Drove over to Ames this morning and had a chance to check out a couple of new restaurants.
First up was a lunch at the Wing Stop. I've never been to a Wing Stop, so we decided to give it a try. I ordered a half dozen bone-in wings with veg sticks (carrots and celery) and a soft drink for $9.29. That seemed a little high for wings. I picked Louisiana Rub for 3 wings and Lemon Pepper flavor for the other 3.
The restaurant was nice but uncomfortably cold. Instead of shorts and a T-shirt, I wished I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. After we ordered they told us the wait would be 18 minutes. That must be the standard wait time. I didn't time it, but that was probably about what it took. I wasn't very impressed with the napkins. There were a couple of unperformed rolls of brown paper towels, one by the soft drinks and one by the pickup window. They should take a page out of Fuzzy's book and put a roll of real paper towels on each table.
Before I give my impression, you should know that I'm not a big fan of wings. I like chicken, but I avoid eating the skin. That's hard to do with wings. I had heard good things about these wings, so I was looking forward to trying them. Maybe I would change my mind about wings. I didn't. They were very salty. Both the Louisiana Rub and Lemon Pepper flavor were very strong and very salty. Some people may like that, but it's just not for me. I haven't eaten at BWW for years, but I much prefer their flavor. The side of veg sticks was very good. They were fresh and cold. I dipped them in ranch, which was tasty, but very runny. The carrots and celery were the highlight of the meal for me.
The GF ordered a half dozen boneless wings. I found it strange that the boneless wing meal was less than the bone-in at $8.29. She had BBQ and Hawaiian flavors for hers and a side of fries. Her boneless wings looked much better than my bone-in wings. She thought the fries were good. I am not likely to return to Wing Stop anytime soon, but when I do, I will order the boneless wings.
For our evening meal, we tried the new place where Vesuvius used to be. It is called Sapori Italiani. Wood Fired Pizza on the exterior sign had us thinking it would be similar to Vesuvius personal pizzas. The place was packed when we arrived. This was not Vesuvius reborn. It was an Italian restaurant featuring wood fired pizza, but you can also get Calzones, Stromboli, Spaghetti, Manicotti and Lasagna. They were 12" pizzas, not personal sized. It took a long time to get waited on, but finally ordered the classic pepperoni and sausage. And it took even longer to get our food. You could have read one of my posts in the time we spent there.
The pizza was good. Not the best I've ever had, but I would probably get it again. But the next visit will probably be to try their pasta. They were busy, but have a lot to learn. The GF got a can of craft beer delivered that was unopened. Because they were busy it took a long time to get our pizza. While we waited I was longing for the old Vesuvius. I used to go there for lunch and hang out reading the message board while the GF was back at the condo working. This won't be the kind of place to do that.
When we were finished it took a long time for our waiter to notice and bring us the bill. He didn't recognize the universal "writing on the hand" signal for bring me my check. So he brought the check and it was probably 10 minutes before he came back. The place was not busy by then as the crowd had cleared out. I was getting really frustrated with how long this was taking. We were expecting a quick stop for a 5 minute personal pizza and we spent an hour and half there before finally getting out of there. You would have thought we were in Italy or something.
So that is it. Two new places. Not much to get excited about, although the Italian place has potential. The selection of Italian places is Ames is not very broad, so this is a welcome addition to that part of town. They need to be a little more attentive and efficient or our next visit could be our last.
First up was a lunch at the Wing Stop. I've never been to a Wing Stop, so we decided to give it a try. I ordered a half dozen bone-in wings with veg sticks (carrots and celery) and a soft drink for $9.29. That seemed a little high for wings. I picked Louisiana Rub for 3 wings and Lemon Pepper flavor for the other 3.
The restaurant was nice but uncomfortably cold. Instead of shorts and a T-shirt, I wished I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. After we ordered they told us the wait would be 18 minutes. That must be the standard wait time. I didn't time it, but that was probably about what it took. I wasn't very impressed with the napkins. There were a couple of unperformed rolls of brown paper towels, one by the soft drinks and one by the pickup window. They should take a page out of Fuzzy's book and put a roll of real paper towels on each table.
Before I give my impression, you should know that I'm not a big fan of wings. I like chicken, but I avoid eating the skin. That's hard to do with wings. I had heard good things about these wings, so I was looking forward to trying them. Maybe I would change my mind about wings. I didn't. They were very salty. Both the Louisiana Rub and Lemon Pepper flavor were very strong and very salty. Some people may like that, but it's just not for me. I haven't eaten at BWW for years, but I much prefer their flavor. The side of veg sticks was very good. They were fresh and cold. I dipped them in ranch, which was tasty, but very runny. The carrots and celery were the highlight of the meal for me.
The GF ordered a half dozen boneless wings. I found it strange that the boneless wing meal was less than the bone-in at $8.29. She had BBQ and Hawaiian flavors for hers and a side of fries. Her boneless wings looked much better than my bone-in wings. She thought the fries were good. I am not likely to return to Wing Stop anytime soon, but when I do, I will order the boneless wings.
For our evening meal, we tried the new place where Vesuvius used to be. It is called Sapori Italiani. Wood Fired Pizza on the exterior sign had us thinking it would be similar to Vesuvius personal pizzas. The place was packed when we arrived. This was not Vesuvius reborn. It was an Italian restaurant featuring wood fired pizza, but you can also get Calzones, Stromboli, Spaghetti, Manicotti and Lasagna. They were 12" pizzas, not personal sized. It took a long time to get waited on, but finally ordered the classic pepperoni and sausage. And it took even longer to get our food. You could have read one of my posts in the time we spent there.
The pizza was good. Not the best I've ever had, but I would probably get it again. But the next visit will probably be to try their pasta. They were busy, but have a lot to learn. The GF got a can of craft beer delivered that was unopened. Because they were busy it took a long time to get our pizza. While we waited I was longing for the old Vesuvius. I used to go there for lunch and hang out reading the message board while the GF was back at the condo working. This won't be the kind of place to do that.
When we were finished it took a long time for our waiter to notice and bring us the bill. He didn't recognize the universal "writing on the hand" signal for bring me my check. So he brought the check and it was probably 10 minutes before he came back. The place was not busy by then as the crowd had cleared out. I was getting really frustrated with how long this was taking. We were expecting a quick stop for a 5 minute personal pizza and we spent an hour and half there before finally getting out of there. You would have thought we were in Italy or something.
So that is it. Two new places. Not much to get excited about, although the Italian place has potential. The selection of Italian places is Ames is not very broad, so this is a welcome addition to that part of town. They need to be a little more attentive and efficient or our next visit could be our last.
