Wild Wings?

Man between the new job and it getting to be winter, it seems to be a struggle to find some time to spend in the neighbourhood doing anything worthwhile to write about! Anyway, I've been checking a new place out "Wild Wing" which recently opened up on the former premises of Gino's.

I for one, really miss Gino's. It was my place to go once every week or so for a panzerotto with the tomato sauce (the meat sauce never seemed to sit well with me), have a pint or two on the patio and enjoy a summer weekday eve. For a while I stayed away from Wild Wing since I prefer the pubs with local character and unique menus to the chain-operation places. Gino's had character. Pretty well everyone who grew up anywhere in the west end and extending as far away as Mississauga had at least heard of the place (maybe its just the crowds I run with). I'd been there several times over the years with numerous different people.

Gino's passing caused a bit of upheaval in the neighbourhood. This summer saw some of the regulars uneasily trying to find their places at one or another of the bars on Ronces. Not only were there a handful of suddenly jobless waitresses wandering about in a daze wondering what to do with their life, but even some people who used to live above Gino's ended up being displaced. In a way it worked out for me, because while I enjoyed the food at Gino's I pretty much kept to myself regarding most of the patrons (with one or two exceptions). Meeting some of the refugees on my own turf somehow made me a bit more interested in what had transpired.

Anyway, back to Wild Wings. Sometimes, my regular hangouts are packed to the rafters on game night and I'm forced to go a bit further afield looking for a table to have dinner and catch up a bit on some work. And so I ended up at Wild Wings. With no internet service the first time I showed up, it seemed pretty certain that until the summer rolled around and the patio opened up, I would likely steer clear of the place.

My second visit wasn't too much better. Not even sure why I came that time, must have been very busy everywhere else. In any case the bar tender gave me the same story I was told the month before "We're going to get the Internet put in by next week." Yeah right. Too bad I took a look at the menu. Being a bit of a completist, I noticed that the place has some 50 or so different wing sauces to chose from. I was not even aware of it at the moment, but my brain had already decided that I would eventually try as many of them as humanly possible before I die. That night I ordered the Mesquite flavour. Not bad, not great.

About three weeks later I rolled in again and this time the Internet hook up was still "coming in next week." Luckily I remembered that another place across the street that I frequent has a network and I was able to hook up to it. This time I ordered the "Lock, Stock, and Barrel" flavour. Not bad, not bad at all.

So tonight I'm feeling bored of all my regular spots. Soup just doesn't seem to be what I want. heck I'm not even feeling hungry. And there's no parking anywhere convenient on Ronces. So off to Wild Wings. Score. The waitresses are all smiles and pleasantries. and guess what, they finally (after how many months?) have a wireless service available. Too bad it doesn't seem to be working. Oh well, Pho Nho is still broadcasting even though it looks closed today. And now I'm actually feeling hungry. Maybe I'll knock another flavour off of the list today. Oh, and there are waaay more than 50 flavours. On a closer inspection I'd say there are close to 100 different ones. This is going to be a tough job (and I bet a good number of them are not going to be to my liking).

In any case, I am perhaps a bit surprised to find myself shilling for some faceless corporation. But, there you are. I guess I'm saying I might make it back here a few more times. I also think that I know which flavour I will be having..... Oh, the waitress just took my pint glass away while I was tyoing and I still had a couple of sips in it. I really, really, really, don't like that. But I'm in an excellent mood today so I think I will let this one slide. The "Wild West" flavour - BBQ and golden mustard, better be something fierce.

Sidewalks are shaping up

Well, the street is still more or less a big mess, but things are really starting to come together. The crews are working ovetime (it's 7:45pm right now and they are still out there) putting in new sidewalks. Its a bit hard to visualize right now how its all going to look when its finished. There are these ramped extensions on the road where the sidewalk meets the street car line. As I undertand this will make it easy for people to load onto the street cars directly from the sidewalk. Makes you wonder though what will happen if a street car breaks down. How will cars be able to pass?

Anyway, I was talking to my dry cleaner Frank and he was quite skeptical about whether the end of the construction is near or not. But I'm hopeful that it won't be too much longer and that this street will be even more awesome than it was before. Only thing I am going to really, Really, REALLY regret is that the free parking currently available is going to end once the construction is finished.

Oh well.