Sweeney's Saloon

The decision to go to Sweeney’s, located at the intersection of Buselton and Philmont in the far Northeast across from the Whiskey Tango, was a hasty one. We had some intel that led us to believe that Sweeney’s Saloon had vinegar and feta cheese wings, which we think sound pretty tasty. Upon arriving at Sweeney’s, seeing that the menu contained no such wing, then asking the bartender if they existed and being told that, no, they did not exist and never have, we were all kind of bummed out, but we decided to stay and try out their wings anyway.


Their menu touts their wings as being “Famous”, by whom we do not know, but they offer an impressive eight different sauces to choose from , including Hot & Honey, BBQ, Cajun, Mild, Garlic, Oriental, Honey BBQ, and Hot. Their prices, compared to other “Famous” wing joints we’ve been to, are really fair and encourage you to order more wings than you probably can handle. The pricing breaks down like this: a small order of six wings runs you $5.50, while the bump to double that order to twelve wings is only $1.25 more at $6.75, and caps off at $24.50 for fifty wings. If I wanted to, I could get 24 wings for $13.50. Not too shabby, right? So, being that the Sweeney’s quest consisted of just myself and Sean, we ordered two different flavors each, which the bartender taking our order allowed us to do in just one regular order at $6.75 (which a lot of places won’t let you do because they want your money). I ordered the Hot, like always, and the Garlic, in hopes that might be something more than just butter with chopped garlic on top, and Sean ordered the Hot & Honey as well as the Oriental.

Hot + Garlic

Our wings came out with a nice big tub of bleu cheese, celery, and carrots (nice touch). The hot sauce was the typical affair, and lo and behold, the garlic wings were just butter with chopped garlic on top. Would it be possible to add some spices to the garlic wings? Even some pepper and parmesan cheese would do the trick. Every bar that has garlic wings, listen up, plain old butter and chopped garlic is boring, it barely tastes like anything. Heed my words, please. Sean’s Hot & Honey wings were a nice mix of what their name implies and were pretty tasty. The oriental wings threw us both for a loop because they looked like every other Asian-inspired wings we’ve had in the past, but when we bit into them expecting to taste that sweet General Tso’s-esque type sweetness, we found none. The oriental sauce seemed to be based more on the soy sauce element, and I really enjoyed that change.

Hot & Honey + Oriental

In general, all the sauces we tried were good, but pretty stock or “meh” in their tastes. I’d say that what gives these wings their “it” factor is how they’re cooked, which is to say really well, or at least well enough to carry the various sauces and their respective shortcomings. The wings are of average build, and suit the bar setting nicely. These were solid bar wings at a great price and there’s nothing wrong with that. Plus, given the option of being at the Whiskey Tango or Sweeney’s, I’d take Sweeney’s any day.



Wing:7
Sauce:6
Price:7


Overall: 6.7


Review by Tom Kaericher