The Basics:
Name: Knucklehead Pub
Where: 100 S Rd, Eagle
MKE Wings Crew Present: Frank, Amber, Jeremy
Review Date: Feb 6, 2024
Wing Specials (as of date published):
Tuesday: All you can eat wings $16
Thursday: $0.85 Wings
The Review:
We did our first review of Knucklehead Pub way back in 2012, almost 12 years to the day of this review. While that review is lost to the annals of the internet (although you can find it on the Internet Archive), I do remember really enjoying the wings. So, I figured that after 12 years we were long overdue to take a trip down to Eagle, the small town with the friendly smiley face water tower!
We visited Knucklehead Pub on a Tuesday night to partake in the in the $16 all you can eat wing special, one of the few AYCE specials that I know of. Not only do they offer this special, but they also have a $0.85 wing night on Thursdays as well. Their normal menu price runs about $1.50/wing (slightly less with larger quantities), so 2 nights to get some discounted wings is certainly welcomed! *As always, prices/availability of menu items/prices and/or specials are subject to change at the sole discretion of the bar without the knowledge of Milwaukeewings.com and may not be updated accordingly.*
When doing all you can eat wings, the initial order is 8 wings and fries (2 flavors if you wish), and you can reorder in quantities of 4. So, while we had a small crew for this visit, we were able to partake in almost every flavor they had to offer. Knucklehead has 12 staple sauces: Teriyaki, Stadium BBQ, Garlic Parmesan Pepper, Garlic Ranch, Mild, Jerk, Thai Chili, Korean BBQ, Bourbon Bacon, Medium, Hot and Atomic. They also have 3 dry rubs: Louisiana Rub, Ranch Rub, and Lemon Pepper Rub. They also have one rotating flavor of the month, which for our visit was Chili Garlic.
Our first order of wings came out very quickly and at first glance, these looked like some super tasty wings. Afte our first bite, I was not disappointed. Often for me, the highlight of the wing is the sauce, but the true star here was the chicken itself, simply wow. Seriously, I would thoroughly enjoy ordering these wings naked, they just had so much flavor. Perfectly sized, nice crispy exterior, juicy inside, a bit of grilled smokiness, and flavor down to the bone. Truly outstanding chicken wings, easily among the best wings I’ve ever had with regard simply to chicken quality.
As amazing as the chicken was, that is only one half of the equation. How were the sauces/rubs? Our notes below:
Lemon Pepper: super tart and lemony, but the dominant flavor on this was one was salt. I know lemon pepper is usually pretty salty, but this one was a bit over the top with the sodium.
Garlic Parmesan Pepper: very buttery which played really nicely with the slight smokiness of the wings, but a little muted on the garlic and parmesan flavors.
Garlic Ranch: our theory here is that this is the garlic parm sauce tossed with some ranch seasoning. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, those ranch seasonings worked really well with the buttery flavors, however, this one was again a bit too salty for me, but still very tasty.
Jerk: this one had a bit of a vinegary tang to it, and was a bit more like a BBQ sauce to me than a jerk sauce. It was still a yummy sauce, but just didn’t have the warm spices that you’d normally see in a jerk sauce.
Thai Chili: not the best start through those first four, but we turn it around here! Thai chili as a tick sweet, just a touch of heat and rounded out with a good savory balance. A very scrumptious Thai Chili wing sauce.
Korean BBQ: This was a different take on Korean BBQ compared to those I’ve had in the past. This sauce didn’t have that “funkiness” for lack of a better word, this one was very pepper forward with a bit of heat and a lot of savory umami flavors. Not really what I expected, but I did really enjoy this one.
Bourbon Bacon: This was my personal favorite of the night. A sweeter sauce with a little heat, but a lot of smoky and savory bacon flavor, I really liked this one.
Medium: I’m going to call this more of a medium spiced hot wing rather than a buffalo wing. This flavor is a bit more vinegar and pepper forward without the buttery balance you see in a buffalo sauce. This is still a tasty sauce, just don’t expect it to be a true buffalo style sauce (and to be fair, it doesn’t say buffalo in the name at all!).
Chili Garlic: This was the rotating sauce of the month. Similar to the Thai Chili sauce with it’s balance of sweet and savory, this one had an extra boost of garlic flavor. As I liked the Thai Chili sauce and I love garlic, this one was quite enjoyable.
The MKE Wings Crew's Favorites:
Frank: Bourbon Bacon
Amber: Chili Garlic Jeremy: Thai Chili
Conclusion:
So, was it worth the trip down to Eagle? Definitely! The chicken wing quality alone makes them a great wing joint. Good enough to be MilwaukeeWings Hall of Fame worthy? Not quite. If it were the chicken alone, absolutely worthy. But while the sauce lineup has some winners, there were a few I didn’t care for much and a couple others that just didn’t stand apart from each other enough. But if you’re looking to take a short drive or happen to be in the area, check out MilwaukeeWings newest Certified Wing Joint, Knucklehead Pub!
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