Roshawn Sterling serves up the bird at Jazzy Wings.
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| Jazzy Wings\r\n10 wings $5.99\r\n30 wings $13.40\r\nDirty rice (large) $2.99 |
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Birdland
For a little joint, Jazzy Wings serves up some big-time finger-food.
By PETER GORMAN
Jazzy Wings
3201 Vaughn Blvd, FW. 817-531-9909. Mon-Wed 3-11:30pm, Thu 11:30am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11:30am-midnight. All major credit cards accepted.
At the corner of Vaughn and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards is a small place that serves up some of the best wings in town at a price that’ll make your mouth water.
Despite its fast-food character, the year-and-a-half-old Jazzy Wings has taken the time to make itself unique: Bright salmon-hued floor tiles make the place seem larger than it is, and its walls — adorned with classic photographs of jazz greats Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, and a host of others, as well as a lovely mural of an all-time great jazz band — help drive home the theme. Three booths snugged into a corner and three bar-high round tables with comfortable tall chairs make up the entire seating capacity, but that’s not a problem, since the majority of customers visit Jazzy Wings to pick up and go.
What they’re picking up are wings and tenders, fries, onion rings, tots, Texas toast, cheese sticks, and dirty rice. The menu’s small, and many of the items appear to be bulk-bought. Nonetheless, the proprietors manage to give each a personal spin. Take the onion rings. Finished with shrimp salt, they go from mere crunchy and standard to above-average with spicy bite. A small portion ($1.75) was plenty for two to share; the large ($2.99) is enough for four. Of the homemade items, the dirty rice was excellent. Cajun-seasoned with generous helpings of ground gizzards and sliced sausages, it had the right blend of cloves, thyme, basil, garlic, and onions and was finished with bits of sweet red bell pepper. Flat-out good at any price, the dish was a steal at $1.75 and $2.99 for a half-pint and pint, respectively.
The real steals, however, are the namesake wings. They come in four shades of hot, though really only the Ellington XXX Hots actually deliver the heat. But the other flavors — ranch, lemon and pepper, barbecue sauce, or parmesan cheese — are also good, especially the ranch wings, with their tangy garlic zip, and all of them retain a lot of juice without a hint of greasiness. The best part: These wings are anything but small. A portion of 10 (which generally arrives in only one flavor, though the good folks at Jazzy Wings can be talked into making exceptions), with one side, will do you for dinner. An order of 30, with a side of crispy cheese sticks and rings, will easily serve four.
Look elsewhere for ambiance — or even metal flatware. But if you’re watching Saturday football with buddies or entertaining a group of kids, it’s hard to imagine a better or cheaper way to feed them. An order of 100 wings goes for $42.99. Toss in some Texas toast or a couple of pints of dirty rice, and you can feed 10 people for under 50 bucks. Only problem with this scenario: Jazzy Wings isn’t open on Sundays, when the Cowboys play.
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