Benny the Bum's

Benny the Bum's Crabhouse
 9991 Bustleton Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 673-3000
www.bennythebums.com

Well, it finally happened.  We all knew this day would eventually come, we just didn’t think it would come so soon.  On Friday, February 4^th, Wing Quest’s journey to find the most average, non-exceptional hot wings in the Philadelphia area had come to an end… wait, that’s not what we’re doing, is it?  No, we’re looking for the best hot wings, right?  Okay, just checking. 

Regardless, Friday saw the Quest heading to Benny the Bum’s in Northeast Philadelphia.  Benny’s, located on the corner of Busleton and Red Lion, is generally known for their seafood, and rightfully so.  Their crab bisque is baller, they really know their way around a tuna, and crab fries? Hell yeah, they do them right.  But again, and we can’t say it enough, this is Wing Quest and we have to rock these spots with one goal in mind.

For starters, Benny’s offers only one sauce, Hot.  And while this made it easier for us to make up our minds about what we wanted to order, come on, only one sauce?  We would’ve liked to have seen at least a BBQ sauce or maybe even Crab wings, though we probably just made those up.  Anyway, one thing Benny’s has working to their advantage is the price to portion ratio, for about eight bucks you get a dozen wings and that's not a bad deal considering the size of the wings.  Benny’s wings are really meaty and served with a vat of bleu cheese and a ton of celery.  To be completely honest, not a single one of us finished our entire plates, and there’s definitely something to be said for that.  The hot sauce tastes like a basic Frank’s hot sauce and butter, which really brought the wings down to a lower echelon.  The sauce had an okay burn that built on itself with each wing, but again, the flavor of the sauce didn’t do much for any of us.

Hot Wings

So while Benny the Bum’s seafood stands out and on its own, their wings are dull.  We can only describe them as completely average.  The wings’ only saving grace was their price tag.  And while we didn’t hate the wings, next time we’re at Benny’s, we’ll probably just sample what they do best, their seafood.

Wing – 6.6

Sauce – 5.6

Price – 6.7

Overall – 6.3

Review by Tom Kaericher