Cosmo’s on Oak

Basic Information:

• A Visit to Cosmo’s on Oak - 12/04/19
  Overall Rating: 78

  Lynch Serniak

  Lynch's Rating: 37 out of 50

  Environment: 8
  

  If you live around Scranton, you’re probably familiar with the name Cosmo, whether it’s because of the cheesesteaks or the billiard’s hall along the Scranton-Carbondale highway. Well, that same Cosmo has opened a new restaurant and bar on Oak street in Scranton appropriately called Cosmo’s on Oak. Cosmo’s on Oak is pretty new, with an opening at some point in October, as relayed to us by the waitress. Unlike Cosmo’s Cheesesteaks, you would have no clue you were driving by Cosmo’s on Oak since there is no real signage of the location on the outside. There is just a small, neon Open sign in the window. Even after opening the front door we were unsure we were still entering a restaurant/bar. It was more like we were walking into an apartment complex. Once we opened the door to the right though, it was most definitely apparent we were entering Cosmo’s on Oak. The place is pretty large and open with plenty of seating, whether it be at the bar, some tables in the back section of the bar, or the side room with the pool table. The place is modern, clean, and pretty hip looking with giant steel lettering of the name of the place on one wall and cool lighting throughout the place. Of course, we were there for wings, but all the food on the menu looked very interesting. Most of the options were typical bar food that has been amped up to another level, whether it was through interesting ingredients or a different take on regular bar fare. The place wasn’t busy during out visit, with only a few other patrons hanging around the joint. Our orders were taken quickly and our wings came out in no time at all.

  
  Wing Size: 6
  

  On any other night except for Wednesday, expect to pay $9.95 for an order of ten wings at Cosmo’s. On their wing night, they take two dollars off an order. I’m no professional mathematician, but that comes out to $7.95 an order, or roughly 80 cents a wing on wing night. That’s pretty high for traditional wing night prices. It also seemed like you couldn’t split orders, so you were obligated to ten of one flavor, which was fine for Serniak and me since we split wings anyway. I will say the wings were on the larger size, making that price point a little more bearable.

  Edit: We were advised by the waitress during our trip that wings were $2 off an order and didn’t verify on the check. Cosmo has since messaged us and let us know it is actually $3 off an order. The original review as written is above, but the score was adjusted based on the new information.

  
  Wing Flavors: 3
  

  Cosmo’s on Oak gets a 3 for flavors because while they do not have many options with only 5 sauces to choose from, they do offer some unique flavors that are rare or you can’t find anywhere else. The Serrano Honey Garlic, Bourbon Honey Mustard, and Korean BBQ are unique flavors that take a classic sauce and put a spin on them to really make them something interesting. Even their House sauce was unlike your traditional Buffalo or house sauce from other places.

  
  Wing Taste (x2): 10
  

  While Cosmo’s on Oak doesn’t offer that many flavors, they certainly excel in the taste of the wings they do offer. First of all, all their wings were cooked incredibly well with a great crisp that you want in your fried wings. Also, all the wings had a noticeable spiciness that may be too much for the mild lovers, but I personally enjoyed the level of spice in each sauce. The House was not your traditional Buffalo sauce. It was definitely Cosmo’s take on their own hot sauce, with a good level of pepper heat with a hint of sweetness. The Porketta were delicious. Not only did they look very appeal, but they had just the right amount of Porketta seasoning and all the wings were well coated so you had an even distribution of flavors. The Korean BBQ sauce was pretty close to what you would expect from a spicy teriyaki sauce. The wings were slightly sweet, slightly salty, and a good level of spice – another winner in my book. The Serrano Honey Garlic were probably my favorite of the bunch. The Serrano added a unique pepper flavor that you don’t traditionally get from Cayenne. It was like a spicy green pepper flavor. While I didn’t get much honey from these and the garlic wasn’t fully there, I still really enjoyed these wings. Finally, there was an order on the house from the kitchen. I’m not sure if this is because they knew who were, they figured we missed out on one flavor so they just gave it to us, or they were just being nice. Either way, I wasn’t complaining. I’ll be honest though, I’m not 100% sure what this flavor was. They told us half the wings were smoked and the other half weren’t, which I didn’t even know was an option. A part of me thought they were bringing us the remaining sauce we didn’t order, which was the Bourbon Honey Mustard, but I got more of a traditional BBQ flavor from these wings. In fact, from the smoked wings, I got a taste similar to smoked baked beans. As weird as that may sound, I actually enjoyed the flavor. The smokiness most likely overwhelmed most of the sauce flavor, but I was totally fine with that. Overall, I think Cosmo’s on Oak did a fantastic job on their wings. I think if they expand their wing flavors and lower their wing prices a bit, you’d have a real contender for one of the best wing places in the area.

  Serniak's Rating: 41 out of 50

  Environment: 9
  

  A fresh new establishment is where our journey took us this week. Cosmo’s on Oak is where we feasted. Oak St. in Scranton is where this wonderful place is located. Apparently, it used to be a bar called the elbow, which makes me wonder if there are any other bars named after body parts. I think it would be apropos if there were a bar called the kidney or the liver, but I understand if I’m in the minority on that.

  Anyways, Cosmo’s on Oak has only been around for a few months, but I really hope it’s around for the rest of my life because it was such a fine experience. The outside of the building doesn’t do the inside justice. It’s a super clean/crisp place that you can tell that the owner, who introduced himself to us and was very pleasant, polite making him a real good host, understands that cleanliness is paramount. There’s a bar area that has a few tables which house I believe 4 big TVs, and there is also a back room that has a pool table if you’re into that kind of thing. It’s the kind of place that is worlds apart from the early days of the Double Deuce if you know what I mean. Our servers were very friendly and diligent with everything we needed.

   

  
  Wing Size: 6
  

  Okay, here’s the deal. The rating of a 6 I understand isn’t the best. I don’t want this to deter anyone from going here. But, as a professional in my own mind, I need to be straight with everyone. Wings are typically $9.95 on non-wing nights and on their wing night, which is on Wednesdays, they are $7.95. You get 10 to an order, which puts them at around 80 cents. We have some of our best people working on the exact amount, but near 80 cents is what we’re going with. I understand the crisis we are in this country when it comes to chicken wing prices. I really do. I also understand that Cosmo’s on Oak are currently not really attempting to make their mark as a business as a wing joint. If I’m wrong on that, no problem. The size of the wings are pretty good. They’re in the range of not to large, not too small. Just right, in my opinion.

  Edit: We were advised by the waitress during our trip that wings were $2 off an order and didn’t verify on the check. Cosmo has since messaged us and let us know it is actually $3 off an order. The original review as written is above, but the score was adjusted based on the new information.

  
  Wing Flavors: 6
  

  I get it, another low number. The reason for this is because they have only 5 flavors. It’s important to understand that I’m a man of principle meaning that even though I loved my experience and the wings at Cosmo’s on Oak(foreshadowing) that I need to be true to the criteria that we’ve set up.

  The flavors that can be had at Cosmo’s on Oak are House(their Buffalo/hot), Bourban honey mustard, Korean BBQ, Porketta and Serrano Honey Garlic. Like I’ve said about numerous places that we’ve covered for wings that have a small number of flavors; there are some easy flavors that can be added with ingredients that are already in the kitchen. Ingredients such as ranch, blue cheese, and Sriracha just to name a few. Infusing those with some of the current flavors can open things a bit if that’s what Cosmo’s on Oak. Perhaps this is all they want to do and that’s fine. Just saying, there are easy moves to make.

  

  
  Wing Taste (x2): 10
  

  Let it be said, that I’m not a typical NBA judge at the slam dunk contest who just throws out 10s like they’re going out of style. The wings at Cosmo’s on Oak are some of the best I’ve had in a while. The key reason for this; they’re cooked so damn well. They’re crispy and I think the reason why is because there is a layer of breading on them that makes the batter they’re fried in heavenly. I could be wrong on that, but who know besides the brilliant chef constructing these wings. No rubberiness to them at all. They were the truth with how they were cooked and I couldn’t get enough of that. So often, folks only focus on the sauce, but the manner of well they’re cooked goes just as far.

  First, we’ll go with the house, which is their Buffalo or regular hot you would get. They had a really good spice that wasn’t too overbearing. I can’t exactly say whether they were hot or mild. I’m leaning hot, but as I said, if you’re a mild person, these will do really well for you. Next was the Serrano Honey Garlic. Not sure who Serrano, but I’m sure they were sharp. These wings were their house mixed with honey and garlic. They had a fair amount of garlic, which I’m all for. I’m a sucker for garlic and these didn’t disappoint. Moving on to the Korean BBQ. I had a thought while I was eating them which was why aren’t other countries highlighted for their BBQ? Does Sweden or Peru not do BBQ? Either way, these were terrific. They were coated with sesame seeds, which gave them an aesthetic appeal but the sauce on-point. The sauce had the sweetness that you’d expect while also having the twang you want in a BBQ sauce. Get them. Lastly was the porketta. These were my favorite mostly due to how well cooked they were in relation to the amount of seasoning were on them. It was a perfect amount of porketta seasoning. The seasoning was evenly distributed and since it was a dry rub, they magnified just how well cooked they were. I know I know, I keep saying how well cooked they were, Well guess what, they were really well cooked.