For its roomy size, Ten Stone maintains

a fairly cozy feel with its hushed lighting, and with flat screen TVs on almost every wall

broadcasting the Flyers game, we felt pretty damn comfortable. Our server, who also happened

to be Sean’s girlfriend Katie, promptly took our drink order. The beer selection is pretty good,

boasting all the regular domestics, a handful of craft and micro brews, and the drafts in constant

rotation.

When Katie returned with our drinks she brought a couple of menus, though she knew

exactly what we were there for. The wings are doused in your choice of Hot, BBQ, or Chipotle

sauce and come with the price tag of $9 for ten of them. Considering the area we were in, the

price doesn’t seem all that extravagant, but it’s still up there in terms of wing cost. Sean and

Tom decided to opt for the classic Hot wings, while Rick, who couldn't resist the allure and

intrigue of Chipotle wings, took his quest in a slightly different direction.

Our wings arrived quickly and we wasted no time digging in. The wings are served with

the standard celery and bleu cheese combo on top of a single lettuce leaf. The first thing we

all immediately took notice of when biting into the wings was how crispy they were. Whoever

dropped our wings into the fryer did so with exquisite skill and timing because these wings

were cooked almost to perfection. The Hot sauce that coated the wings was definitely above the

average quality, but not by any great stretch. It wasn’t too spicy, had good tang and flavor, etc.

Rick had offered a sampling of his Chipotle wings to the other members of the quest, which they

of course accepted. The general consensus on the Chipotle wings being that, while the sauce had

a nice smooth flavor, the wings were inundated with it to the point of throwing off the balance of

the sauce to wing ratio. That being our only real complaint, we carried on and demolished our

plates of food.

While we, the chosen Wing Questers, are on a mission to find the best wings in Philly, we also hunger for tasty pleasures that lie outside the realm of poultry. Other food items worth noting at Ten Stone include: The hearty clam chowder that Rick liked so much he had Katie go to the kitchen to pay compliments to the chef, the steaming bowl of mussels that Sean ordered that were pretty damn good, and perhaps most notable of all would be the incredibly delicious, warm banana bread served with vanilla ice cream that was shared by all at the table.

So while ratings of 9 or 10 are reserved for the best of the best, Ten Stone has some

pretty impressive wings, and if you find yourself in the vicinity of 21st and South craving some

quality food and beer, you should definitely stop in and check it out.

Quality of Wing – 8

Sauce – 7.8

Location – 6.8

Price – 6.6

Overall – 7.3

Review by Tom Kaericher