The Central Grille

(740) 676-1346

3882 Central Ave
Shadyside, OH 43947 

There are only so many places to have lunch (or a beer) in Shadyside, Oh.  With The Tiger Pub already under my belt and officially reviewed, I decided to have a lunch bite and try the wings at The Central Grille.  I was warned before I tried The Tiger Pub wings, however the Central Grille wings came highly recommended.  And, as it turns out, rightfully recommended. 

I was skeptical, of course.  After all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure…just as one man’s hot is another man’s mild. I’ve been lead astray and been disappointed by recommendations before.  But this recommendation was a great one. 

These babies were large to jumbo sized.  The super crispy skin was spot-on…near perfection. Complete with little extra morsels of crispiness…the ideal accompaniment to the meaty, juiciness that lies beneath.

The sauce I chose was “hot.”  Unfortunately that’s as hot as they come here.  Hot and mild make up the entire selection of traditional buffalo sauces.  Hot was more like a strong medium, but it tasted really good.  I was pleased…but I’d call the hot medium and create another sauce…a hotter sauce and call it hot.  Oddly, there is no BBQ.  There is only Honey BBQ.  And an option called Tiger Pride.  Who knows. It looked at first as though there was too much sauce.  But it was, in fact, just right.  The sauce coats and clings well.

The value here is incredible! 10 pretty much jumbo sized wings for $5.50 or 20 wings for 10 bucks.  Even if these were mediocre wings…that’d still be a good deal. Plus there’s a 40 cent wing night too.

No bonus points for presentation on this one.  Just a pile of wings in a classic paper boat.  But who cares!?  When you’re serving wings this good I’d be inclined to eat them right off of the table top!

Bottom line?  So far, Drover’s has been the top ranked wing on this blog.  And around the area Drover’s is often referenced by folks when talking about the best wings.  I’m here to tell you The Central Grille in Shadyside gives Drover’s a run for their money.  If The Central Grille had a larger number of sauces to choose from, or at least a level of heat above “hot”.  Then I’d give ‘em a 9.5 to match Drover’s.  As it stands...I’ll call it a 9.0.  Delicious!  This is a MUST try!