Good times.  Loud music.  Their grilled ham and cheese sandwich is one of the best in town.  But then again, how hard is it to screw up one of those?  The kicker is that Thursdays is half beer and booze.

The Dugout in Pasco

The Dugout was  a little busy for a Thursday which is a good thing.  Good drinks and decent karaoke.

Jokers in Richland

Jokers was pretty good for a Thursday even though we got there at about 12:30am.  Oh well, whatcha gonna do?

The Cab Ride via Tri-City Taxi

I’ve got issues with Tri-City Taxi.  A while back, I emailed them for some info and received a “holier than though” email.  Last night, we hopped in a cab and it didn’t occur to me until after we were down the road that we were in a TC Taxi Cab…

Now, we’re leaving Jokers and heading back to the Dugout when we get to the corner of Welsian Way and Aaron Drive (right there at the McDonalds).  Instead of taking the logical right turn to hop onto I-182, Jack, our driver, takes a left towards George Washington Way.  I asked him why he decided to go this route and his response was that it was actually shorter than the other way.  Hey Jack!  I call Bullshit.  Granted, you only gouged me for an extra quarter mile but I can imagine that through the course of a night, these little extras make a tidy profit.  Yet another reason to NOT use Tri-City Taxi…

Now, not only would the burger be just fine on it’s own, this “x-rated lime sauce” is like no other sauce I’ve ever had.  The flavor was outstanding as well as delivering a bit of fire at the end.

Not to drag on, and on, and on, and on…. but I can easily say this is one of the top three burgers in the Tri-Cities.  And don’t even get me started about their onion rings….

After realizing what the deal was, I asked Randy (a great bartender) if I could get a side of their “Atomic” sauce.  He asks me if I’m serious.  I say yes.  The other bartender behind the bar asks me if I’m serious.  I say yes.  They ask me if I would like to try a sample of the sauce before hand just to make sure I know how hot it is.  I say no.  Seriously, this is how it went….

Randy heads back to the kitchen and grabs me a side of the Atomic sauce and in the mean time, I’m told by others that while the Atomic sauce is being made, eye protection needs to be worn so that it doesn’t get in the preparer’s eyes.  Am I too concerned?  No.

Long story short, I tore through those wings with my new found sauce, like a fat kid going though cake.  They had excellent flavor and great heat that wasn’t over bearing.

I had the chance to sit there and talk shop with the owner and he made sure to remind me that they do half off wings on Tuesdays starting at 3pm and ending around 10ish.  Yeah, I’ll be there for that.

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I tore through the wings pretty quickly and was wondering “where’s the heat”.  After taking down the third or fourth wing though, the heat began to sneak up on me and I found that warm and fuzzy feeling that only hot wings can give you.  Even though I prefer the wings that make me sweat on the first bite, these wings were pretty good and I would definitely get them again.  But at the end of the day, I’m still on my quest for the best wings in the Tri-Cities.

Tonight, I went to the Outback in Kennewick and decided to throw down on a plate of Hot Wings and a damn fine ‘Rita.  I tell you what. I haven’t had wings from Outback in a while.  But as soon as I took down that first wing I was in absolute bliss.  The flavor was good, there was a ton of meat on the bone, and the margarita I was drinking was the perfect touch.  Only one thing to comment on for improvement.  Hey KDog… when I order Hot Wings, I want to feel the heat a little more!  Even though they weren’t the hottest wings I’ve had, the flavor was kickin’.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow too.  There’s a TCSSC event at Jackson’s in Richland and I’m thinking I’ll need to take down a basket of wings to compare to tonight’s….

And for tonight’s disclaimer.  In a former life, I worked for Outback for about five years.  After working there for that amount of time, I still love the food, the drinks, and all the Outbackers that have worked there past and present….. well most of them.

Wings at RF McDougals

R.F. McDougalls has some pretty good wings.  What I think the best part is the crispiness of the breading and the overall flavor.  The one thing I would really like to see is for some home made sauce to be “spun” onto the wings before they’re served.  Instead, they put a little Franks Hot Sauce on the side and call it good.  Granted, Franks is good, but home made is always better.

So would I go back for the wings here?  Absolutely!  The have great flavor and are worth it.

And just for the record,  I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad meal there.  The food is pretty good about 99.9% of the time (hey, no one is ever perfect).  I have a friend who get’s the Quesadilla whenever she goes there.  I haven’t had it yet, but it looks pretty good.

Check it out on the Tri-Cities Event Calendar