Restaurant Name: Wings Etc.

Location: 2060 US 52W Suite T, West Lafayette, IN  (map it)

Phone: 765-588-6740

Cuisine: American, Pub Grub

Review: A friend recently told me about a new place in West Lafayette called Wings Etc. He raved about how good the wings were and how often he’d been there for lunch since it opened. Today we were deciding what to have for lunch and wings sounded good, so we headed over to Wings Etc. to try them out. They are located way west on US 52, just past Baja Peninsula in a newish strip mall.

We arrived and the parking lot was pretty full and I was worried that it might be too busy since the Colts game was about to start, but there seemed to be plenty of tables. The inside has a regular seating area and a bar area. Neither were huge, but ample. Large flat screen TVs were hung along every wall with sports playing on each one. It was very typical of any sports bar. We were seated and after a few minutes a waitress arrived to take our drink order. We were all starving so we went ahead and placed our orders at this time.

And then we waited. And waited. And waited. I was about to start chewing on the table when, just over thirty minutes after our arrival, our food came out. I understand it takes time to make food, but I think thirty minutes is excessive in any restaurant. I was getting cranky, the kids were whining, and even my husband was getting annoyed. It was a long wait.

As for the food, it was fine. The menu consists of things like wings and ribs, but also burgers, wraps and salads.  I ordered a BBQ chicken wrap. I was starving, so I may have eaten it so fast I couldn’t tell, but it was really pretty good. My husband reports that the wings really were quite good, better than BW3 wings. The kids seemed happy with their meal. So while the service was extremely slow, the food was acceptable in a pub food kind of way. I’m hopeful that the slow service was a fluke and I’m definitely willing to give it another shot. I’ll just make sure I’m not starving before I head over.

Kid friendly: Yes

Restaurant Name: Black Sparrow Pub

Location: 223 Main Street, Lafayette, Indiana (map it)

Telephone: 765-429-0405

Cuisine: Upscale Pub Grub

Review: The Black Sparrow is a nice addition to downtown Lafayette. I suspect it is best enjoyed in the evening as more of a pub, but my experience has been limited to its lunch offerings. At night, its solid beer selection would be an advantage. It has a nice bar, and the wait staff has always been friendly. They aren’t really set up for take out, but have been more than happy to let me call in an order to carry out for lunch.

For lunch, it has a good variety of sandwiches. For me, the BLT&E is a standard – Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, and Egg. It runs about $7 and, despite what you might think, the egg is an excellent addition to the time honored favorite.

In addition to sandwiches, the Black Sparrow offers salads and what I suppose I would describe as Mediterranean plates involving variously hummus, dates, olives, and goat cheese. I have not been so adventurous as to try these things, but if they are as good as their sandwiches, they are probably worth trying out.

Kid friendly: Not particularly. I wouldn’t say it’s kid unfriendly, but it’s a bar and not really geared for kids.

Methods of payment: Cash or credit.

Restaurant Name: The End Zone Sports Bar & Grill

Location: 2408 E. 350 South, Lafayette IN (map it)
Phone: 765-471-ZONE

Cuisine: Bar & Grill

Review: Today I ate at a restaurant that I’ve always wanted to try, but just never had the chance. And I’m sorry to say, it was a huge disappointment. I remember when the End Zone was being built and I thought it might be a neat place.

When we got there, we went into the family dining area because we had the kids with us. It was a big room with lots of big screen TVs and tables. We picked a table in the center, because every single table was empty. We were the only people in the family section. When we sat down, I looked around and realized that every TV was on sports, but not a single TV was tuned into the Olympics. Yup, a sports bar with a bunch of TVs on sports, and not a single TV with Olympics on it on the first real day of sporting events. Sad.

We got our menus and perused them. Normal pub fare. Mostly sandwiches. We ordered milk for the kids, but they were out. The kids’ menu was pretty standard, chicken nuggets and grilled cheese, etc. We all ordered sandwiches, except for one order of chicken nuggets.

The service was pretty bad. The waiter wasn’t unfriendly, but I got the feeling that he hated his job. He didn’t spend much time around our table aside from delivering food and drinks. He didn’t seem to care whether we were happy with our food or not.

Then the food came, and I was shocked to see that every sandwich was served on white bread. Now, I’m not opposed to white bread – it’s got it’s purposes (peanut butter and jelly, of course) but when I order a sandwich with roast beef and grilled onions, I do not expect it to be served on white bread. At the very least, I expected sour dough or kaiser. I couldn’t remember what the menu had said about it at the time, but when I downloaded it, it said sourdough. So okay, I gave it a try anyway, The bread was getting soggy before it even got to me, and by the time I got to the second half, it was falling apart. There was just no eating it. Also, they forgot the Swiss cheese that was supposed to be on it

All in all, a pretty bad experience. I wouldn’t go there again.

Kid friendly: Sort of. It has a family dining area with a kids’ menu and high chairs, but it is just a divider away from the bar, if that sort of thing bothers you.

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