Wing Night at Hog’s Head

Yikes, I’m quite far behind on my wing night reviews. Today’s review is of the wings from Hog’s Head Bar and Grill. This place has been on my radar for a while, as it’s not too far from me and looked like it had good food. Apparently it used to be another restaurant not too long ago, but Hog’s Head took it over. So one night after work, Drew and I took a ride over. At first, parking was a little worrisome, as there is a lot across the street that was almost entirely filled! The only other parking option was seemingly off-roading up a beaten hill. So if you do show up for wing night, be sure to get there early to secure a spot.

The Details

wing night at hog's head

Located at 3433 Spring Garden Ave in Reserve Township.

Wing night at Hog’s Head Bar and Grill is actually kind of awesome. While they do have a typical $.50 wing night on Mondays, we went on a Thursday for their Hog Bowl special. What’s a Hog Bowl, you ask? It’s a dog bowl filled with 15 wings for only $6. To be honest, it’s one of the best deals I’ve seen! Normally, a dozen wings are $8.99, so you save around $5.25. The only downside is, since it’s all served in one bowl, you can only get one flavor 🙁 However, the variety of cheap craft beers on tap made up for the sadness of only one flavor of wings.

The Wings

wing night at hog's head menu

A good variety of flavors – wish I could have tried two!

That’s a little hard to read, so let me spell it out for you. Wing night at Hog’s Head has three categories of wings:

DRY RUBS – Season salt, Cajun

ON THE MILD SIDE – Garlic butter, Garlic parm, BBQ, Barbbalo, Buffalo, Buffalo Ranch, Honey BBQ

SPICY – Louisiana ox, Spicy garlic, Hot, Spicy garlic parmesan, Spicy teriyaki, Sriracha

There were a few flavors I wanted to try, especially with my new spicy experimentation in mind. However, I couldn’t forsake my traditional garlic parm, so I had to go with that. Drew ended up choosing spicy garlic. Unfortunately, we didn’t order any fries this time, as 15 wings is more than I can eat anyway. However, while we were waiting for our food, I couldn’t help creeping, and I noticed that their fries definitely looked tasty. I would try them in the future!

Hog Bowls from wing night at Hog's Head!

Hog Bowls from wing night at Hog’s Head!

The arrival of our wings was a glorious sight. A heaping mound of steaming hot wings sat inside a plastic dog bowl, adorned with stray pieces of celery and a side of ranch. It seemed almost too good to be true. The first bite of the glorious garlic parm was perfect – crunchy, coated with sauce and parmesan sprinkles. The wings were a good size and cooked just right, not too soft and not overdone. Plus, at the bottom of the bowl was a nice layer of buttery sauce to re-coat the wings with as necessary.

However, as I continued eating, the excitement died within me. Each wing became a mundane replica of the other, each bite more and more lackluster. Don’t get me wrong, they were good wings. However, I guess I’m just not used to eating all of one flavor, because my mouth quickly became bored. Mixing in the delicious ranch dipping sauce did help, but I was still craving a little more variety/flavor. In the end, they didn’t really stand out too much.

Garlic parm wings from wing night at Hog's Head.

Garlic parm wings from wing night at Hog’s Head.

I did get a chance to try Drew’s wings as well. His initial thoughts on them were that they were spicy and that there was no garlic taste whatsoever. Upon sampling them, I realized the same thing. However they prepared the wings left them completely covered in a hot sauce that overwhelmed any potential source of garlic taste. They weren’t bad… but they weren’t really spicy garlic. More just like spicy. They did break up the garlic parm monotony, however, which was great.

Spicy garlic wings from wing night at Hog's Head.

Spicy garlic wings from wing night at Hog’s Head.

By the end of the meal, I couldn’t quite finish all of my wings – but luckily Drew was there to help. My wing limit has increased over time, but it’s still around 12 on a good day. 15 was far too many for me on my own! This might just be something to consider if you have a smaller appetite and don’t want to waste wings (since taking them home as leftovers just isn’t the same as eating them fresh).

does hog's head have good wings?

My empty bowl – still filled with yummy juices.

PROS

  • Good selection of tasty sauces
  • Good sauce distribution
  • Cooked to crispiness
  • Large portions for cheap prices!
  • Great presentation
  • Served with ranch

CONS

  • Can only choose one flavor
  • Garlic parm didn’t have the “wow” factor
  • Spicy garlic were just hot wings with no garlic
  • No carrots, even though the menu said there would be?

Final Ranking

I think the Hog Bowl is a really cool and interesting deal – a refreshing take on the overused wing night special. That definitely earns bonus points. It’s fun to eat out of a dog bowl (never thought I would say that), and it’s also fun to have a giant portion of wings to binge eat. I think it would be a great occasion to get a big group of people together so you could all order different flavors of wings and share them. The wings themselves were pretty good – decent sized, well-cooked, good sauce distribution. I’d definitely return to try Buffalo Ranch or Garlic Butter at some point 🙂 I think I’ll give them a 4 for now, with Drew weighing in at a 3.5.

My Rating:

Pittsburgh Wing NightPittsburgh Wing NightPittsburgh Wing NightPittsburgh Wing Night

Drew’s Rating:

Pittsburgh Wing NightPittsburgh Wing NightPittsburgh Wing NightPittsburgh Wing Night

P.S. Check out my Pittsburgh Wing Night calendar for up to date information on wing nights in the area! It runs on Google Calendar, so you can easily add it to your own schedule to keep track of wing nights.

Kristy Snyder

I'm a creative and quirky woman just looking to make her mark on the world. Writer, thinker, crafter, doer. Loves playing ice hockey and curling up with a good book. Traveling is a foremost passion and the road is always calling. Above all, I try to be an enjoyer of life.

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