Roosters Wing Shack

• 14 N. Main Street
• Three Rivers, MI 49093
• (269) 278-8525
• Website
• Menu

Mommy and Daddy like to be lazy on the weekends.  The kids do not.  They want to go somewhere, play with someone, just get out of the house.  For two parents that work long, odd hours, it can be hard to get motivated.

The kids were really wanting to go to the park and play on a beautiful late summer Saturday afternoon.  We typically just stay close to home and go to Flescher Field or the Oshtemo Township Park, but one way to really motivate me is food….and I knew of a place in Three Rivers that I’ve wanted to try for a while…and there’s a great park for the kids nearby.

Roosters Wing Shack is in downtown Three Rivers on Main Street near the intersection with Michigan Avenue.  The restaurant takes up two store fronts in the quaint downtown area.  Previously, the building was home to Paisano’s Bar & Grill.  The outside of the building doesn’t look much different….just cleaned up a little bit.   There isn’t really a sign on the outside which is a change.  I just about missed the place because I was looking for something big, but they just have a small window sign now.

The restaurant is divided into two spaces which clearly used to be two different store fronts.  Each side has a door, but the host stand is inside the southern most door which is where we entered.

We had eaten at Paisano’s once before it closed and while a lot of Roosters sort of looks the same, it looks like they cleaned the place up a little.  The hardwood floors were shiny as were the tables that also used wood laminate.  The brick wall is opened up to look in to the game room area which has a couple of pool tables and dart boards.  There are a variety of seating options in this space that include both booths and tables.

What I’m calling the “Game Room” also had a few seating options in front of some TV’s that were hung on the wall.  The interesting thing about this space is all of the old signs hanging on the old red brick wall.  There are antique signs throughout the space but the biggest concentration is in this back room.

The bar is near the back of the first room you come in to.  I was pretty shocked at just how much beer and how much good beer they had on tap.  They actually have a really good tap list with a number of local beers.  There are TV’s on either side of the chalkboard with the tap list so it’s a great place to enjoy a beer and watch a game.

We were taken to a table in the remaining dining room which is the northern store front of the combined space.  The hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, and high ceilings carry over in to this space and while it’s clearly a separate store front, the restaurant moves seamlessly between the two.

Our waitress followed pretty closely behind us as we were seated so we didn’t have a lot of time to look at the menu before she was asking about drinks.  There was no drink menus on the table so we had to ask the waitress.  I was quite surprised when she just kept going and going.  Like I mentioned earlier, they have a pretty large craft beer list and about five different times I heard something and thought, “oooh…I’m going to get that.”

Once she was finished, I ordered a M-43.  Man, I love these beer.  They’re served in a mason jar with a handle which makes it a little harder to drink with the screw on top, but it’s a cool look and not that big of an inconvenience.

They had a couple of ciders on tap as well, so J picked one of those.  She ordered a McKenzie’s Hard Cider.

It’s kind of a no-brainer what I chose to eat, right?  I mean, the place has Wing Shack right in the name and that’s the whole reason I chose to drive to Three Rivers.

I ordered 10 traditional Parmesan wings.  The wings were big, juicy, and crispy.  They were covered in some kind of liquid Parmesan flavoring.  I really like the combo of garlic and Parmesan on wings, but in this case, they were two separate flavor options.  The Parmesan flavor on the wings was subtle on the wings on top of the pile, but a little more pronounced on the ones that were soaking in the juices at the bottom of the basket.

The wings come with celery and either ranch of bleu cheese, but no fries, so I got a side order of fries to go along with the wings.  The fries were skin on battered fries that worked really well for picking up a little more of that Parmesan flavoring left behind by the wings.  The side order is pretty small so I didn’t really share with J or the kids like they were hoping I would.

At this point, I had to get another beer.  I finished that M-43 pretty quickly and while I considered another one of those, they also had 10K from Founders on tap.  I had never had that one and have heard it’s a pretty hoppy, pretty strong IPA so I wanted to try it.  It didn’t disappoint.

J ordered the Buffalo Mac & Cheese.  This way she could still get some wings but also some creamy mac & cheese as well.  The macaroni noodles were covered with a thick, creamy cheese sauce them topped with boneless wings with Buffalo sauce.  Each element on their own was delicious, but the mac and cheese and actually worked to cool down the Buffalo sauce a little bit.

The kids both wanted Mac & Cheese as well.  The Kinsley’s Mac & Cheese is Kraft Mac & Cheese that served with fruit and veggies.  Our kids get distracted at dinner any more but they both ate more than half of the small bowl so we couldn’t complain.

Our bill was a little over $50 before tip.  Everyone left with full bellies and seemed really happy with their meals.  J really liked her Buffalo Mac & Cheese.  The wings were big, juicy wings although next time I will try a different flavor.  The Parmesan was good, but it really needs to be paired with garlic.

Roosters Wing Shack is a great bar in the heart of Three Rivers.  They  have a great beer list, delicious food, and a cool atmosphere to hang out to watch a game, play some pool, or just enjoy a great meal.