Operation Chicken Wing: First Stop — Howling Wolf

Last year, I had the pleasure of joining the Patch’s own William Legault in his search for burger excellence in Salem. It was delicious fun and I was more than happy to join him on the quest for chicken wings in the Witch City. The search is on for tasty wings of all types, not specifically of the buffalo variety.

The launching point of Operation Chicken Wing was the Howling Wolf Taqueria on Derby Street. Our operatives, beer and margaritas in hand, were ready. Code-names were picked (Don Knotts, Tweety, Big Bird, Buck O’, Neville Chamberlain, Chic Dibblets, Camilla, Meaty, and Cruise Ship Captain). Nine orders of Mexican Wings arrived, along with a healthy pile of napkins. Armed only with appetites and opinions we began our endeavor. Let the feasting begin!

The wings were rated 1-10 (with half points acceptable) on five key points; Presentation, Preparation, Meat Taste & Texture, Sauce, and Overall Experience. 50 points would be the highest score possible.

Presentation earned an average score of 7.5

A simple but good presentation of wings, greens, and celery although it was noted that the amount of sauce per order was inconsistent, with some plates having noticeably more sauce than others.

Preparation averaged 8 points.

Consensus was they were cooked “fine”, although one noted some of the drumettes were a little overcooked and tough. No undercooked wings.

Meat Taste & Texture rated 7.6

“Moist“, “a tad greasy“, and “could have been crispier” were on almost every review. Discussion around the table suggested the minor bit of oil/grease was from the sauce and not the wings themselves.

Sauce also received an average of 7.6

The wings came covered in a spicy/sweet red sauce (awesome color and aroma); sort of a mex-bbq style. Good sweet-tangy flavor and not overwhelmingly spicy. A nice blend of heat, tang, and flavor all on its own. Again, some orders had more sauce than others. Also available were the standard blue cheese dip or a jalapeño ranch dip. The blue cheese dip was average and the ranch seemed to be the favorite of the two, garnering comments of  “excellent”, “very good”, and “yum”. One noted the blue cheese was a little sweet.

The Overall Experience average rating was 7.5

It would have rated higher but “someone” (I’m looking at you, Mr. Knotts) neglected to give a score for this category. Atmosphere was mostly described as “nice”, and the service “good”.

The average score for the Howling Wolf mexican wings was 38.8

At about $6 for a dozen wings, this appetizer is big enough to split with a friend or have as an entrée by oneself. With across the board approval of the sauce, good atmosphere, and overall good quality of the wings, Howling Wolf Taqueria has proved to be an excellent start on our quest for finger-licking chickeny goodness.

On a side note, other items ordered by our group included ceviche, the green chille cheeseburger, and chocolate cake. All were declared "delicious".