Union Street – Detroit, MI

Are these the best wings in Detroit like their website claims? We had to make a stop on our Detroit 2010 trip to find out.

Before Nick and I’s trip to Detroit in 2010 (prior to this site being around) we both did some Internet research to see who had the best wings in Detroit. Tons of websites had people talking about Union Street, specifically about their Rasta Wings. Unfortunately time ran short on that trip and the stop at Union Street would have to wait another year.

The plan we came up with while at the Detroit Auto Show was to hit up two places for wings after the show. First would be Sweet Water and second would be Union Street. So immediately after leaving Sweet Water we drove right on over to Union Street. We showed up about 10 minutes before they opened and there was already a line forming outside. That is always a good sign that the food is good. That had me very hopeful that these wings could actually be better then the gems we just had at Sweet Water. But the bar had been raised pretty high.

Upon entering and waiting for the people in front of us to be seated we took in the cool, dark wood, ow lite atmosphere. This was definitely a little nicer then we were expecting. A dude in a suit wouldn’t feel over-dressed. However all of us in jeans and graphic T’s didn’t feel out of place either. We approached the hostess and told her we had 6. She asked if we had reservations and we told her that we did not. Come on, reservations for wings??? She let us know that it might be tough to seat us and that that day was the first day they started taking reservations and they actually over booked the tables. Ouch. We just let her know that we were just going to get some wings, and take off, so we wouldn’t be long. And that really was the plan. She did seat us and shortly after the place started filling up.

We scoped out the menu for the Rasta Wings and placed our order with our nice waitress, who was unfortunately under the weather. Since we were all stuffed from Sweet Water we just got one order, 1 dozen for $9.95, for the 6 of us and of course we ordered some beer. Our beer came quick and the wings came out promptly. The wings came out in a large bowl and were swimming in the Rasta Sauce. I loved the look of the sauce and the aroma was wonderful. We each grabbed a wing, and the second my finger tips touched the wing I knew I wasn’t going to like it. The skin was soft, and mushy. And it wasn’t the sauce that made them that way as far as I could tell. They just weren’t cooked to golden crispy perfection. Maybe that’s what they were going for?? I plowed through the first wing and was surprised by the taste. With the name like Rasta wings I fully expected Jerk Chicken wings, and this was nothing like Jerk chicken what-so-ever. And it wasn’t a better, unique flavor either. It was bitter, and definitely hot, but not good. I liked that I could see the spices, and peppers but honestly that was about all I liked about the wings. And that was the consensus around the table, they were mushy, really spicy, and over-all a huge disappointment. Detroit’s best wing? Far from it. Maybe the hottest wing, but not even close to the best the best.

I’m giving Union Street’s Rasta Wings a 2 out of 5 Wings.