Whatta Wing!
218 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington.
Open daily, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
No alcohol
Credit cards accepted ($15 minimum)
Not wheelchair accessible (one step up).
781-646-9464; whattawing.com
You could almost hear a collective sigh of disappointment when Geillio's, a cute little cafe next to East Arlington's Capitol Theatre, was replaced last fall with a chicken wing joint.
Out with the homemade soups, creative pastas, and enticing deli items. In with the Frialators, fast-food menu, and greasy take-out. Or so the neighborhood expected when Whatta Wing! opened in November.
Sometimes it's nice when a place doesn't live up to expectations.
There's no getting around the fact that Whatta Wing! is fundamentally a sub shop. Besides wings, it serves hot and cold sandwiches, burgers, wraps, some grilled meats, fried appetizers, and not much else.
Don't come here looking for vegetables, other than a simple salad or celery sticks.
And don't expect a made-from-scratch meal; most of the menu items are prepackaged or frozen foods that are cooked or assembled on-site.
But while it may not be able to brag about any precious family recipes, Whatta Wing! gains in efficiency and expediency what it sacrifices in homespun charm. Most wing orders can be ready within 10 minutes. There are no small, medium, or large food choices that could slow the process. All take-out orders are affixed with descriptive computer-generated labels, making it easy for customers to check whether their whole order is there.
Even better, Whatta Wing! may be the first fast-food restaurant in history where eating in is actually an appealing prospect.
Yes, the odor of cooking oil hangs in the air. But olfactory drawbacks aside, this 12-seat eatery is a visually appealing place. Inside and out, the restaurant is painted vivid red and yellow. Pendant lamps light the room, a flat-screen television hangs on one wall, and when owner Sarkis Avakian - who also owns a Waltham construction company, Apex Builders - renovated the space, he preserved the wide windows overlooking Mass. Ave. In a nice touch, lovely white lights now dangle in the glass.
Wings, of course, are the specialty of the house. They're sold bone-in or boneless, in quantities from six to 100 pieces ($6.50-$63.70), and with a choice of nearly 30 sauces, from "Buffalo suicide" to honey teriyaki to Oriental sesame to buttermilk ranch.
Before they're fried, the wings are coated in flour, which keeps them moist, prevents too much oil from penetrating the meat, and helps the sauces adhere. Boneless chicken tenders take five minutes to cook, while bone-in wings take 10.
"Cooking" means deep frying, but the wings aren't overly greasy. I'm partial to the white-meat tenders, which are slightly more expensive, but deliver more food for the buck.
Sauces are a mixed bag. I like the tomatoey garlic marinara and spicy barbecue. But mango habanero tastes artificially fruity. Honey mustard is freakishly yellow and contains too little mustard, not enough honey. The oddly soupy garlic Parmesan tastes mostly like thin mayonnaise. Another good choice is the "teradactal" sauce, which is a blend of barbecue and teriyaki.
A tip: Ask for sauce on the side, or order the wings plain and add a sauce of your own at home.
But don't limit yourself to wings. The turkey tips ($12), marinated in creamy Italian dressing, and steak tips ($12), marinated in teriyaki sauce, are moist, juicy, and very good, although the unseasoned pork tips ($11) are overly dry.
I wouldn't get the soggy grilled chicken Greek wrap ($7) again, or the chicken pesto sandwich ($7), which seemed to be missing its pesto. And although the battered onion rings ($3.50) and thick sweet potato fries ($3.50) are awfully tasty, they suffer as take-out items, since the time spent traveling in a styrofoam container leaves them a bit limp.
I also had a nice green pepper/egg sub ($5.50), which is basically an omelet in a bulkie roll - perfect for those of us who love breakfast.
Whatta Wing! is also heaven for reuben sandwich ($7-$9) devotees: there are four types (corned beef, pastrami, turkey, or chicken), each with tangy kraut, gooey Swiss, and creamy thousand island dressing on rye.
And the eggplant sub ($6) is wonderful in all its deep-fried glory.
SACHA PFEIFFER
