Buffalo Jack’s is really all about the wings
By Colleen Coffield Sachs Daily News Columnist
MIRAMAR BEACH – The menu at Buffalo Jack’s Legendary Wings, a new Miramar Beach restaurant, says “It’s All About the Sauce.”
Buffalo Jack’s Legendary Wings is on the south side of Emerald Coast Parkway just west of Silver Sands Outlet Mall. Photographed by Daily News photographer Debi Haussermann.
In fact, everything on the menu can be dipped or doused with one of the nine sauces.
But the sauces alone don’t work without some good food to go with them. And when it comes to good food, Buffalo Jack’s is really all about the wings.
There are a number of good food options at Buffalo Jack’s, but the wings stand out. They are quintessential wings.
The skin is nicely crisp, giving way to tender, steaming hot meat inside. Wings are a mix of drumettes and double-bone pieces, and both are good.
Once you decide on wings, you have a couple of more decisions to make. The first is whether you want the wings naked or breaded. Naked is the traditional style, while breaded gives you a fried chicken wing.
The next decision is the sauce. While wings sauces have historically been prepared with butter and hot pepper sauce, the recent trend has been to offer other sauces for those who don’t like spicy food. Buffalo Jack’s offers nine sauce options, with something to please just about anyone.
Traditional sauce is available in mild, medium, hot and “screaming crazy hot.” There is also the Asian Dragon sauce, a sweet chili sauce; a bourbon-based sauce; Mango Tango, tasting much like mango chutney; Thai peanut sauce; and a barbecue sauce.
Many of the sauces work well with other menu items, too. For example, the Buckhead Burger, a half-pound burger cooked to your requested temperature, was good with barbecue sauce and with Jack’s Bourbon sauce.
A fried chicken breast sandwich was outstanding by itself with its golden crust and tender meat. But it was even better with a little Mango Tango sauce. As with everything on the menu, the chicken was an oversized serving.
Small fried shrimp were offered as an appetizer. I like them dipped in the Asian Dragon sauce. The shrimp also generously filled a po’ boy. Chicken tender dinners work with any of the sauces.
Buffalo Jack’s has a number of starters, many of which could also be side dishes. Fries were nice and crisp, as were onion rings. There were also cheese sticks, jalapeno poppers, and fried mushrooms.
Two of the appetizers, and a soup turned out to be the only menu items I couldn’t recommend.
The tortilla chips, which are served with salsa or queso, held so much oil that they were shiny. In addition, the queso was well over seasoned. Tortilla soup had an unusual texture that was so thick that it could be scooped up with the tortilla chips served alongside.
On the other hand, salads were fresh and good. Meal-size salads include versions topped with popcorn shrimp, chicken tenders and grilled chicken breast.
There is also a Thai Buffalo Salad with greens, sesame seeds, peanuts, crunchy noodles, Mandarin orange segments, and grilled chicken. It is dressed with Thai Peanut or Mango Tango dressing.
Beverages include soft drinks and tea, as well as draft and bottled beer, and wine. Imported and domestic beers are offered, and Yellow Tail wines are featured prominently.
Buffalo Jack’s has followed another trend in wings restaurants by placing a small television in each booth (larger televisions with sporting events are also in the restaurant). There are plenty of channels available, and for younger guests (or those who are young at heart) a SpongeBob Squarepants game is an option.
Service was good at Buffalo Jack’s. Our servers checked on our table often, and were readily available for refills on beverages (important when you are eating screaming crazy hot wings). We were made to feel welcome when we arrived, and the manger took time to visit all the tables to make sure things were going smoothly.
Buffalo Jack’s is a welcoming, family-friendly restaurant. They do a good job with food (with the exception of the Mexican items), and service, and really showcase the wings.
Colleen Coffield Sachs is restaurant reviewer for the Daily News. She dines unannounced at area restaurants for this column. You may write to her in care of the newspaper at P.O. Box 2949, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32549.
