nobeer

It's a little known fact that in addition to scenic views and family-owned wineries, the Shenandoah Valley is widely celebrated for its chicken wings. The reason it's a little known fact is because I just made it up. But having spent my birthday weekend with friends in a cabin near Shenandoah National Park, a stop for burgers and wings on the way back to DC seemed like just what we needed to take the edge off an impending Monday. Burgers "N" Things is purely a roadside takeout, and looking up at the menu board I found "wing dings" listed under "hot sandwiches", below the chili-cheese fries and just above the apple pie sticks. As usual when I sample wings off the beaten path I didn't know what to expect.

Like a Federation vessel traveling at maximum warp into a Romulan ambush, I never saw it coming. Having just watched Star Trek at the Udvar Hazy Center IMAX with a group of freinds, all night suburban diner food seemed like the only reasonable option. And sitting down at IHOP I had my order ready: eggs with potatoes and toast. But there they were, staring up at me from the late night menu, "A generous portion of our hot and spicy chicken wings".

Yeah I ordered them. I ordered them with a side of hash browns.

Coming from U street, by the time you reach the 6000 block of Georgia Avenue the takeout joints start to blend. Chicken-pizza-cheesesteak-subs-chineesefoodtogo. So when we saw the anthropomorphic chicken perched on Wonder Chicken's bright blue awning it was clear we'd found the place to begin our evening.

Simon's was only the second stop on our crawl but everyone was looking forward to stepping out of the cold and into the... well, cold. Wok and grill notwithstanding, walking into Simon's was like biting into an Asian York Peppermint Patty. Seems like Simon forgot to pay the gas bill.

I'm not going to be mean about this. The menu says buffalo wings, but George does not make buffalo wings. It's a pity too because there are a number of good things to say about his establishment: flat screen tv, surprisingly cheerful and friendly service, free egg rolls with a $20 order, and apparently steamed snow crab legs for just $8.95/lb. The brightly lit (if a little dirty) interior was even heated, a welcome change from Simon's. We would be disappointed.