The Basics:
Name: Home Plate Asylum
Where: 7520 W Donges Bay Rd, Mequon
MKE Wings Crew Present: Frank and Jeremy
Review Date: January 17, 2020
Wing Special? $0.75 Wednesdays
(Special accurate as of Jan 17, 2020)
The Review:
Sometimes, you just can't make it to wingnight. Sometimes the craving for wings hits mid-day while you happen to be at work. This was the case on January afternoon for Jeremy and myself. We both work up near the the Milwaukee-Ozaukee county border where the wing options for lunch are fairly limited. However, the relatively new Home Plate Asylum is nearby, so, we decided to give it a shot. Now, while the current name and ownership is new, the bar has been around for a while previously named Laura's Donges Bay Clubhouse. We've frequented Laura's many times, mostly for the sour cream and chive fires, but their wings were never anything to right home about. We were hoping that Home Plate Asylum would give us a worthy lunchtime wing destination.
Wings don't seem to be a focal point here, they're tucked away in the appetizer section of the menu. An order of wings (traditional or boneless) costs $9 (pretty average) and and four standard flavor/sauce options are available: Buffalo, BBQ, Teriyaki, and Garlic Parmesan. Both Jeremy and I ordered traditional bone-in wings, Jeremy got the Garlic Parmesan while I went for my go-to flavor, Buffalo.
After and average wait we got our wings and each got an order of 8 or 9 of traditional, non-breaded, average sized wing s, a good portion for our lunch. I tucked in to my Buffalo wings and the first thing I noticed, man these wings were pretty dry, I think these had been frozen for quite some time. Some were moderately moist and juicy, but I had at least one that crunched and for lack of a better term, "shattered" in my mouth, I think I was actually stabbed by some chicken skin. Jeremy's Garlic Parm wings were pretty much the same, pretty dry.
The Buffalo sauce itself was quite mild, not much heat for anyone with an average heat tolerance, or almost no heat for someone with an above-average taste for heat. Outside of the lack of heat, the sauce hit the marks for a Buffalo sauce, tangy and buttery. Jeremy's Garlic Parm wings were sauce-less, the flavor being spice and/or dry rub. That being said, there wasn't enough of it, or, it just really lacked flavor, these honestly just tasted like a plain fried chicken wing, perhaps with a bit of black pepper.
Both orders were served with ranch dressing (no bleu cheese option was offered) and no other sides. The ranch was super thick, but tasty. I wouldn't want this on a salad, but, for a wing it wasn't too bad, but probably best suited for dunking some french fries in to.
Conclusion:
Is this the lunchtime wing spot that Jeremy and I were hoping for? No, sadly it was not. If you're looking for wings, we advise you look elsewhere. However, their full menu is full of other options, so it's worth giving them a try.
Can we give the Home Pate Asylum the title of a Milwaukee Wings Certified Wing Joint? No, the wings miss the mark pretty much every factor we look at for good wings.
