King Fish & Wings: These Wings Earn High Marks

JOLIET, IL — If you prefer to judge a building by its outward appearance, then stay away from King Fish & Wings on Joliet's east side. The tiny takeout restaurant is in no-man's land.

King's is next to an old used car lot and less than a block up the street from the Sammy's Tire auto shop at the corner of Jackson and Henderson.

King's isn't conducive to meeting up with a bunch of friends for lunch or dinner. I found one patio table outside the building with a few old lawn chairs and that's it. Pretty much everyone who shows up at King's grabs their takeout, hops in their vehicle and zooms away.

Last week, the bug to try something new around Joliet hit me, so I pulled into the small parking lot for King's and entered the restaurant. The guy behind the counter looked to be pushing 70 years old. Hello, I told him. I'm new to King's and I wanted to know what's one of the crowd favorites.

The chicken wings dinner, he told me with confidence. The six-piece chicken wing dinner is $8.99 and comes with fries, coleslaw and bread. OK, I'll go with that. I also ordered a can of fruit punch.

"Ten minutes," the man announced.

I stepped outside and grabbed the lone patio table for myself and waited.

King's Fish & Wings, I thought to myself, shaking my head.

If Guy Fieri of Food Network TV's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" ever rolled into Joliet, I could see him making a stop at a place like this.

Fast-forward 10 minutes.

I walked back inside and my chicken wings were wrapped in a plastic bag sitting on the register counter.

I grabbed my food and figured, what the heck, since I'm already here, I'm going to make myself feel at home. So I unwrapped my food and dined on the lone patio table tucked on the west side of King's.

The wings were just as good, if not better, than I figured they would be. When I pulled into the tiny parking lot for King's, I wasn't sure if this place was any good.

It was.

"Famous for our lemon pepper breading and seasoned fries, fish, wings and shrimp," the King's restaurant menu brochure reads.

If you haven't had King's wings before, I would say their taste is comparable to another one of my favorite stops, Harolds Shrimp & Chicken in downtown Joliet at the Catholic Charities building.

After I finished my food, I went back inside and told the man behind the counter that the wings were excellent, just as he said. Then I asked him how long King's has been here in Joliet.

"Fifteen years," he answered.

I thanked him and left. I didn't get the sense that the man running King's was high on conversation with first-time customers. That's OK because King's is high on delivering quality food —fresh food — at a fair and reasonable price.

Looking over the menu, King's has everything from 12 piece tilapia for $28.99 to 12 pieces of catfish or perch for the same price.

You can buy a full pan of catfish nuggets for $89.99 or a half pan for $42.99. Kings has a fish sampler for $6.99, a King's mini combo for $8.99 and a Kings super combo for $16.99.

If you're in the mood for lots and lots of wings, King's has that too. You can get 75 wings with fries for $89.99 or go with the 50 wings and fries for $59.99.

As for me, the six wings dinner hit the spot. It wasn't too filling nor did I leave King's feeling gypped. For $8.99, I got my money's worth.

King Fish & Wings is at 703 E. Jackson St. It's closed Monday and open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

To call ahead, dial 815-727-7123.