Anchorage landmark closes suddenly
Published: August 16th, 2007 04:05 AM
Last Modified: October 15th, 2009 04:47 PM
BILL ROTH / Daily News archive 2005
Joe Connelly started Wings 'n Things with his wife, Teresa, and children Molly and Joey in 1983.
The look of sheer dismay on Jean Santemore's face said it all.
"I have to have Wings 'n Things once or twice a week," she said Wednesday afternoon while sweeping up at the downtown bus terminal just a stone's throw from the popular cafe.
The longtime Anchorage business surprised its many fans Wednesday morning with a recorded phone message that it had closed its doors. Signs in several spots on the darkened building had the same sentiment.
When the cafe would be its busiest -- noon hour -- no one stirred inside and the parking lot was empty.
"I'm hooked on Wings 'n Things," Santamore said. "I love their Philly cheese steaks."
The custodian for the Anchorage Community Development Authority said she would spread the word.
"Everybody in our office orders there. Every downtown business goes there."
Wings 'n Things, an institution at 529 I St., first opened in 1983, and since then owner Joe Connelly and his crew have served their "Anchorage wings," submarine sandwiches and burgers in untold numbers. But it was the wings in their five flavors, including the notorious nuclear version touted on the menu as "an explosive experience," that gave the place its fame.
Connelly and his family moved here from Buffalo, N.Y., where the hot-sauce-doused chicken wing is said to have been born in a late-night case of the munchies.
After looking over the competition, the Connellys decided that serving Buffalo-style wings would be overkill because several places were already selling that version. Thus was born "the original Anchorage wing," Connelly said in an interview two years ago.
The sauces used on the wings was his secret -- even his employees didn't know the recipe.
The phone message gave no hint if there could be a new location, of if indeed this is the end of an era.
"We thank God for the opportunity to serve this community for the previous 24 years," the message said. "We thank you, Anchorage ... all Alaskans for all the support you have entrusted to us."
As the day wore on, news of the closing spread far and wide, eliciting responses from all over the state and Outside.
"I'm crushed, though I don't even live there anymore," wrote Denise Szott in an e-mail from Portland, Ore., after reading the news online. The former Alaskan said, "Say Wings 'n Things to anyone who's ever been there and their eyes light up, they lick their lips."
One contributor to an adn.com message board about Wings' closing described himself or herself as "bereft and inconsolable."
The suddenness of the news caught the cafe's regulars by surprise. Like they'd lost a good friend.
Anchorage Fire Department Chief Craig Goodrich said, "You've got to be kidding me. This is personally devastating. It's one of the best places in the world to eat."
"We order from there at least once a week," Goodrich said. "I think we ordered there this morning."
His personal favorite is also the nuke. But at age "near 60," he's had to back off slightly. "I'd started to order 20 nukes and 10 hot to mix it up."
He took the news particularly hard. "I've eaten hot wings all over the country, and these are the best I've found."
The other reaction: Where are we going to get our wings? Will they move to a new location? Why did they close?
Repeated phone calls to the business and owners' home were met with a busy signal, and a message left late Wednesday morning for information was not returned as of Wednesday evening.
The message on the family-owned cafe's phone machine said it would be updated within 24 hours to give customers with gift certificates and other business an address to complete transactions. So stay tuned.
Wings 'n Things lovers react to the closure
In a recorded phone message, Wings 'n Things announced it's closing shop after 24 years. Here's a selection of comments from our online discussion:
"Joe, Can I buy your recipes? Please? We promise to honor the secret all my life."
"I almost had a heart attack when I read this! At the office we order almost weekly. Forget the diet, it's Wings 'n' Things! Everytime I drive by I remember going there with my dad when I was little ... he has been gone now 17 years. I am so sad to hear you've closed your doors."
"I wish there would have been a warning so I could've had one last wing."
"Wings 'n' Things will long live in the memories of Alaskans (and hopefully that tasty sauce recipe will find it's way into a new restaurant, the Fair, Saturday market or other accessible venue.)"
"Four generations of my family have enjoyed Wings N Things for over 18 years. ... We are so sad to have not had the opportunity for one-last Horah or to stock up with a few tasty wings for memory sake. We can only hope Joe will sell his receipe to a trusted local restaurant owner that will carry on this most excellent recipe. Otherwise, Joe, you leave us all so very heartbroken."
"I'm deployed in Afghanistan and was looking forward to eating their great food with an old Alaskan atmosphere upon my arrival back in Anchorage."
"We have a ritual every friday with our neighbors to have Wings N Things and play Wii or pool. We really hope that they will just be opening somewhere else. There is nothing like these wings."
"AAAAAaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!! The cry of anguished lament from a nuclear wing gastronome."
"I personally feel this as an emotional loss. I've been a regular customer since 1989. When the Air Force moved me away for eight years, Wings n Things was always a priority on my return trips."
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