Wise wings

"If you were a Wings 'n Things fan, you're gonna love this place," promises owner Al Carranza.

He would know. Carranza admits he ate at the former king of all things hot wing almost three days a week before it closed in August. When he couldn't figure out a way to score Wings 'n Things' secret recipe, Carranza did the next best thing: He opened his own restaurant with two of Things' former employees.

"They didn't reopen, but we're trying to fill the void," Carranza said. "People are clamoring for it."

From the looks of the steady flight of wings orders during a recent visit, people are getting their fix as best they can. And while no spot may ever truly replace Wings 'n Things in spice lore, Big Al's does share with it one simple code: Its hot wing mix is a guarded secret -- although, you'd have to be one dumb lug not to realize you're getting a healthy dose of chili powder with your chicken.

Big Al's menu seems familiar at first sight. Baskets of midsized wings are served with celery sticks and blue cheese dipping sauce in single ($8.95), double ($15.95) and triple ($22.95) portions, 10 wings to each portion. What heat will you be packing? Mild, medium, hot or volcanic? Volcanic, not nuclear. This is Wings-N-Wings, remember?

A crew of four wing nuts decided to put Big Al's claim to the test recently. Even during a Friday lunch rush, our hefty 50-bucket wings order ($32.95) was dispatched in good time. We had split the serving into increasing degrees of heat, and each basket landed no later than about five minutes after the previous batch had hit our table.

Big Al's approach flies between traditional Buffalo-style sauce wings still served at the Peanut Farm and the spice-coated drumsticks that Wings 'n Things was famous for. Post-deep fryer, the wings are tossed in a mix of sauce and spices. While there wasn't a lot to make Big Al's blend stand out from others, the sauce and spice do come off a little lighter. That's relative to the radioactive grease the nuclears seemed to swim in at Wings 'n Things.

Don't be afraid, fire fans. Al's volcanics are deliciously hot but not blazing. The satisfying slow burn doesn't hit you instantly -- it grows in intensity. Within 25 seconds, most diners will reach for some celery dipped in cool blue cheese or a soft drink to douse the flames.

That said, Al's temperatures overall are fairly tame. The spice softies in our gang handled the medium and hot without any problem. Milds barely registered any warmth, and a fifth flavor, barbecue, was almost mocked at the table for its timidness. Carranza confirmed our suspicions that the sweet barbecue coating wasn't a homemade mixture. But it's hard to create everything from scratch in the small location, he said.

Big Al's menu also caters to those who once craved the "things" more than wings. A wide selection of 6-inch and 12-inch hot and cold subs runs mostly $8.95 to $11.95. The Philly cheese steak sandwich and bacon cheeseburger we sampled were OK, but you really shouldn't be jonesing for anything other than wings at this joint.

We did think Big Al's prices were boss. With the wings weighing in at about $1 apiece at other spots, Al's portions of 10 flew under that range and became an even better deal the more we ordered.

Big Al's steps into the big wingtips of past wing kings. But as a spicy substitute, Big Al's is making its own name and starting a new reign.

• Play editor Jamie Rogers can be reached at jrogers@adn.com or call 257-4556.

Big Al’s Wings-N-Wings

Location: 3807 Spenard Road

Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday

Phone: 522-3388

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