BW-3: Sports, Brew, and Inexpensive, too!
Written: Feb 08 '03 (Updated Oct 28 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good food; inexpensive; sports viewing
Cons: You leave reeking of smoke; stools can cause a strain on the back
The Bottom Line: BW-3 offers testy morsels, draft beer, and sports viewing. Need I say more?
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| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: BW-3 Buffalo Wild Wings |
BW-3 is a sports bar and grill chain that was founded in Kent, Ohio, in 1981. Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery started this chain, which was originally called “Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck”. The name was later changed to “Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar” and now it goes by the shorter name, BW-3. This chain has grown significantly over the past two decades. It now has locations in 27 states, mostly in the North Central and Southern United States.
Menu Selection:
This restaurant chain started as a wings place, and chicken wings are still an important component of the menu. But BW-3 offers much more than that. Here’s a breakdown of the menu selections:
Appetizers/Warm- Ups- To get you started, BW-3 offers many “finger food” selections like mozzarella sticks, roasted mushrooms, nachos, quesadillas, potato wedges, onion rings, chicken tenders, corn chips, and corn dogs. Many of these can be consumed as a meal or snack all by themselves and they make a nice side item to one of the main courses.
Salads- Several salads are offered at BW-3. These include small options like a garden salad, and larger salads, which are often consumed as a meal, like the taco salad and grilled blackened chicken salad. They also offer caesar salads and regular grilled chicken salad.
Main Dishes- For the main course, BW-3 offers a selection of burgers, sandwiches, tortillas, and of course, its signature chicken wings. With burgers, you can choose among options like a classic burger, swiss and mushroom burger, black and blue burger (made with cajon seasoning and bleu cheese dressing), bacon & cheddar burger, western burger, and a meatless garden burger, for vegetarians.
On the sandwich menu, you will find selections such as grilled chicken, jerk chicken, chicken parmesan, spicy chicken, chicken club, turkey club, fish, and barbecued pork.
The tortilla menu includes some filling options like a chicken tender wrapper, turkey wrapper, chicken fajitas, chicken quesadillas, and other assorted Mexican- style fare.
The remaining main courses include the restaurant’s trademark buffalo wings, along with tenders and chicken legs. The wings can be purchased in six different quantities at most locations: 6, 12, 18, 24, 50, and 100. Chicken tenders are offered in either 4 or 6 to a serving. They are made with chicken breast meat and are lightly breaded. The other option on the chicken menu is chicken legs. These drumsticks are served in quantities of either 2 or 4. All of these chicken meals are served with your choice of barbecue sauce.
Desserts/Beverages:- There aren’t many desserts at BW-3. Most locations serve only two choices to satisfy your sweet tooth: brownies and chocolate eclairs. Beverages include a wide assortment of soft drinks, draft beer, and most any mixed drink from the full service bar.
Atmosphere:
BW-3 is a sports bar and grill. The atmosphere, like you would expect, places on emphasis on watching sports. There are usually several large television screens in this restaurant and often you will find one giant screen in the middle- a projection television on a large movie screen, measuring several feet across. Smaller screens can be found, too. The seating consists of tables and chairs with a mixture of low- style chairs (feet can touch the ground) and high, stool- type chairs (without back support) and tables.
BW-3 is a very casual place to eat and drink. It’s usually lively and noisy, with several televisions broadcasting sports and an active, talkative crowd.
Pricing:
For what you get, BW-3 offers a very good price on food and drink and its common to see daily specials and coupons in your local paper. A typical burger or sandwich platter (which includes chips) sells for about $4.00 to $7.00. Wings and other menu items are reasonably priced, too, and the draft beer is typically priced at less than $6.00 per pitcher (64 oz. size).
Final Thoughts:
BW-3 is a fun place to dine when you’re in the mood for watching sports and you don’t mind a little noise around you. It offers a casual dining atmosphere, where t-shirts, sweatshirts, and shorts are in abundance. You won’t find anyone wearing a three- piece suit at a restaurant like this one. This is a place to kick back, eat some burgers and wings, drink your brew, and watch your favorite sporting event.
BW-3 offers some tasty barbecue sauces and they range from mild to extremely hot! You need to be careful which one you choose. There are about 12 to choose from, ranging from mild sauces (sweet barbecue, teriyaki, etc.), to medium sauces (spicy garlic, thai, etc.), to very hot (Hot BBQ, Wild, and Blazin). The “Blazin” sauce is not meant for amateurs. This sauce will coat your palate with a fiery blaze of barbecue that won’t go away for a long time. Personally, I prefer the medium- spiced sauces like the spicy garlic. I don’t like my spice to be so strong that it covers up the taste of the food and hides the taste of my beer.
Speaking of beer, BW-3 has lots of choices on draft- between 10 and 15 at most locations. You have your usual choices, like Bud, Bud Light, Miller Lite, etc., mixed in with some more adventurous choices which vary from place to place. I have been to some locations that feature choices like Red Hook, Guinness, and others.
BW-3 doesn’t offer a wide range of menu choices. You won’t find steaks here, or pasta. The choices center around chicken, as you can see on the menu. My personal favorite menu item is the Western Burger, a juicy beef patty covered with sweet BBQ sauce, bacon, and cheddar cheese. Served with a side order of onion rings and a pitcher of my favorite beer, along with sports playing on television, and I have all the necessary ingredients for a satisfying meal.
Buffalo wings are the signature item at BW-3. The wings are good tasting, but it takes a serving of at least 12 to 18 to feel even remotely full. The taste varies considerably, depending on which sauce you order. If you choose the hotter sauces, you will find that you taste more sauce then chicken. The medium and mild sauces provide enough spice without going overboard so that you can still taste the tender, delicious chicken. While I agree that the wings are good, I usually opt for something else. They are messy to eat and I prefer burgers anyway.
Service at BW-3 is a little different from other restaurants. Instead of waiting for someone to come to your table, you place your order at the main counter where you are given a pager to hold. A waitress comes to your table to take your drink order. When your pager goes off, the waiter or waitress will bring your food to your table.
BW-3 has grown and expanded since its founding and now has locations in more than half of the fifty states. Ohio has the most locations, with a total of about 70. In my area of Dayton, Ohio, there are at least five locations that come to mind.
Overall, BW-3 is a very good bar and grill restaurant. Sports bars are easily my favorite type of restaurant, so I’m automatically going to be partial to them. I don’t rank BW-3 at the very top of my list of sports bars, but it easily ranks in the top half. The lively atmosphere, good- tasting main dishes and side dishes, live sports viewing, and lots of delicious draft beer make for a winning combination any time of year!
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Recommended:
Yes
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