4213 North Fairfax Drive
So when I heard about First Down Dave K and I decided it would be a good idea to try their wings in a large group. We first thought there were only about 20 different choices, boy we were wrong. There are about 40 choices and then each flavor can be made as hot or as mild as you like so the choices in wing flavors are seemingly endless at First Down. We decided to choose a Monday night which is .59 cent wing night. If you go on a Thursday you can get all you can eat wings for $12.99. Dave K and I decided to invite a large number of people, the majority from the NAKID kickball league. With this crew we were an unstoppable bunch ready to tackle the wings with a fierce appetite. We ate 14 different flavors which were:
1. Blue Cheese- this wing was totally jizzalicous and I don’t mean that in a good way. These wings were covered in white goo that tasted more like a foul mayonnaise was dumped all over the wing and then they tried to call it blue cheese… no thank you! NEVER AGAIN
2. Honey BBQ- I mean if you have read my blog before you know I hate when a wing tastes nothing like the flavor it is named. This wing was more ketchup tasting than BBQ tasting. You could taste the “honey” flavor since it had a sweet taste to it but it was not smoky or spicy enough to be BBQ, and I mean spicy as in being made with spices not hot spicy. BBQ has to have spices to give it a BBQ flavor otherwise you are eating ketchup. NEVER AGAIN
3. Cajun- When I think of a Cajun wing they are usually a dry rub wing covered in Cajun seasoning. This wing was not a dry rub wing but it was comparable. I would try them again and give them a second chance but they are not my favorite in terms of Cajun style wings. They have some of the seasoning right and taste good with a nice meaty wing but they are on the greasy side and tend to be slightly too salty. GOOD
4. Spicy Garlic Butter- With a last name like mine full of G’s and ends in an O I was born to love garlic so when I saw this wing listed on the website I think my mouth watered! These wings are…. How do you say… interesting. So they have a good overall flavor to them but are definitely too greasy due to the butter. They do not have high spice/heat to them even though they are called spicy garlic butter. I will admit though they do have an after taste of garlic that is left in your mouth once you eat these so all vampires out there beware! FAIR/GOOD
5. Mild- If you order these wings because you really don’t like spicy food then you will not be pleased. Their mild wings definitely have a burn to them and are slightly hot; I think all of the NAKID crew decided this is true statement. Just when we wanted a simple wing this came and it was not really that simple. I like spicy wings so they were pretty good but don’t order them if you don’t like spicy wings. They would be a good every day wing, yes I would eat an everyday wing. FAIR/GOOD
6. Jamaican- When I went to Jamaica back in 2009 with Hilary and Nina one of our favorite things to eat down there was the Jamaican chicken they made on the street. This chicken is made with an amazing jerk sauce and is cooked to perfection over a grill and every street vendor does it exactly the same. So why do all Americans mess this recipe up so royally? All I want is to taste a little Jamaican style chicken wing in America. Who ever made this sauce has clearly never been to Jamaica. The wings had a pretty decent flavor but they were not Jamaican style. FAIR
7. Spicy Ranch- You would think ranch lovers all over the world would be flocking to this bar for this wing… false. I mean it was okay but there really wasn’t much spice to make it spicy, or any spice at all and the ranch was more watered down. I never like a runny watery ranch that is such a ranch turnoff! If it was the ranch they gave on the side for you to dip your wing into or a piece of celery then YES this would have been a winner winner chicken wing dinner but no this sauce on the wing was a little too watered down for my taste though it was doable. FAIR
8. CJ’s Sriracha- Sriracha is a hot sauce that is made from sun ripened chilies and has a very distinct flavor. It is also on the thicker side when it comes to comparing hot sauces as one could say Sriracha is thick and Tabasco is thin. I was stoked when I saw this flavor on the menu because I eat Sriracha sauce every day. It has great heat and tons of spicy flavor which doesn’t over power what you are eating. When the wings came I was extremely disappointed and wanted to pound my fists on the table in a temper tantrum since it was nothing like Sriracha sauce. It tasted as if the sauce was watered down. The wings had a slight after burn and sting it left on your mouth but nothing close to Sriracha sauce… maybe the “CJ” in the name stood for “cook’s jarbronie” I mean this was no good and I would not get them again unless revamped the wing sauce. NEVER AGAIN
9. Old Bay- Since I am always looking for a good Old Bay wing, being from the Chesapeake Bay area I know what this stuff is supposed to taste like. These wings were an okay attempt at making an Old bay wing. It was dry rub wing but not with Old bay seasoning, they are getting cheap and suing some other kind of “crab” or “seafood” seasoning. Old Bay is a seasoning that you just don’t want to skimp on when cutting cost because it truly has a distinct flavor. Though it was not Old Bay from the yellow can the wings were still pretty flavorful with a good spice rub on them. FAIR
10. Teriyaki- This flavor of wing over and over again is an epic fail at most wing establishments. At First Down they had a pretty good attempt. The wings were perfectly crispy but the sauce on them was just not flavorful enough. It was a tad on the weak side. You can tell by just dipping your finger in the residue of sauce that it is sweet and has a teriyaki flavor to it but when eating it with the wing there is barley anything there to taste. The sauce is just a little too runny and not robust enough to give this a better rating. FAIR
11. Hot- So the group decided to order the hot wings so that we could compare this wing to the mild flavor we had earlier. Since the mild flavor had some good heat to it we wanted to see just how hot the “hot” was. As the wings came out you smell the vinegar coming off of these puppies and it was enough to sting your nose. I am not sure if they messed up our mild order or if there really isn’t much a difference between mild or hot… but these were barley hotter if at all than the mild. I did enjoy these wings though and they were a great every day wing to go and watch a football game and just have tons of. GOOD
12. Italian Pepper- So this is maybe one of the most interesting wings I have ever eaten and when I say interesting I mean…. What the heck did I just put into my mouth, chew and swallow? On another note I did go back for seconds to see just what this weird orangish/yellowish colored sauce was. It has a very weird taste and I am not sure why they call it Italian Pepper. I mean I don’t know if I should say don’t eat this wing ever again or everyone should go and try it and see what the heck it is. I mean it could be any rating except for excellent. NEVER AGAIN/FAIR/GOOD (you help decide)
13. Spicy Honey Mustard- I am not positive on this but I do believe that Andy M. thought these were awesome and tried to order them again this past week when we went for a friend’s birthday, but I vetoed that decision. These wings have a similar problem to the Teriyaki wings where the sauce alone is tasty and has a honey mustard flavor but not much of a spice. When the sauce is on the wing it just isn’t think enough to stay on and give the wings the spicy honey mustard flavor most people would be looking for. This was kind of a buzz kill since there are a lot of people out there who LOVE honey mustard. FAIR
14. Madness- So these wings are supposed to be a type of hot wing and also an additive. Apparently “madness” means they have added red pepper flakes to the sauce. So if you want to get one of the other wing flavors they have listed in a higher spice you can always order them at the “madness” level and they will add red pepper flakes to your sauce. These wings were spicy but not too bad, they were actually pretty good. If you like red pepper flakes and seem to be one of those people that adds them to every dish you eat you would probably really enjoy these wings. GOOD
We attacked these 14 different flavors of hot wings and enjoyed…. Some of them :o)
This challenge would not have been possible without the help from our friends at NAKID. There are just too many wings to get through so I recommend anyone going to this establishment should go in a large group so you can eat more flavors. Next time I would like to order the hot wing that requires a waiver to sign.
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