Wing Snob (Delta Township)
645 Menard DriveIt’s not unusual for me to meet up with a colleague to head to Detroit for a job assignment. They usually don’t want to drive all the way by themselves and I don’t want to go to Grand Rapids to pick them up.
We have a meeting spot in Lansing. It’s a little out of my way but it’s still better than going all the way to Grand Rapids.
I typically tell whoever I meeting to meet me at the MDOT Carpool lot on Grand River Avenue right off I-96/I-69 in Grand Ledge. It’s a spot they have to pass anyway, it’s easy to get on and off, and there are two trucks stops right there open 24 hours for those nights I’m dropping them off at 3 AM.
A colleague and I had a morning job in Detroit last Thursday. I told him to meet me at the carpool lot at 8 AM knowing he’s always late. We needed to be in Detroit by 11 so that gave us plenty of time.
We did what we were assigned to do then headed back to Lansing around 1:30 PM putting us back at the carpool lot around 3 PM. We had breakfast at the job site when we got there but we hadn’t eaten lunch yet. I was kind of in a rush to get home so I didn’t ask about stopping in Detroit or along the way. I instead decided to grab something on my way home.
Once we went our separate ways, I sat in the car pool lot and put in an order for wings from a nearby Wing Snob. I needed gas and to grab a Pepsi so I figured the timing would work out that I would get there about the time they were ready to go.
Wing Snob has a couple of locations in the Lansing area but I was closest to the Delta Township location on Menard Drive and Saginaw Highway. The restaurant is easily visible from Saginaw Highway/M-43 as it takes up a large part of the Sunoco gas station. The restaurant has it’s own entrance and is rather large for a wing shop that shares space with a gas station. That’s because this actually used to be a McDonalds.
You can really see the McDonaldsness of this place when you walk in. There’s a very large order counter at the front with a register but there are also kiosks to order from nearby. The menus hang on vertical TV monitors above the window in to the kitchen. I had put my order in online and it was ready when I got there. An employee came out of the back then went to the drive thru area once I gave him my name to grab my bag.
There’s a small dining room that is separated from the order area by a wall. The furniture has all been replaced with red and black chairs and tables to match Wing Snob’s color profile but the floor still very much gives off the McDonalds vibes.
I put in an order for a 10 piece Traditional Meal Deal which comes with fries and a drink. The cost was right around $18. I did five Garlic Parmesan, five Buffalo Parmesan, and got the Georgia Heat drizzled on my fries. I put this order in while I was sitting at that carpool lot on Grand River Avenue and by the time I pulled in to the Sunoco to get gas, I got a text message that my order was ready.
The fries were the really interesting thing to me. I’ve eaten at a lot of wing places where they offer seasonings on the fries but you can actually get any of the sauces they use for wings on the fries at Wing Snob. I didn’t know how this was going to work out but I wanted to try the Georgia Heat wing sauce so I figured this was a good way to do it. The fries were pretty typical battered food service fries but the drizzling of the hot sauce was way better than dipping these in ketchup (not that I’d do that anyway.) They weren’t as messy as I thought they’d be and there was a lot of sauce..just enough to get some on every fry. I really like this idea.
I went for the Garlic Parmesan wings next. I love that this is a garlic butter based garlic parm sauce and not a thick, creamy mayo based sauce like one of Wing Snob’s big competitors. The wings were really crispy on the outside and juicy in the middle. There was a big bite of garlic and cheese in each bite. Really tasty wings.
The Buffalo Parmesan wings were the last thing I got in to. These, again, are big, crispy, juicy wings. The sauce is pretty much a Buffalo sauce with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of it. Good and just enough different from a regular Buffalo sauce to make it worth picking it.
This is my first stop at a Wing Snob. Most of the Detroit based chains locations are in the Detroit and Chicago areas but they also have stores in Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Florida, Texas, and Arizona. As far as West Michigan, the only current location is in Kentwood.
I’m a sucker for good wings and I really liked these. Everything in the carry out container that touched my lips was delicious. I loved the crispiness of the wings and really liked the idea of putting sauce on the fries. I won’t be quick to pass up Wing Snob when I run across them in the future.
SW Michigan Dining 