Springs Wings Roundup: WingForce, Sportsbook Bar & Grill, Stoney's Bar & Grill

This will be posted to Side Dish with Schniper in the coming weeks. Posting here early with permission.

If you missed National Chicken Wing Day on July 29th, that’s OK, I did too, and I love chicken wings. The good news is, you’re allowed to eat chicken wings anytime, and you can do a lot worse than visiting the new WingForce at 1824 Democracy Pt Unit 110. 

Surrounded by a strong contingent of restaurants, WingForce officially opened in a modest spot in a strip mall on September 5th. It replaces the Halal Guys, although it’s owned by the same restaurant group. I made my way in during a soft opening phase just before that date and was impressed by the quality of the wings they serve up. 

In speaking with general manager Jesus Aguirre, who manages other Halal Guys restaurants in Denver and Aurora, the group is excited to test this concept and participate in wing competitions in Colorado Springs. Jesus is proud of their shoutout on Restaurant Roundup, and I personally witnessed an employee measuring the temps of their wings to stay on top of food safety. 

Standing at a kiosk, you get a pretty good overview of the menu while ordering. In addition to the standard bone-in vs boneless wing options, the menu includes fries and tenders, and you have the option to pay extra for only drums or flats. That kind of focus is usually a good sign that the wings receive special treatment. 

I adopted a rule about tipping: if I’m standing up to order, I only tip a dollar. It saves me money and relieves me of the guilt from pressing “No tip.” 78% of people think tipping has gotten out of hand, and this is the compromise that lets me sleep well at night.

And it’s true! The buffalo wings are perfectly sauced; not too much, not too little. The flavor is the perfect buffalo standard you would expect. The wings were pretty crispy, but could use a little more crunch. Among their 18 flavors, I also ordered the cajun rub to test their dry rub, and it was OK. It could use a little more salt, but I acknowledge eating anything after a buffalo-flavored salt bomb tastes less salty. The chicken tenders have a breading that’s more chewy than a typical tender, which is intentional, but not for me. 

The sweet potato fries deserve a special callout. They hand-cut their potatoes in house and the fries are perfectly salted. You can safely skip the regular fries as they’re a little too oily and limp. Sweet potatoes are better for you anyway. 

The prices are very reasonable. Gone are the days of 50c wings, and anything under a buck a wing is hard to find. WingForce offers a 10pc wing, fry, and drink combo for $17.99, which gets you a decent lunch for under $20. They’re happy with that price, and I’d highly recommend this spot when In-N-Out’s line next door makes you question if you can get back to the office before lunch is over. 

Sportsbook Bar & Grill

Sportsbook Bar & Grill opened in June and foolishly offers an all-you-can-eat wings special on Tuesdays for $18.99. I rounded up some friends and arrived ready to make them regret offering such a deal.

Your initial order includes ten wings, fries, and you can order four more wings and unlimited fries thereafter. The buffalo wings are delicious! Good crispiness, decent buffalo flavor, and a solid size. The “Sportsbook Signature” sauce is like buffalo but with a punch of unwelcome sweetness. I also tried the Cajun Rub (too dry), Carolina BBQ (too sweet), Garlic Parmesan (decent), and Lemon Pepper (eh). 

The fries are overly crispy, but offer a good buffer to cool the spiciness of the wings. Twenty two wings and two baskets of fries later, I had my fill. Standard prices are six wings for $12.50 or ten for $19.25. 

There are plenty of TVs and this place promises to be a good game-day spot. If you go, I recommend sticking to the classic buffalo-flavored wings. Not many games on Tuesdays though!

Stoney’s Bar & Grill

Stoney’s Bar & Grill recently took over the former Oskar Blues spot downtown. Matt Schniper enjoyed the spot overall, but I was disappointed in their wings, especially after hearing about all their accolades.

The buffalo wings arrive undersauced and undersized. I don’t necessarily need these chickens to take anabolic steroids or grow up next to a nuclear power plant, but I need more heft from my wings. Without more sauce, the buffalo flavor was lacking. The Stoney’s Original Dry Rub lacked any originality, being just a mix of just salt/pepper/garlic/maybe something else, but the wings were decently crispy. It ended up tasting like a tiny piece of fried chicken, which is exactly what it is.

The lack of quality would almost be excusable if it wasn’t for the price. At $16 for eight wings, you’re looking at $2 per wing. The value simply isn’t there. 

At least the curly fries were delicious! And I still ate all my wings, plus some of my friend’s wings, because I need that protein.