The Beacon

Basic Information:

• First Visit to The Beacon - 09/28/16
  Overall Rating: 56

  Lynch Serniak

  Lynch's Rating: 27 out of 50

  Environment: 4
  

  The Beacon is the farthest north we have ever travelled for wings. It has been recommended to us a number of times in the past so we figured it was about time we check it out. It is located along PA-171 in Union Dale. When I walked into the place, I was pleasantly surprised at the interior. There a large-sized bar area with a long bar and a number of bar tables for eating in groups. They also have darts, pool, a jukebox, and shuffleboard. It just seems like a really cool place to hand out. The Beacon also has a dining room area that I didn’t get too good of a look at, but seemed pretty roomy. That may explain why there were so many cars in the parking lot. We sat at the bar and unfortunately had to wait a bit. Our waitress was very nice, but it seemed like she had a lot to handle in the bar area, so service was a bit slow and the wings took quite a while to come out. It seems like people started to filter out of the bar area a bit after 7, so it may behoove you to wait until later to hit up the Beacon on a wing night. Keep in mind that wing night only occurs on Wednesday between 5 and 9 PM. While the place itself was nice, there were a number of tiny things that added up to make my overall experience less than pleasant.

  
  Wing Size: 8
  

  Most of the wings I received from The Beacon were absolutely massive. While it seemed to be a mix from extremely large to average, most of the wings tended to be on the larger size. In fact, one of the wings I received may have been the biggest regular wing I have ever had.

  
  Wing Flavors: 3
  

  For some reason, I had this idea in my head that The Beacon offered a huge variety of wings. That was not the case. While they do provide the basics, there’s not much outside of that. It was nice to see an amped-up hot called Holy Cow on the menu. Oh, and be sure to see if they have anything not offered on the menu. We asked and were told that they offer a Sweet Chili sauce.

  
  Wing Taste (x2): 6
  

  Since there was a limited selection at The Beacon, I went with a classic Hot and tried the Sweet Thai. The regular Hot is a runnier type of hot sauce. The wings were more coated in the sauce than they were swimming in it. The taste of the regular hot was good. It found a nice balance of a slight spice and flavor. The Sweet Chili definitely lived up to its name. The sweetness of the sticky sauce was pretty apparent when I tried it, but not to the point where it was overwhelming. The sauce also had a slight saltiness to it that I enjoyed quite a bit.

  Serniak's Rating: 29 out of 50

  Environment: 7
  

  The Beacon, which is all the way up in Uniondale is a real genuine, mans man bar. I gotta believe that everyone there were the toughest people in the world. Everyone there just seemed that they can handle themselves. But on the flip side, they weren’t intimidating at all. Real sweethearts. Real salt of the earth bunch. The bar itself looks like a real throwback to bars of yesteryear. No screwing around, just bar. We sat at the bar so our server was also our bartender. She was nice and personable with us.

  
  Wing Size: 7
  

  The wings are 50 cents each and had a nice size to them. Right where the average is. You certainly will feel full if you get whatever your standard order is. For me, they could’ve been crispier, but I understand not everyone is down for that.

  
  Wing Flavors: 5
  

  Just the basics here. Nothing really out of the ordinary. I was hoping there would be a bigger selection of flavors, but they really only carried your standard flavors that you can get at pretty much anywhere else. They do have a flavor called Holy Cow which is their hot just amplified with more heat. Also, they have a sweet chili that’s not on their menu.

  
  Wing Taste (x2): 5
  

  The wings were fine, but were uneventful. It’s a symptom of being spoiled by all the wings I’ve consumed on this quest of trying wings all over the area. They were straight up wings that did their job but weren’t flashy. The hot were a general hot. Had some heat, nothing overpowering. The honey mustard were exactly that. Had everything you’re looking for with this flavor. The butter and garlic were represented just fine. There even was a good amount of garlic which is always a great thing. Finally, I got the sweet chili which want on the menu. They also were fine. Had your sweetness accompanied by the heat of the chili seasoning. Solid stuff.