The Basics:
Name: Limanski's Pub
MKE Wings Crew Present: Frank, Amber, Ross, Molly, Josh, Jenny, Jon, Katie, Jeremy
Review Date: January 20, 2020
Wing Special? $0.50 Monday and Wednesday
(Special accurate as of Jan 29, 2020)
The Review:
Limanski's is relatively new to the Milwaukee wing scene, believe it was 2017 when the opened their doors. But they've grown in popularity and took home the People's Choice Award at the 2019 Milwaukee Wing Fest. This is visit was my third to Limanski's, but with almost the full wing crew in attendance to this cold January Monday, many of the crew were making their first trip to Limanski's. Our large group proved to be a bit problematic as the bar itself is pretty small with limited seating, nothing was open to accommodate our group. But, we divided the group and made it work, it was time for wings!
If nothing else, Limanski's may very well be the king of the hill when it comes to sauce/flavor options, there are over 30 wing sauces/dry rubs on the menu and a specials board had a few extra flavors listed as well. I love the variety, they've y got the standard flavors you'd expect, but they really have some unique options you won't find at many other places (if any at all!). The only downside to such a large number of options, it can really make your decisions difficult! While I may want to check out 8 flavors, ordering 48 wings for myself really isn't practical! One fair warning, if you check Limanski's website, you'll only see 12 or so flavors are listed. Take a look at the full menu to the right for an idea of the sauce listing, it's more than I want to retype!
One awesome thing about Limanski's that many places don't offer is preparation options for your wings. You can get your wings cooked naked (fried, no breading), crispy (breaded), or grilled. There is a boneless option too if that's your thing. So with 32 sauces and 4 preparations, you've got 128 possibilities, and that's just a single order! We visited on a Monday which is one of their two $0.50 wing nights. We could order wings in blocks of 6 per flavor, and mix and match the preparation style of our wings. Want 6 grilled with Buffalo, 6 breaded with lemon pepper, and 6 naked with spicy garlic? You can get it! So many possibilities here and really gives you full control to pair certain sauces with different cook styles (more on that in a bit). We took full advantage of this, some ordered all their wings in one style while others did some of each style.
With our order in we waited for our wings. Worth noting, in addition to the $0.50 wings on Mondays and Wednesdays, you can also get $7 pitcher of Miller/Coors Light or High Life. Always a bonus when there's a decent beer deal at the same time as a wing special. While those beers not really my top choice, the simple American Lager with some hot wings is a classic pairing that's hard to beat!
The wings came out pretty timely, but because we had to split up our group, the first four people to get their order were done before the last six got their food, but this was not that big of a deal. One thing the entire wing crew agreed on was that the wings were pretty small. Personally, I ordered 18 with the thought of taking some home, but I ate them all. And that was pretty much the case for all of us, everybody ordered either 12 or 18 wings, and every single wing was consumed, not a wing left behind. I also experienced this to my visit to Limanski's over the summer, Ross and I each ordered 12 wings and were still pretty hungry at the end. On $0.50 wing night this isn't that big of a deal, as it isn't a bad price. But with normal menu price of 6 for $8 or 12 for $12, the wings are pretty small for their price. But, enough on the pricing. I ordered my wings naked, so fried but no breading. The chicken itself was cooked well, nice and crispy outside but with a juicy interior. Very good wings overall, I just wish they were bigger.
For the flavors, Amber and I each ordered 3 orders of 6 to share. After much
deliberation and a few last minute changes, we finally went with: Garlic Parmesan, Lemon Pepper, Sriracha Bourbon, Cherry Chipotle, Spicy Garlic and Firey Sunshine (described on menus as Tangy, Sweet hot with Brown Sugar).
Spicy Garlic - by far my favorite I had. Medium level of Buffalo-style heat, but with a really creamy garlic flavor. It was really the creaminess of the sauce that made it stand out.
Sriracha Bourbon - while listed in the middle of the spiciness spectrum on the menu, this one actually seemed the hottest to me, or, at least it lingered the longest. You've probably had Sriracha, so I won't explain that, but, picture that mixed with a very sweet bourbon sauce. This was a really nice balance of sweet and heat, albeit a bit spicier than expected!
Cherry Chipotle - speaking of sweet and heat, this sauce is in the same boat. While sweet, I'm not sure I'd be able to pick out the cherry taste specifically, but definitely tasted quite sweet and "fruity" with a smoky kick from the chipotle. This sauce not too far off of a BBQ sauce.
Firery Sunshine - this dry rub was quite interesting. At first I thought it didn't have too much taste, but remember earlier when I talked about mixing and matching flavors with preparations? I made an error in ordering a dry rub with my naked wings, not enough of the seasoning really stuck to my wings. A crispy wing would have helped trap some of the seasoning. That said, when I tried some of the extra seasoning hanging out under my wings, this flavor had quite a bit going on. The first tastes that hit you are a brown sugar sweetness with a tangy, citrus-like flavor. Then the heat kicks in, not overpowering, but enough to heat up your mouth. I'd like to revisit this one some day on a crispy with for full flavor effect!
Lemon Pepper - a dry seasoning, nothing too unexpected here. I wish a bit more would have stuck to the wing, a breaded wing may have helped trap some of that seasoning.
Garlic Parmesan - pretty decent garlic parm sauce, creamy, savory, but I just wish there was more, some were a bit under sauced.
Some comments on other flavors ordered by the wing crew:
Thai Peanut (notes by Jeremy) - Thai Peanut was clearly my favorite. Creamy, nutty, with a bit of a ginger zest on the end. I could easily have eaten 18 of those by themselves. Only thing I wish was to order them breaded, not naked. Possibly soak up more flavor that way.
Caribbean Jerk (notes by Jeremy) - Jerk was of a dry rub but still had great flavor. Being a Dry Rub, unfortunately some of the flavor was lost when it fell off the wing and into the basket but still, the wings that did have enough seasoning had a great flavor
Maple Bacon (notes by Jeremy) - This was there award winner and for good reason, it's a really great flavor. Best way to describe this is Chicken and Waffles in wing form. The maple came in at the start and ended with a nice bacon finish..
How were the sides? Well, didn't get any so I can't really say. I wasn't asked if I wanted Ranch or Bleu, so, not sure if unavailable, or if I just needed to be proactive about asking for them.
Conclusion:
All said and done, Limanski's is a solid wing joint. If you want variety in flavors, you probably aren't going to find too many places better than this. Of flavors we tried, all were pretty much on the mark, bold, tasty, and they stood apart from each other. My biggest strike against them is the small wings which is fine, but seems a bit out of line with the regular menu price. However, the do make up for this with two $0.50 wing nights during the week (Monday and Wednesday). It'd also be great if they could find room for a bit more seating. Even with those couple negative points, everything else is good enough for us to declare that Limanski's is a Milwaukee Wings Certified Wing Joint!
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