Nothing exciting ever happens in my hometown of Carrollton, except for, say, maybe a new water tower being built every now and then. But now that Quaker Steak & Lube, a popular wing franchise in the Northeast, has decided to park its first location right on Hebron Parkway next to 121 (behind the Burger King), I think my quality of life just jumped ten points higher.
‘Tis sad but true.
Jump and flap your wings.
Since wing season and football season go hand-in-hand, the grand opening party last night couldn’t have arrived at a better time. (The restaurant opens to the public today at 3 p.m.) Usually, the good people of Carrollton pile into Buffalo Wild Wings to watch men bang their heads together on big screen TVs and eat wings, but now Quaker Steak & Lube is about to steal some of that business. On comparing Buffalo Wild Wings to his business, CEO John Longstreet says, “They’re more of a sports bar, we’re more of a restaurant. We have more families in here. We happen to be a restaurant with TVs; they’re a sports bar with food.”
Quaker Steak & Lube is a green rectangle filled with automotive decoration. There are motorcycles hanging from the ceilings, a fancy sports car sitting on top of some rectangle thing, and monster trucks decorating the outside. The wings here can get pretty spicy. The atomic wings sting your tongue, and the triple atomic (“Guts, Glory, Pain!” it says on the menu) will make you cry if you’re not a spicy eater. No kidding, I tried it, and it burns your eyes and mouth like a nicer version of pepper spray (which, yes, I’ve sadly tried before by accident).
Stay away from the “Original” BBQ wings here, though. They taste like BBQ candy dipped in BBQ molasses, if there ever was such a thing.
Suckers for wings and sports will be happy to know that Quaker Steak & Lube is spreading to a town near you.
President and CEO John Longstreet says, “This actually is what we’re beginning to call ‘The Stampede of Texas.’ We’re opening in Waco next week and Plano in January, and Dallas shortly after that….”
