Bart and Urby’s is one of those places that I have been told about so many times to check out for wings, and we finally got around to it. I will begin by stating that every time I talk about this place, I want to call it Burt and Ernie’s, as though it was owned by the famous Sesame Street duo. That is not the case. I have yet to see a Sesame Street themed restaurant and this place does not fill that hole. Regardless, it is a very nice place. It’s a sort of upper class joint in the heart of Wilkes Barre. The place has a nice long bar when you walk in, with plenty of high-table seating and regular sit down tables. It is pretty spacious inside. They offer Yuengs and Wings on their wing night, where you can also get Yuengling for $2.00. Also, they have a Bingo sort of game called Wingo. The menu states the game happens once every hour. We got to experience it once, and my one friend actually won a free order of wings. Personally, I love me some Bingo, so it was a nice touch. Oh, and on top of all that, Wheel of Fortune was on one of the TVs. The wings didn’t take all that long to come out, but the service wasn’t top notch. Although it wasn’t bad by any means, there were times we were sitting around waterless or didn’t get checked on in a while. It wasn’t super busy either for a wing night. As we were leaving though, a pretty big group walked in, so your mileage may vary.
The wings were set at $0.45. That’s not the complete story though. If you want to split an order or get only 6, you have to pay an extra dollar. That’s another thing, the lowest order amount you can get is 6. It wasn’t the worst thing, but I like my orders in 5 so I can get more variety. There is no way I’m taking down 24 wings, but I can put a pretty decent dent in 20 wings.
I had no idea that Bart and Urby’s had such a huge assortment of wings. I was very happy with the amount of options. Not only do they have all your traditional options, but they do offer some unique flavors that I have not seen elsewhere. I loved the different dry rub options provided.
With the group that went, we got a real smorgasbord of flavors. The traditional hot were just that. It wasn’t anything outrageous or out of this world, but it got the job done. Chipotle Ranch were amazing. I have yet to find a Chipotle Ranch I don’t like. It has that perfect amount of spice you like that gives it a smoky flavor, while also being mixed with ranch. You cannot go wrong with these wings. I was a bit let down by the Thai Curry. I was expecting a spicier, curry like wing sauce. It was more like a Sweet Chili Thai sauce than a Curry sauce. To be honest, I didn’t get the curry at all. It was good as a Sweet Chili Thai sauce, but it didn’t not pull off that curry flavor well. The Cajun were a surprise hit. My experience with Cajun has not been very good. I have such high hopes and I am always let down. At Bart and Urby’s they actually pulled it off quite well. It’s one of the best Cajun wings I’ve had. The 50/50 is a mix of Bleu Cheese and Hot Sauce. That’s exactly what they tasted like. You’re not going to be surprised by this one. Sriracha Bleu is along the same lines, only made with Sriracha sauce. I preferred these wings over the 50/50 due to the extra flavor of the chili. Finally, the Thai Garlic Teriyaki almost seemed like a guaranteed hit for me as I am a sucker for Teriyaki. This wasn’t your traditional Teriyaki though. It was more like a sticky, sweet sauce than a salty sauce. It was good, but not the kind of Teriyaki that I go crazy for. More or less, you can find some pretty awesome flavors at Bart and Urby’s. I love their huge selection, and if you choose the right flavors, you will leave more than satisfied.
Bart and Urby’s is a place that doesn’t have activities like a pool table or darts or anything like that but they don’t need them. The atmosphere that everyone there projects along with innovative and interactive activities is so profound that it sucks you into having a good time regardless of your mood. Our server was spot on with everything we ordered and was sociable. Bart and Urby’s, to me, mixes the class that you get at a place like Jack Draft’s House and fuses with a upbeat college type atmosphere like you would get at a Mickey Gannon’s. All walks of life can be found there along with quite the disparity of ages. Back to the activities they have. On their wing night, they have a game called Wing-O, which is their version of bingo and if you win, you win an order of wings. It’s fun, different and makes me feel good that someone is thinking on how make customers have a good time besides just drinks.
The wing night price is 45 cents, which is pretty much the new average in wing prices for a wing night. The wings themselves are nothing to sneeze at unless you’re sick and if you’re sick why would you sneeze at wings? It doesn’t make any sense. But they’re large and will fill you up. I certainly didn’t walk out of there hungry.
They nailed with the amount of flavors they have and the range of flavors they have. They carry 23 different flavors ranging from sirracha blue cheese to Jose’s chili lime all the way to dry rubs of Italian and Tuscan spices. This place clearly puts effort and thought into their sauces and that will always be rewarded.
Bart Urby’s brought it. What’s it you ask? It is what you can’t see but in this case, it is what you can taste. I ordered their hot, Tuscan Rub, sirracha Blue cheese and Cajun. Their hot were on point. Had a quite a bit of zest and a fair amount of heat. The Tuscan rub was very interesting. It was a dry rub that was loaded with spices that you would find in an Italian kitchen. Extremely tasty and unlike some places where you get a dry rub, they really cake on the rub. It was refreshing to see and eat. Sirracha blue cheese, a real ying and yang flavor idea that delivered with every bite. If you know me at all, you will hear me praise sirracha sauce and will also tell you that it’s coming and will be right up there with bbq sauce in a few years. But this wing brought the heat and then cooled you off with the blue cheese. A solid concoction, indeed. Finally, the Cajun wings were not a letdown at all. They had those southwest spices going mixed a creamy sauce that was consistent with every bite.
