The Wing Hut (Portage)
6650 S. Westnedge AvenueLife is crazy right now. Both kids are still doing figure skating and they’ve each added another sport. B is playing soccer. L is playing volleyball. It’s a lot of running for J after work.
One night last week, we also through a middle school open house in to the mix….on a night that I had to work a double shift.
We made plans for J’s parents to help us out. J would grab L from the rink and head to the open house. J’s parents would pick B up from his after school program and get him to the rink. I would try to sneak out of work for a little bit to grab B from the rink, take him to L’s middle school, then go back and work my evening shift. It was quite the juggling act.
I knew I wasn’t going to have time for dinner during all this so I made sure to grab lunch later in the day so I could skip dinner until I got home around 10:00.
I was in Portage for a job assignment and that was going to work to my advantage. There are ton of great places to eat along Westnedge.
I ended up heading to Crossroads Mall. I had heard there were some new options at the food court. I haven’t been to the mall in forever so I didn’t know what was actually still there. I passed up my usual spots on Westnedge to take a quick walk through the mall.
The Wing Hut opened it’s second location inside the Crossroads Mall a few months ago. They’ve had a pretty good run at their store on Howard Street near WMU and that store remains open. This new location is in the food court at the mall. It’s one of the first places you see if you come in through the food court. They moved in to the spot that used to be Paulie’s Cheesesteak.
The restaurant is set up like any other mall food court shop. There’s an order area on one side and the kitchen/pick up area is on the other. The menu is hanging on the wall behind the cashier and sitting on front of the counter. It’s pretty simple with fried whole wings being the main focus of the menu.
I ordered the 6 whole wings and fries option. The lady taking my order asked if I wanted them sauced. I initially said no but then walked that back and asked if I could have Buffalo sauce on the side. I didn’t want to deal with the mess of Buffalo wings but I really wanted Buffalo wings. The cost was right around $15. I grabbed a bottle of Pepsi from the nearby vending machine then took a seat in the seating area which is just part of the larger mall food court.
It took about 15 minutes for the wings and fries to be fried fresh. The box was overflowing with food when I popped it open.
I started with the fries to give the wings a few minutes to cool. The fries aren’t much more than frozen food service fries but they do put a seasoning salt on them to give them a little more flavor. I knew I wasn’t going to use all of the Buffalo sauce that came with the meal so I dipped some of them in that too.
The wings never did really cool down. They were big, juicy, tender whole wings with a really crispy breading. I love this type of wing. You can eat them as is because the wings on their own are so delicious or you can coat them in sauce. I typically prefer breaded wings like this “naked” because the sauce tends to make the breading a little mushy. These wings had a such a delicious snap when I bit in to them. The meat inside was so juicy and just fell right off the bone.
I’ve eaten at the Howard Street location a few times and always liked the food. The Crossroads Mall location is just as good.
I love this new trend of local places moving in to the mall food court. It’s a way to get people in to the malls. I’m not going to make a special trip to go to a Sbarro (which isn’t there anymore BTW) in a mall food court, but I will make a special trip to grab some delicious chicken.
SW Michigan Dining 