72 Wings Eaten…Nanny O’Brien’s Challenge!

So our challenge was due to begin at 5:30 sharp, but since WMATA sucks and the red line hasn’t been on time in the past two years Becca M and I arrived a little late. Luckily Troy drove and was able to get there early so we were able to claim a table, which is KEY on wing night because they are hard to come by on this popular night at Nanny O’Brien’s. By the time Becca and I arrived, Julia was there with Troy to help us tackle the 72 wings we were about to order:


Round#1: Maryland, Hot Pepper, Bourbon Street and Sweet and Spicy
1. Maryland- This wing is pretty good if you enjoy a good dry wing. If you really like wings that are saucy then I wouldn’t recommend getting these. I do enjoy dry wings so they were pretty tasty to me. But a true MD style wing is with crab seasoning and these were mainly covered in red pepper flakes. Being from MD and loving crabs like most people, I know the difference. GOOD
2. Hot Pepper- These wings are by far my favorite wings at Nanny O’s and also so far my favorite “specialty” wings to get in the city. They are a meaty wing that has a slightly sweet sauce, which I usually do not like sweet sauces, and then the wings are covered in chopped up cherry peppers. The cherry peppers piled on top of these meaty wings make these wings EXCELLENT! You have to go and try them out yourself! EXCELLENT
3. Bourbon Street- these wings are a sweet wing with great flavor. If you like a sweet wing and do not want that spicy buffalo flavor I would definitely recommend these. The Bourbon Street are the best ones they had that were sweet on the menu. The sweet was not overpowering where you couldn’t taste the meet but they had this tangy sweetness that was perfect I would rate them at an excellent for a sweet wing. EXCELLENT
4. Nuclear- We also had a plate of the nuclear wings this round. Yes Troy ate most of them! When you first bite them you think the first thing we did, “ehhh not bad, not too hot.” But then there is slow creep of an after burn that hits you and lingers for a good 2 minutes so I hope you have some celery and blue cheese or ranch to cool you down nearby. The sauce is a buffalo type sauce with red pepper flakes mixed in to give it an extra kick. They are not unbearable and you can still taste the chicken but the after burn is a little hot. Becca ate one I believe Julia tried part of one I had two and Troy had the other 4. I think Troy would of liked to have had all 8 of the wings but sometimes people need to learn how to share better, maybe he needs to go back to preschool. :o) GOOD


Order #2: Jamaican Jerk and Sweet & Spicy
5. Jamaican Jerk- If there is one thing I love, besides wings (not fried pickles for all you out there who wanted to say it, not what I am talking about right now)it is jerk chicken. This wing was NOT that. If you are going to name your wing Jamaican Jerk, I hope you have been to Jamaica and had their Jerk chicken because it is amazing (right Hilary? “More chickens!”) These wings were far from amazing and were pretty much ruined by the bucket of sauce that was dumped on the wings. If it was called Smokey BBQ wings maybe they would get a fair rating because it was kind of smoky, BBQ tasting with a weird black pepper after taste, but Jamaican chicken taste this was not. NEVER AGAIN
6. Sweet & Spicy- I have eaten this wing before and I have given this wing a bad review. I wanted to give it another chance; everyone should get a second chance right? Well when it comes to this wing it does not deserve a second chance. They are sweet but they are not spicy at all, they have little bits of pineapple on them to give them a sweet taste. They are more like a sweet and sour wing like a sweet and sour chicken you would get a Chinese restaurant, except please hold the funky after taste. NEVER AGAIN


Round # 3: Hot and Teriyaki one more order of Cherry Pepper!
7. Hot: WTF is going on here these are not hot these should be labeled mild. They are not bad for wings but they should not be labeled hot because they are not HOT they have a slight and I mean VERY slight spice to them which would put them on a mild scale, mild means you would have some heat not no heat. These “hot” wings barely had any heat to them so if you like “hot” wings these are not the wings for you but the nuclear might be a little too much. Nanny O’Brien’s might need a recipe in the middle of hot and nuclear and cut out mild. It would get a good rating if they were a little hotter. FAIR
8. Teriyaki- This was more like teri-no thank you! If you have ever had teriyaki food then you will not like these wings. If you have never had teriyaki food then you might. These were more like pure soy sauce wings and not a teriyaki flavored wing. You can’t have a wing called a teriyaki wing that doesn’t taste like teriyaki. However rename the menu and say soy wing and this would pass as a semi decent wing. FAIR



Over all I think we did a pretty good job eating 72 wings and Andy S. came in part way to assist with some of those. But I will say the main dent in the wing eating would have to be Troy Becca and I, Julia and Andy were definitely there and gave great opinions not always the same opinion I had. Maybe they will write in to say what they thought. We never tried the honey BBQ and the mild. Believe it or not but we got FULL and couldn't oder the last two wings types but we can back later. The Honey BBQ just seemed like soemthing we were not feeling during the end of the challenge and we felt that the mild was not worth getting after we tried the Hot and it wasn't hot. Over all Nanny O’Brien’s was a great experience. I have been to this restaurant in the past and I will be back again!