Wing Time, great wings, great flavors and a heck of an entrepreneur

It is time for a too-lengthy preamble before we talk about the recent deliciousness my family and I enjoyed.  Buckle up, this preamble is the preamblest.

In about 2006, my coworkers and I (this was one firm ago) found a burger joint called "Create".  It was a unique burger place.  Instead of a menu from which you would select a pre-selected type of burger, you were given a list of ingredients and sauces and you would build your own burger (or veggie burger, chicken breast, etc.).  They had sweet potato fries before they were everywhere.  They also had frozen custard.  It was quick, tasty and they had great service.  We were probably regulars.  It wasn't long before the guy who started it all was our burger friend.  Lance would always greet us and would come and chat with us as we ate.  I introduced my family to Create and they, too, loved it.  Lance would talk to my kids and my wife as well.  It was cool. It was cool because even though Vegas is a big-ish city, Create made it feel like we had a local hang out where everybody knew us (just like at Cheers!).  

After a while, Lance started a doughnut place, Pink Box doughnuts.  They were tasty, unique and fun.  This next venture had his trademark warmth.  I no longer work in the area, but I still like to grab a few doughnuts there whenever I am near.  

Recently, my wife was told by one of her dog park friends that there was a new wing joint near Costco that was supposed to be great.  I was already a mild fan of a wing place near Costco, but my heart was open to more winged goodness (I just have so much love to give).  We made a plan and headed over.  My son and I arrived first.  I put my hand on the door, pulled on it and promptly heard a "Hey, how are you guys!"  There was Lance, behind the counter and he remembered us.  

Turns out a guy like Lance doesn't sit still.  He apparently did Salted Malted in between Pink Box and Wing Time. 

Ok, so Wing Time, see their cool website here:  Wing Time. 

Lance had some awesome ideas to make this an awesome place to fried and sauced chicken products.  

Here is one of my chicken fingers.  I ordered one that was breaded in hot Cheetos.  It had a great crunch and great flavor.  It was freshly breaded and fried when we ordered it.  

 

Here is a cross section of the chicken finger.  I know that chicken fingers don't really have "bark" like smoked meats, but this is pretty close.

 

They have a few pretty standard sauces, but Lance has some unique stuff going on as well.  Here are a few of my wings.  I got some wings with a dry rub with a fruity sauce to finish.  They were great.  Good crispiness on the outside, and the rubs were uniquely delicious.  

 

My daughter ordered the fingers with the orange sauce.  It was tasty.  It is a good example of the depth of the sauces on the menu.  

 

Since I have a picture, I will show you a picture of the mild buffalo sauced wings.  They were just that.  You can also see the sweet potato fries.  They are essentially the same recipe from the OG fries at Create, but now with a maple twist.  

 

A couple more.  First, these fries.  They look pretty standard, but they were exceptionally tasty and crispy (but only on the outside, as they should be).  Finally, 

 

TEXAS TOAST!  I have an unreasonable affection for this large, crispy slice of carbs.  It's an absurd gimmick that I fall for at every restaurant that serves it.  It's just buttered, big toast, but I love it and I ate every crispy, buttery bite.  It's big (you know, like everything from Texas).  I guess that's all a person can say about Texas toast. If I were more ambitious, I would solicit some info from a Texas Toast fan club for criteria for what makes a great slice of Texas toas.  But I'm not.  If it is big, crispy and buttery, it's a win.  

So, that's Wing Time.  I loved it and can't wait to go back.  Lance knows what he is doing.  I love restaurants that do just a few things and do them well, to the exclusion of all else.  I am glad there weren't a bunch of salads and stuff that were just added for people who ACCOMPANY people who go to wing shops.  This place is for people who like wings (and fingers and fries).  The sauces were delicious and creative.  There was attention to detail and the menu, while different, did not feel like a wing outsider had formulated it.  It felt like what it was, that someone who knows what we love in wings and fingers, who gave us a lot of what we knew we wanted and a bonus serving of what we didn't know we wanted.  

Thanks a bunch Lance.  

P.S.  I am in the market for a new favorite foreign country.  South Korea hurt me, but I'm ready to love again.  If you are from a country outside of the USA, hit me up and make your case.  It's a lot of prestige for just one country, but you may deserve it.