This is a first for aWingThing. Coaches Pub has us divided. Who liked’em and who thought they were so-so?
Below you will see two reviews. One done by myself (Mel), and one done by Dan Hayes. We went to Coaches Pub on two separate occasions with two separate groups of people and came up with two very different results. I loved’em and Dan thought they were below average. So the stars we each would give Coach’s is at the bottom of our reviews, and the stars given for the final numbers are the average of our two reviews. I think another trip with the entire group is diffidently in order here.
Mel’s Review of Coach’s
I grew up a stone’s throw away from Coaches Pub and have walked/drove by this place more times then I could ever count. it’s just one of these typical Milwaukee (South side, North side, East side, West side, whatever) dive bars that caters to the locals and doesn’t do much on the outside to draw you in. The beer flows like water and the fish fry’s are served by the kiloton on Friday’s, BUT they also have wings. Coach’s was actually suggested by a “regular” at the bar and those can honestly be hit or miss. So you never really know what to expect.
The night we decided to go to Coaches Pub also happened to be my day of birth…er Birthday. Of course a wing addict like myself HAS to have wings on their birthday, right? That evening I was joined by my very pregnant (at the time), and lovely wife Nicole, Dave Lorino, Nick Collura, and my friends Heman Dave and his wonderful wife Prutha Dave.
Admittedly my expectations for the wings were set pretty low. I hate to expect too much out of a place unless I hear a lot of people saying otherwise. It was pretty busy when we arrived so we put our names in and waited for the rest of the party to arrive. After knocking back a cold one at the bar we were seated in the outdoor patio area (which is all the rage since Milwaukee’s smoking ban. woot woot), which was perfect on this particular warm August evening. With plenty of elbow room and good company we all relaxed and began studying he menu.
Coaches Pub offers wings prepared three different ways, “Coaches Pub Traditional Wings, Bone-in Broasted, and Boneless Breaded, along with your choice of eight different sauces including, BBQ, Sissy, hot, Flaming, Nuclear, Asian, Pineapple Chili, and Sweet Teriyaki. Between the different ways you could get the wings to the amount of sauces I was pleasantly surprised. We all placed our order and pretty much covered the gamut including some boneless wings and the broasted. I was personally excited for the broasted wings because broasted chicken is usually has a very crispy exterior and a moist, juicy interior which traditional frying can’t usually match.
The wings arrived in a timely fashion (although we wouldn’t have noticed if it was a little longer because the liquor was flowing pretty well by this point). The wings were all served on their own plates and looked to be nice and fresh and just the right size. Everyone seemed very happy with the wings over-all. The broasted had the exact crispy texture, and almost that traditional “southern fried chicken” exterior that I expect. The seasoning in the breading was just right, with a little bit of heat, and plenty of good spice. Dave’s Sweet Teriyaki wings had an amazing glaze, and were topped with sesame seeds, adding another layer of flavor. The Hot was my favorite by far. Like I’ve said in other reviews, there’s nothing like a perfect Buffalo sauce and that’s pretty much what it was. Nothing ground breaking, but the fundamental flavor was just right.
All-in-all everyone left happy and satisfied. After we ate, we stayed and drank and I’m pretty sure I had to be carried to the car (always a sign of a good night to me). I would go back to Coaches Pub in a heart beat. Another classic example of not judging a book by it’s cover.
I’m going to give Coaches Pub a 3.5/5 stars.
Dan Hayes Review:
In a recent trip down to the “Filthy”, Dave “Wingaling” Lorino, Adam “Lil Wang” O’Lena and myself Dan “Wingreaper” Hayes decided on stopping in at Coaches Pub on S. 13th street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for there wing night. After making a few wrong turns, we finally made it to Coaches. As we walked inside the place was pretty packed. Not many bar stools and a few tables inside but plenty of room on the patio outside. Seeing as it was warm for us Wisconsin folk, we decided to sit outside on the patio and enjoy the fresh air and some beers. After sitting around there for 10 minutes trying to figure out how we ordered a waitress came to the table and asked if we needed some menus. In the mean time we ordered some drinks and pondered the wing selection. The wing special was 15 for $6 and 35 for $12. Myself and Adam decided to do the 35 and Dave decided on the order of 15. We also ordered of Waffle Fries to go between the 3 of us. When the waitress came back out to get our orders we were disappointed when asked if we could mix and match sauces. No mixing, all orders had to be of one sauce. Once we heard that, silence ensued and all of us sat looking at each other wondering WTF. Our only options were to have the traditional wings, the broasted and breaded bone in wings, or the boneless wings. Since Adam is one of the spicy guys in aWingThing he decided on the hot traditional wings with a side of Flaming to dip in. Dave ordered the Sissy traditional wings and I ordered the Hot traditional wings as well. I do not mind a spicy wing but just wasn’t in the mood to have my mouth practically on fire.
After putting down a few more beers our order finally came out, and boy were we surprised. The wings were larger then average in size and the wings weren’t soaked in sauce. Perfect combo in my opinion. As the orders came out and the waitress left Adam saw that he was missing his extra flaming sauce that he had ordered. In the meantime we all dug in. Going through the first few wings we were all pleasantly surprised. The skin was cooked very well and had a nice and crunchy. The Hot was your typical Hot wing. Somewhat spicy with a little bite but in these wings they were covered slightly in black pepper which gave it a little different flavor. One that was agreed upon between the three of us as being different yet good. The sissy sauce according to Dave was just your plain mild sauce. Nothing special just a basic Buffalo sauce with little to no heat. But Dave also mentioned that it could have been because the wings were sitting out for a while and were practically cold by the time he got them. Our only answer to that was Coaches Pub made those first and that sat out while Adam and my self’s wings were being cooked. The waitress came back out and Adam asked for his extra sauce and she replies with “oh yea I’ll go grab it right now”. While she was at the table we ordered another round of beers. She came back out with our beers and no sauce, and walks away. Dave finished up his 15 wings no problem and Adam and myself got through 20-25 before we finally threw in the towel.
All bars take pride in some type of food that they serve, whether its burgers, or wings, or pasta, or pizza. And wings are not a Coaches Pub specialty. They were good but not somewhere I’m going to go back to unless I’m in the area and super hungry. They lacked the multiple flavors, whether it being an Asian flavored wing, or something with garlic or a spicy bbq. Coaches Pub just didn’t have it, and that comes along with what I stated earlier that it is just not their go-to food for their customers. Yes, the special was a good deal but not having the variety of wings and the ability to have multiple flavors hurts where Coaches Pub stands in the world of wings.
