The 1905 Tavern

Basic Information:

• First Visit to The 1905 Tavern - 08/01/23
  Overall Rating: 81

  Lynch Serniak

  Lynch's Rating: 40 out of 50

  Environment: 8
  

  The 1905 Tavern is nestled in the Hill Section of South Side Scranton. I’m 90% sure that’s not an actual section of Scranton, but it makes sense to me so I’m sticking with it. We walked in and took our seats at the decently sized rectangular bar. If you’re not a fan of sitting at the bar, there are bar height tables throughout the place as well. The place was about half full when we arrived with a lively and active crowd. Our bartender was a nice, older gentleman who was quick to take our order and our wings didn’t take all that long either. While you wait, you can partake in pool, darts, or electronic slot machines. There were lots of reference to trains and train wrecks in the place, which I assume has something to do with 1905, but I’m not a history buff, so the references were lost on me.

  
  Wing Size: 8
  

  On their Tuesday wing night, The 1905 Tavern offers their wings at 78 cents each and allows orders of 5. I received a mix of small and large wings, but overall, the wings trended on the larger size. If you aren’t visiting on wing night, you can expect to pay 10.99 for an order of 10. I opted for only 15 wings and I still struggled to finish my usual amount. I’m not sure they can be strictly attributed to the size as some of the sauces did contain a good amount of spice.

  
  Wing Flavors: 8
  

  Given its vibe of a local bar, I was pleasantly surprised by the larger selection of wing flavors this place offers. Of course, they offer your classic such as Mild, Hot, and Hot Garlic. Additionally, they offer spins on classics such as their 1905 BBQ Glaze and Hot & Smokey. From there, they offer some good unique options that are sure to catch your attention such as Escobar Ranch and Ragin Cajun Blue Balls. Also be sure to ask your bartender or server if there are any specials because they do offer options outside the usuals on the menu.

  
  Wing Taste (x2): 8
  

  I chose 3 flavors that really called out to me. All the wings came out with lots of sauce containing a good hit of vinegar. The Ragin Cajun Blue Balls were a deep red sauce with plenty of spice from the Cajun. I was struggling to get the blue cheese flavor from these, but maybe the Blue Balls in the title didn’t actually refer to blue cheese like I assumed. Regardless, the wings were tasty. I would recommend shying away from these wings if you’re not a fan of spicy wings. The Hot & Smokey were another spicy wing. I do wonder if the vinegar contributed to this. I did enjoy the flavor though and got a good mix of smokey throughout. The Hot Caesar was an orange, creamy sauce that I’m typically a fan of. Again, expect a good amount of spice with these wings. When I first tried them, I didn’t quite get the Caesar flavor, but when I returned to them after the other wings it definitely stood out more. Overall, while all the wings had a stronger spice than I expected, they were still pretty flavorful.

  Serniak's Rating: 41 out of 50

  Environment: 8
  

  A relatively new place on the NEPA wing scene is the 1905 Tavern in South Scranton near Zalesky’s. This means you may have to fire up that emergency brake which I contend doesn’t really do anything.

  But I digress. This place used to be a real old guy bar years ago. I was only in it once and I forget the name. Feel free to enlighten me on what that name used to be.

  Quite the remodeling job since the last time I was in it. Everything was uber clean, had a few TVs around the bar, and in the seating area. They also were stocked with a very good supply of craft beer. I didn’t expect the selection they offered.

  We sat at the bar although there are other tables throughout the place. Our bartender was this gentleman named, I believe Skip. I overheard some other patrons call him that. I wish I knew him better so I could have felt comfortable to call him Skip. Skip is a great name unless you’re Skip Bayless. I’m glad to see that the 1905 Tavern’s Skip is making up for that hack Bayless. Our Skip was diligent and ready to get our next beverage at a moment’s notice.

  I didn’t get a history lesson on why the place is called the 1905 Tavern but there was a lot of train decorum throughout the bar. Their logo is also a locomotive, which is neat because I have been a train guy since my Thomas the Tank Engine days and have always wanted to drink on a train. Whenever that train ride from Scranton to New York, which is one of the longest gags and cons going, happens I will be on it sipping on some brown water and enjoying the scenery.

  A lot of things are named “train wrecked” inside the 1905 Tavern so it’s entirely possible that they might just be really into train derailments and accidents. Seems unlikely, but I’m currently leaving everything on the table.

  The atmosphere was a jovial one where tough men were enjoying being finished with work, telling jokes, and having a few bottles of suds. What they were talking about, I don’t know but I’m glad they enjoyed themselves.

  What I love most about the 1905 Tavern is that I got the feeling that this place is trying to be known for its wings. As a wing man, that’s what I want to see. I want to see folks give the wing game a serious shot and the folks at 1905 Tavern care about their wings. You love to see it.

   

  
  Wing Size: 8
  

  Big wings are what you’re going to get at the 1905 Tavern. Are there bigger ones out there? Sure, but not that many.

  Wing night is on Tuesdays and the price for them is 78 cents a wing. I love that number. The easy thing to do would be to go with 80 cents but 78 is such an odd number that it should stick in the minds of everyone who knows about it. I know I’m not forgetting that any time soon.

  Also, I feel like around 80 cents a wing for wing night is sort of where the average is at this point in life. I have no evidence to support that. Just a feeling.

  
  Wing Flavors: 9
  

  There are 20 wing flavors to be had at the 1905 Tavern. That’s a great number of wings. Plus, you can even ask the bartender, maybe it will be Skip if you’re lucky if there are any new flavors that aren’t on the menu.

  You can get all the standard flavor you can get everywhere else but some of them have a twist that will suck you in or at least suck me in. I’m an absolute sucker for interesting named wing flavors.

  For example, for their BBQ, a flavor that every wing joint has, they call it 1905 BBQ Glaze. And for their honey mustard, another wing staple, they call it Southside Honey Mustard. You put a little bit of mystery to a wing flavor and I’m going to be all over it.

  Then they have some real headscratchers like Killa Bee and Escobar Ranch and I’m just in heaven made out of curiosity.

  
  Wing Taste (x2): 8
  

  I did 20 wings. Recently, I’ve been doing mostly 15 but on this day I was feeling saucy. Though the wings were large and had a solid MPB(meat per bite) they had good crisp.

  First I had the hot, which is tradition for going to a place for the first time. It was good sauce that had some heat, nothing overpowering but most importantly had nice flavor. It was more than just Franks Red Hot in a cloud of dust.

  Next, I had the Southside Honey Mustard. As I said, I’m a mark for wing flavors with interesting adjectives in front of the actual flavor. The flavor was fine. Honey Mustard was represented but I was hoping for some kind of flair since the word Southside was included. That happens sometimes and good on them for reeling me in.

  Then came the Escobar Ranch. I really didn’t know what to expect with these. A thought that ran through my mind was that maybe they’ll be like a Mexican/taco flavor wing for Pablo Escobar or perhaps even a strictly parm cheese-covered wing(sort of a deep cut there, think about it). Even now I can’t pinpoint exactly what flavor it was. My best guess is that it was like a Thai peanut and ranch wing. It had that type of flavor coursing through it. But I also can be wrong about this. It was good and that’s what is important.

  Lastly, I had the hot honey chipotle. These were the best I had. You get the sweetness of the honey upfront but after a few seconds that chipotle gets you in the back end. It had me sweating pretty well but nothing uncomfortable. Just some nice heat being thrown around. Good taste throughout the whole wing of this flavor that a crisp dark red complexion.