Wing Review: Badger Burger Company

The Basics:

Name: Badger Burger Company

Where: 12455 W Capitol Dr Unit C, Brookfield, WI

Additional locations in Mukwonago, Oconomowoc and Richfield too!

MKE Wings Crew Present: Frank, Amber, Jeremy, Ross, Molly, Josh, Jen, TJ

Review Date: November 23, 2022

Wing Special (as of review date): $12 for 12 wings on Thursdays

The Review:

Generally, when a place has 'burger' in their name, it's not a place I'd normally head for wings. But our wing crew needed decided to check out the Badger Burger Company in Brookfield for our traditional night before thanksgiving wing outing. The Badger Burger Company has four locations across the area and we decided to check out the Brookfield location. On Wednesdays, you can score 12 wings for $12, which is an alright special with the current state of wing prices. Normal menu price is definitely not cheap with 6 wings for $10.99, 12 for $19.99, 24 for $36.99, and 48 for $64.99. *As always, prices/availability of menu items/prices and/or specials are subject to change at the sole discretion of the bar without the knowledge of Milwaukeewings.com and may not be updated accordingly.*

A serious amount of wings!

The wings themselves were decently sized, not tiny but not huge, right in the sweet spot. Generally they were cooked well, but some batches were a bit overdone and dried out. Not sure if they use a brine or not, but the chicken itself was generally quite tasty, even if not heavily sauced.

They offer a decent sauce/dry rub variety, you can choose from: Super Hot, Hot, Smoking BBQ, Spicy Garlic, Jalapeno Mango, Medium, Mild, Honey BBQ, Thai Chili, Maker's Mark BBQ, Cajun Dry Rub

With a big group, we ordered and insane amount of wings, which is great because we can try just about everything, but I always worry about overwhelming the kitchen. Thankfully, the latter did not occur and our wings came out quite timely. Thoughts on the sauces below:

Super Hot: I'm not sure we got the right sauce on these, because if these truly were the super hot, they certainly were not hot. A few members of the wing crew often struggle with anything above a medium, but everyone was able to eat these without issue with not a one of us calling them spicy. It's entirely possible these wings were just tossed in the wrong sauce, so beware! Aside from the lack of heat, it was a nice Buffalo-style sauce, touch of heat with that vinegary tanginess.

Hot: Solid Buffalo sauce, as noted indistinguishable from the Super Hot. I always love the tried and true Buffalo flavor, and this was a pretty good one.

Smoking BBQ: This one was a pleasant surprise for me. I usually am not a big fan of BBQ sauce as a wing sauce/flavor, but I really enjoyed this one. A BBQ sauce with a touch of heat and a nice smoky flavor balanced with some sweet and tangy flavors.

Spicy Garlic: Similar to the hot, a traditional Buffalo style wing sauce, but with a bit of garlic flavor. Enjoyable, but I did hope for a bit more garlic on this one.

Mango Jalapeno

Jalapeno Magno: This was the sauce I was looking forward to the most. I often love the commonly found habanero mango wing sauces, but don't think I'd ever seen a jalapeno mango sauce before. Sadly, this one was a big letdown for me. A little bit of sweetness from the mango, and a little of fresh tasting notes from the jalapeno, but that was it, this wing was pretty bland, no heat and not a lot of flavor.

Thai Chili: sweet, sour, and tangy, this

one was a nice Asian flavor inspired sauce, but would have liked a little heat on this one.

Maker's Mark BBQ: again a bit surprised by a BBQ sauce that I liked on a wing, little sweeter but a little less spicy and smoky than the Smoking BBQ flavor. Of these two, I'd pick the Smoking BBQ over this one.

Cajun Dry Rub: flavorful with a decent amount of heat, and they certainly didn't skimp on the seasoning either. However, as I noted earlier, some of the wings were a bit on the drier side. Couple that with the abundance of dry rub on these Cajun wings, and they needed a healthy dunk in the Ranch or Blue Cheese.

The MKE Wings Crew's Favorites:

Frank: Hot and Smoking BBQ

Amber: Thai Chili

Molly: Spicy Garlic

Josh: Spicy Garlic

Jen: Spicy Garlic

Jeremy: Thai Chili and Hot

Ross: Hot

TJ: Smoking BBQ

Conclusion:

Did these wings blow me away? No. Were they bad? Not at all, they were still quite tasty for the most part. On wing night at $1/wing they're certainly not a bad option. But on a regular night where the price can be well over $1.50 per wing, I'd probably be disappointed given the price. I waffled on whether or not to hand out our Milwaukee Wings Certified Badge, and ultimately decided, no. While the wings had some things going for them, the fair amount or dry wings and the flatness of some of the sauces don't make me want to head back for wings. However, I did enjoy the place itself and would love to try a burger, or one of their Bloody Mary's those things looked amazing!

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