Fire On The Mountain 2 now open in Portland - East Burnside

After a short delay, Fire On the Mountain 2 has officially opened it's doors for business on the ever renewing strip of East Burnside in Portland. The silent opening (the place was completely packed even though they didn't do any promotion, just opened up the doors) makes FOTM the first locally owned and operated wing joint in Portland to have mulitlpe locations - and marks another monumental step forward for the wing industry in the city.

Often times you will see the large chain wing joints (such as Buffalo Wild Wings and the Wingstop) open up multiple locations as a part of their market entry strategy, but once a local place is able to open up multiple locations, you know that they've found a winning recipe and a market that is truly ready and open to the wing. The Wingdome in Seattle has witnessed a similar level of success with their multiple locations in the Emerald City.

Fire On the Mountain has recieved much publicity lately for their success, the Oregonian wrote an article about them "Winging it" back on December 21st and BusinessWeek inked their small business success story "Restauranteurs Don't Just Wing It" on January 14th.

Much more will be written by us and others about about this wing joint gem over the coming months and years, but for now, enjoy our review on the Oregon page of the Internet Hot Wing Database and check out the camera-phone pics below...

Peace, love, and grease!

Scott "The Cluckbucket" Roth
http://www.cluckbucket.com/

Fire On the Mountain 2 at 17th and East Burnside


The front half of the restaurant with the expanded bar area

Friends of Cluck (Aaaron and Robbie) getting ready to hurt some FOTM chicken!

Portland, OR Wing Wars Continue

A friend sent me some recent blog posts that had comparisons of the wing joints in Portland, OR. Very interesting read, and I'm very to glad that there are others as obsesed about chicken wings in Portland as I am. Overall I agree with the Blogger's assessment, Fire on the Mountain still is my favorite wing joint in Portland and I can't wait to see what happens when they open up their second location. I still must admit that I haven't yet had wings from Biggs Brothers Wing Shack but I have heard very very good things about them. Maybe this lovely football weekend will be my time...

Nonetheless, here are the links to the recent wing reviews in Portland and a link to the wing recap that I wrote a few months ago (just in case you forgot about it...)

Comparison of Buffalo Wild Wings to Fire on the Mountain:
http://portland.metblogs.com/archives/2007/12/wings_in_portla.phtml

Comparison of the Wing Stop to Fire on the Mountain:
http://portland.metblogs.com/archives/2008/01/the_wing_wars_c.phtml

Cluckbucket.com Portland Wing Roundup:
http://cluckbucket.blogspot.com/search/label/portland%20oregon%20wing%20round-up

Peace, love, and grease!
Scott "The Cluckbucket" Roth

Wings Coming to Downtown Portland

I just caught wind that Buffalo Wild Wings is going to be opening up their second Portland-area location this fall, this time they've got a massive space downtown - 4th and Morrison to be exact. It's right across the street from Pioneer Place mall next door to Alessandro's italian restaurant. I just walked by and it looks like they've got a lot of work to do to get the place ready, but because of the size it will make a huge impact on the wing and sports bar scene in downtown PDX.

In my opinion, this will make a great addition to the Portland wing scene, especially on Tuesdays when the $.40 wing offer makes their small wings and massed produced consistency very palatable. As I always say, BW3 is better as a sports bar than a wing joint - but I can imagine you will be finding me there on Tuesdays...

Portland, OR Wing Round-up: Buffalo Wild Wings

It's been a while since I've written about the wing scene in Portland, OR (where I live) so I thought I'd give you a bit of an update.

My third favorite place to get wings in Portland is Buffalo Wild Wings (or, as I will forever call them, BW3 - or B-Dubs). Similar to The Wingstop which I talked about earlier, BW3 is a nationwide chain that has recently opened up a franchise location locally in Portland. B-Dubs made it's way onto the Portland wing scene late last fall and seems to be a very popular destination for the west-side (read Beaverton and Hillsboro) crowd.

While I love BW3 as a sports bar - I only like BW3 as a wing joint. Let me be clear (thanks JP), I do believe that you really need to give B-Dubs some mad props for helping to spread the love of the wing across the United States, but outside of that - their wings are just very average. They have some pretty good wing sauces, but the thing that always gets me is how tiny their wings are, and how much they charge for them. Hands down, the best night to go to BW3 is on Tuesday when they have $.40 wings.

Again, if you are in Portland and you can't make it to Fire On the Mountain and you find yourself on the west side of town - Buffalo Wild Wings is a good bet for you.

Want to put your money where your mouth is? Buffalo Wild Wings is a publicly traded company that is blazing (pun intended) up the financial charts. Since their IPO a couple of years ago, the stock price has tripled and they just recently announced a stock-split. Man, yet another company I should have invested in a while ago...

Here are the vitals:

Buffalo Wild Wings
2219 NW Allie Ave.
Hillsboro, OR
http://www.buffalowildwings.com/

Peace, love, and grease!

Scott "The Cluckbucket" Roth
http://www.cluckbucket.com/

Portland, OR Wing Round-up: The Wingstop

It's been a while since I've written about the wing scene in Portland, OR (where I live) so I thought I'd give you a bit of an update.

Next up on my list is The Wingstop. The Wingstop joined the Portland wing scene earlier this year with their first location at Eastport Plaza, just off 82nd Ave or I-205. The Wingstop has a small dine-in area and appears to do an even bigger carry-out business.

Their menu features about ten different wing sauces and my personal favorites are the original hot, cajun, and the garlic parmesean. This is one place where I don't mind getting more saunces that just a traditional buffalo flavor. Similar to FOTM they also have pretty good fresh cut french fries to go with the wings. They also have some Family Packs that come with wings, fries, and veggies and make ordering quite convenient.

If making it to North Portland for FOTM is problematic for you and you live on the east side of town, I highly recommend that you check The Wingstop out.

Here are the vitals:

The Wingstop
4124 SE 82nd Ave
Portland, OR 97266
http://www.mywingstop.com/?cl=317

Order Online

Peace, love, and grease!

Scott "The Cluckbucket" Roth
www.cluckbucket.com

Portland, OR Wing Round-up: Fire On The Mountain

It's been a while since I've written about the wing scene in Portland, OR (where I live) so I thought I'd give you a bit of an update.

Let's start with the hands down favorite for best wings in Portland, Fire On The Mountain. FOTM first burst onto the Portland wing scene in January of 2005. They got of to a pretty quick start since they were one of the only wing joints in Portland at the time. And now, every time that I go to FOTM (which is about every 2 or 3 weeks) the place is completely packed - it doesn't matter what time of the day it is or what day of the week, there is always a big crowd.

They've held true to their love of the wing and continue to crank out some of the best wings I've ever had. They have many different sauces that are all really good, but the only sauce for me is their regular "hot" sauce. The wings are pretty good sized and are always deep fried to an absolute perfection. Even more, in addition to having the best wings in town, they also have the best fresh-cut french fries.

Rumor has it that they are currently working on FOTM2 which will be located around 20th and East Burnside, but I haven't recieved any confirmation on whether or not this is actually going to happen and when...

If you are ever in Portland, OR, make sure you stop by Fire On The Mountain. Here are the vitals:

Fire On The Mountain
4225 N. Interstate Ave.
Portland, OR
www.portlandwings.com

Hours of Operation:
Monday - Thursday
11am - 10pm
Friday - Saturday
11am - 11pm
Sunday
11am - 10pm

Peace, love, and grease!

Scott "The Cluckbucket" Roth
www.cluckbucket.com

The Super Bowl Wing Crisis: Portland Oregon Style

Best Wings in Portland, OR

Loyal Cluckbucket fan Lex from Portland writes:

Dear Cluckbucket,

Wish I had had your phone number the other day – Superbowl wing crisis. Drinking bloody mary’s at noon we decided it was time to put in an order for the big game. After our fourth attempt Fire On the Mountain picked up their phone only to tell us the earliest they could have our order ready was 5PM.

So what is now the reigning number 2 wing joint in the city if I ever need a backup? The bartender where we were drinking said her family owns Jax and therefore suggested we try that place. We weren’t buying it.

Hope all is well,

Lex

PS: We had cheese steaks instead.

Dear Lex-

I can completely understand your quandary. Fire On the Mountain is without a doubt the BEST wing joint in the greater Portland area. For the odd situations where you can't get a batch served up from FOTM, here's what I recommend.

2. The Wing Stop: Even though it's a tough location for most of us (4124 SE 82nd Ave), The Wing Stop is my number 2 wing joint in the Portland area. They are primarily known for take-out orders but they do have a small dine in space. Their wings are are naked with a great variety of sauces, try the cajun, original hot, and garlic parmesan. Add to that pretty cheap beer and great fresh cut french fries, and you've got a winning combination. It's no FOTM, but it's great for a runner up.

3. Buffalo Wild Wings: Better as a sports bar than a wing joint, Buffalo Wild Wings (BW3 or B-Dubs) is my number 3 pick for the Portland area. They have a disturbing amount of really really nice televisions and a good beer selection which makes this an excellent spot to watch the game. Their wings and sauces are solid, but not great. The other downfall is that their prices seem to be a bit high unless you go on Tuesdays when they have $.50 wings. All said, I recommend BW3 to anyone who hasn't been to one before or anyone who is stuck out in the Beaverton/Hillsboro area (more locations coming to Portland in the not-so-distant future).

4. Make your own wings: If you can find any chicken left on Super Bowl sunday, grab what you can, find a recipe from the Cluckbucket, and cook them up on your own.

5. Hooters: Hooters wings are well, Hooters wings. Again, they are okay, but they aren't great. Their breaded wings usually have too much breading and the naked ones are actually a good alternative. Be prepared to pay the high prices they need to charge in order to cover the costs of adequately staffing the establishments (you'd ask for a lot of money to wear those orange shorts and put up with drunken fools too!). They have three locations in Portland now.

6. The rest of the best: Portland has a lot of great "other" places for wings. They're not necessarily wing joints, but some of them have solid wing offerings on their menu. Check out the Cluckbucket Internet Hot Wing Database for more information.

Thanks for your question Lex, hope this info helps.

Peace, love, and grease!
Scott "The Cluckbucket" Roth
www.cluckbucket.com