My name is on the wall, and it's not for being a hoon
I must admit--I don't usually expect much from theme restaurants. Even more so for chain theme restaurants. There's a lot of effort being expended into things besides the food, and honestly, I'd just like to experience my food. Call me a curmudgeon, but you've got to go out of your way to grab my attention if you're going to expend a lot of effort on decorations and such that aren't directly related to filling my belly.
Enter the gearhead-themed Quaker Steak and Lube. You're going to hang what from the ceiling, now? And you're claiming to have wings so hot that I need to sign a waiver? Well then, that's worth a try.
One caveat: I'm a motorsports geek, but more of the squiggly line variety. Cars that turn in both directions. Crazy people who'll drive for 24 hours straight on some roads in France. Cars with engines in the trunk--where they belong! Total nutters with balls the size of Jupiter who'll race along dirt roads where trees or a cliff await them if they get it wrong. And of course, there's that funny little single-seater series that just ran around a nice, new, shiny squiggly line of pavement down in Austin. And, I, of course, can't freakin' wait to drive said new squiggly line. I am a geek. It's what I do.
So, with all the focus on Harleys and roundy-round cars, I'm probably not Quaker Steak and Lube's target audience. Regardless, I was still pleasantly surprised at the variety of stuff on the walls. An entire Legends car greets you when you walk in the door--hung upside-down from the ceiling. (It's so cute!) There are a billion TVs, making the bar a decent enough place to watch a game or two. At no point did I feel as if Ricky Bobby wanted to pick a fight with me for having made too many right turns in my life.
But of course, you can leave the walls bare for all I care as long as you get the food right. BWW's wings blow goats, so Waco's needed a good wings, beer, and TVs-type joint for quite some time.
Lo and behold, they've nailed it here. I tried the boneless triple atomic wings, and they were pretty tasty. The fry coating is just thick enough to hold the wings together while absorbing a fair amount of sauce, becoming a perfect, almost gelatinous mass of saucy batter goodness.
The bleu cheese that came with it could have been a little thicker and had larger chunks of bleu cheese, but it still tasted like tangy, cheesy deliciousness, so it did the job.
I could order carrots instead of celery, too, which was great because celery = ick.
There is a very lengthy list of sauces to choose from, which was awesome. The triple atomic sauce itself was more vinegary than most, which probably bumped up the heat a little. It was just a little sweet, like it may have been habanero or ghost chile based. Overall, it's not the spiciest sauce I've ever had, but loosened up my sinuses a bit and left me with a pleasant tingle in my mouth. And of course, signing the waiver apparently means I get my name on the wall. Tee hee.
I often get annoyed with wings places that try to dissuade me from trying their hottest sauces. "Yes, I'm sure I want the Nuclear Death Wings of Ultra Doom. No, I don't mind farting flames for the next week. Yes, I understand what I'm getting into." Here, I was actually grateful to be greeted with a waiver instead of a bunch o' whining. No attempts to dissuade me--just a waiver and my noms. Perfect.
I only had one dry spot on one wing, and it was in a bend where the chicken folded in on itself--chicken cleavage. That's hard to reach, so I'll give it a pass. The others were all adequately sauced without being soggy or drippy.
Not feeling up to fried food today? They'll sauce up grilled wings, too. I like that.
When it comes to washing down the wings, the beer selection wasn't expansive, but they have a handful of additional taps in addition to the usual suspects. Glasses come in regular, ludicrous, and 'MERCUUUUH! sizes.
Service lagged at times from the "EHMAHGERD A NEW RESTAURANT IN WACO" phenomenon, but I feel like they'll get it down in time. My wings came out pretty quickly after ordering, so that was good. (COCO HUNGRY.) The location next to I-35 is pretty dang convenient for those of us just passing through.
The entree names on the menu can be a tad groan-inducing. Madre de Vettel, we get it--YOU HAVE A THEME. But the wings are good, so they can name 'em "ninjacoco drives in funny shaped blobs like a weirdo foreigner" for all I care. Keep bringin' the spicy.
I really wanted to be blown away by this restaurant. I had heard terrific reviews from friends who had eaten at other locations around the country, and I absolutely love wings, so I was eager to try it. My first visit was on a Tuesday right after work, for Happy Hour and the endless wings buffet. We seemed to be seated in no-man's land, because it took a long time for a waiter to tend to us, despite several who passed by. In fact, another hostess finally stopped by and asked if anyone had taken our drink order.
That said, I liked the buffet setup; you could pick and choose however many you wanted from any flavor of wings. Unfortunately, because the buffet was under heat lamps, some of the wings were very dry. The chips for the nachos were over-fried. The draft beer seemed overpriced, especially considering it was Happy Hour.
I gave it another shot during lunch on a different day. I had the super-single Cajun wings. The wings were much better than the ones on the buffet, but the service was still lacking. For a 15-piece order of wings, it came with a teeny-tiny tub of ranch and a whopping 3 celery sticks.
My husband and I decided to try Quaker Steak and Lube without hearing to much about it. We were pleasantly surprised, the environment immediately grabs you and begs for your attention. There were arcade games and big screen televisions everywhere.
We didn't have to wait too long to be seated, considering the crowd, and we absolutely loved our waitress. Lizzie was nothing but smiles and knew the menu from front to back. With her help I ordered the Nacho Burger and my husband ordered the Philly Cheese Steak. They were both delicious beyond words. We also decided to try their onions rings despite the fact that I usually don't like them. I would have to say that so far they are the only onion rings that I will touch.
My husband and I were sad to leave but upon our exit we were given Twizzlers as a parting gift. I can not think of a better way to end our experience at the Lube. My husband and I will definitely recommend this restaurant and we will be returning very soon.
First off - the wings are excellent. MUCH better than any of the other places in Waco, but still not quite as good as my personal favorite, Pluckers. I might be a bit biased though.
I also like that they have some healthier options, including grilled wings served with pita bread.
The main reason my review of the place is not so stellar is because of the service. I'm aware that they JUST opened, so perhaps their waitstaff is still learning, but our waitress the first time was a COMPLETE dummy, and the second time not much better. That's being nice. Our first server knew NOTHING about any of the menu items we asked about and continually had to run off and ask other servers and bartenders questions.
We kept having to flag her down for drink refills or to request items she had forgotten to bring (silverware, napkins, ranch, etc.) - I'm pretty sure she only stopped ONCE at our table without asking, and the place was definitely nowhere near crowded. Finally after waiting 15 minutes for her to return our cards and check, we had to flag down ANOTHER waiter to get our receipts. She never once apologized or tried to explain she was busy and had a very apathetic attitude to the whole place and her responsibilities.
Also - on the day of their "grand opening" they did not have happy hour. We were told that because it was the first day, they were not honoring their usual happy hour prices. What?? I would think of all days to have some kind of special, it would be the grand opening - not even honoring their NORMAL happy hour specials is certainly not going to make people want to return.
Beers were fairly priced and they have a nice selection on tap, plus the Lube Tube thing looks pretty amazing, but the cocktails were grossly overpriced and basically syrup. Also a forewarning, if you order the mason jar drinks you get to keep the jar (fun!) but if you continue to order more mason jar drinks, you have to pay for the jar each time - they claimed there was no way to just ring up the drink without the jar. So, unless you are wanting to start a QSL mason jar collection, don't order more than one. Also, they're tiny and a rip off.
I'll probably go back to watch sports - but never when I'm in a hurry or expecting good service.
I was expecting more of the fried stuff, but they actually have some decent grilled options!
I had triple atomic grilled chicken, very tasty, not very hot. I am thinking about going back for lunch after the nightcap last night for more. I will have to take some dave's insanity sauce and the source to make it a little warmer.
So I really like the fact that the grilled chicken also came with some pita bread, it was a good difference.
I also got it with steamed broccoli, which was unseasoned during steaming, I may see if I can ask for a touch of salt, on the other hand I got the beer cheese on the side, and it is a bit salty.
I also tried the boom boom shrimp which is fried, and the only alternative also fried. It was very good, but as a grilled shrimp with the same sauce and the little minislaw under it, would be stellar! It could even be baked instead of fried with the breadcrumbs, and still be crisp and good in the same way.
I am just trying to stay away from the fried (and somewhat breaded) things these days so would like an option on that level, otherwise I was quite pleased with the flavor of the foods. Yes, the triple atomic is 'hot' but it has a lot of flavor as well. The boom boom shrimp has a mild but not overpowering sweetness and a small slaw as mentioned.
It is late night dining (fri-sat 2am, please open extra days those hours!), that is actually good and not just microwave reheated tasting junk foods. Something Waco needed!
