Welcome Flat Stanley - Guest Blogger from FLA

CONSTANCE: The package arrived earlier in the week. Flat Stanley, a school project for my niece Emily. As part of Flat Stanley's visit, we're supposed to show him a good time and introduce him to the unique local and regional attributes of our area. What better introduction to Western PA than our Erie Pizza and Wing weekly blog experience.

This week's pizza and wing selection was quite the production. It started with a radio commercial I heard - only once though, so I only had part of the story: hand tossed dough, two blocks west of Peninsula Drive on either West Lake Road or West Ridge Road, and the name had three words in it, and I thought it was "On ... something something".

Mathias and I started on Peninsula Drive and then headed west on West Ridge Road. He took the right side of the road and I took the left. No businesses seemed to match the description from the radio commercial. We circled down to West Lake Road next on our pizza quest. We were almost at Peninsula Drive and then I saw it - the big flashing sign that said ON THE ROCKS! And it got even better - pizza special $5!

We went inside to order and were greeted by a bouncer. It looked like the place was set up for a private party. There was a comedian getting ready to start and since we were placing a carry out order, we could order and wait for free - no cover.

We ordered a large, one item - sausage, my favorite and 20 wings. The wings were on special for 40 cents too. If you eat in, they are 25 cents each! The bartender was very helpful and we chatted it up about the signature wings. We settled on CPR! Cajun-Parmesan-Ranch! Our wait time was 15 minutes and we were just in time for the comedian. And I use the term loosely ...

I'll admit, I was excited when I saw the piano. My experience has been good with piano-guy comedians. Until now ... he was the most raunchy, foul-mouthed man ever. He even looked like a dirty old man. I swear I was blushing. I think Mathias was too. It was the longest 15 minutes ever.

We headed home to watch The Office and enjoy our za and wings. You'll see by the photos that for $15 (including a $2 tip) everything looked fantastic and trust me, it tasted even better.

The hand-tossed dough was crispy and fresh. Mathias said that the sauce tasted like cherries. It was very flavorful and the most unique sauce we've had all year. The sausage had caraway seeds in it too which is my sausage of choice.

The CPR wings were crispy and tangy with a hint of hot. Sinus clearing but not too hot.

Our za and wings were worth the drive time discovery to find On The Rocks, and also well worth enduring the porn version of Weird Al. Flat Stanley, being a minor, waited in the car and didn't enter the bar or have to endure porn Al (thankfully).

My rating ... for the first time, a half-rating ... 7.5 slice rating outta 8 slices. I hope On The Rocks advertises more, so that more people have the opportunity to discover them too. And until then, I'm doing my part as word of mouth, er, um ... blog, is the most successful form of advertising. True that!

The 411:
On The Rocks
3040 W Lake Rd
Erie, PA 16505-3844
(814) 464-1581‎

If you have trouble making decisions, try the "Tumbleweed"! Or any of the other 50 flavors ...

CONSTANCE: We've always wanted to try Chipper's. It looks like a garage ... small, on the corner, not anything special. But special it was - 51 flavors of wings - one for each state and Puerto Rico! And dozens more than Baskin Robbin's has ice cream flavors. We settled on the Tumbleweed, a butter garlic blend meshed with mesquite. The wait time was about 45 minutes, but well worth it. Twelve wings were $6.25. Since Chipper's doesn't have wings, we called Hungry Howie's as we were leaving.

It's my birthday on the first day of Fall, and I had a free pizza coupon to use with a $5 purchase as Hungry Howie's. We got Cajun crazy bread and a medium pizza with green peppers with ranch spiced crust. Funny how we'd never tried green peppers all year. A first night for many things!

We got home and everything was still hot! The wings were crispy and flavorful and came with veggies and ranch dip too. The tumbleweed flavor was really good. I have messed up taste buds this week due to a wicked sinus/cold infection so they probably were even more flavorful than I was able to enjoy.

Hungry Howie's, although a chain, is locally owned and they always have a fine za. Even though the phone order taker thought my name was Donnie (and I even spelled it C-O-N-N-I-E!!).

The other first of the night was pretty unique too. Mathias was shocked that I'd never had a Wendy's Frosty and dipped my fries into it. So we had dessert first. The salty taste of the hot fries was the perfect complement to the cold chocolate of the Frosty. Delicious!

My slice rating for the pizza and wings would be a 6 outta 8 slice review. I'd definitely go back to try the other 50 flavors at Chipper's: lizards, Chads, CB's ... so many sound intriguing!

And when you go to Hungry Howie's sign up for the birthday club so you can get a free za to help celebrate your special day! It almost makes getting a year older all worth it!

The 411:
Chipper's Tavern
4808 Wattsburg Road
(intersects with East Grandview)
825.5176

Hungry Howie's
128 W 12th St # 100
Erie, PA 16501-1751
814.464.0202
www.hungryhowies.com

We Parked It @ and Played Pool and the Reverend Joined Us Too!

CONSTANCE: We parked it @! And it was fun ... and delicious!

We had a rehearsal dinner Friday night, so pizza and wing night got moved again. We'll get back on schedule soon though, promise!

Like Eli's, so many friends have suggested the Part Tavern for pizza and wings. Being in Lawrence Park, we decided to order and eat right there. A twist to our adventures.

We ordered a large pizza - split toppings - half with hot peppers for me and tomatoes for Mathias. And the wings recommended were the Herbie flavor. Yum! We got to play two games of pool while waiting, and Mathias even got to play Reverend Horton Heat on the "juke box" while we waited. "Big Red Rocket of Love" filled the tavern, and some of the bar patrons knew it too and were jamming with us!

The wing photo is a bit misleading. The wings looked burnt and I was ready to turn my nose up at them, but then I just tried one. And I was hooked! Crispy, flavorful ... and to remember the name, I'll just remember "Herbie the Love Bug!"

This was def one of my favorite blog weeks. Even though Mathias beat me at pool and won both games (but I had only one ball left each time). $20 including tip and an 8 outta 8 slice review from me!

The 411:
Park Tavern The
4205 E Lake Rd
Erie, PA 16511-1356
(814) 899-8661
www.theparktavernpa.com

You Got Chocolate in My Peanut Butter ... Two Great Tastes!

CONSTANCE: During our year-long Erie Pizza and Wing Blogging Adventure, Eli's has consistently come at the top of the wing list whenever we've asked friends about their favorite wings. We've put off trying them because they're not one-stop-shopping and only have wings and not pizza. But my idea was to get our pizza from Hunter's, just down the street - everything would be in close proximity and still hot when we got home. Why hadn't I thought of this sooner?

Mathias asked the Eli's bartender which wings are their "signature" flavor, and she strongly recommended Mikey's. A tangy-hot mix of flavor, ready to explode.

The pizza order at Hunter's was a one topping - hot banana peppers. And check out the photo - Mathias was in heaven with four corners to devour!

Remember the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup TV commercial from years ago where two passersby collide and the one person's chocolate bar ends up in the jar of peanut butter carried by the other person (I know, who carries a jar of peanut butter around - so don't think about this too much). My point? The combination of Eli's wings and Hunter's pizza was genius!

Eli's wings were absolutely professional - they were just delicious! And not amateurish, like some of the other Erie restaurants we've tried. The Mikey's flavor, and flavor name was so fresh and different - we loved it! And I also got to meet Mathias's cousin and her husband when we picked up too.

And Hunter's. Mathias was expecting typical "bar" pizza. But instead, we got pizza that rivaled some of our favorite places this year. The cheese was fresh and the crust wasn't hand-tossed, but I loved it anyways. Crispy and fresh. I guess fresh was the theme.

The price, even though ordered at two separate establishments, was in our $20 price point. And the order time was pretty standard too.

Overall, I'm giving this week an 8 outta 8 slice review. Two great tastes that go great together ...

The 411:
Eli's Tavern
1002 W 26th Street
Erie, PA 16508
(814) 454-0713

Hunter's Inn
1204 W 26th St
Erie, PA 16508-1520
(814) 453-6780

One Way Inn ... Intermisison to A Bridezilla Marathon.

CONSTANCE: Our Erie Pizza and Wing blogging has had an erratic couple-few weeks. This Friday was spoken for as I had a bachelorette party at 1201 Kitchen. So I happily traded in pizza and wings for grilled romaine salad and rice bowl. Delicious. And so much fun complete with plastic male body part straws - who knew they made them?! So blogging got moved to Sunday night.

It was a rainy Sunday, and we went to see the movie District 9. It wasn't what I expected but very enjoyable. My review would be to wait till it comes to a Red Box near you.

So, to continue on with our lazy theme of the day, and I can't believe I'm sharing this with you readers, we started watching "Bridezillas". Trust me, there was nothing else to watch on 600 channels, and all the DVRed shows were caught up too. It was really something. And it was a marathon. They hooked you in the current episode with teases about the next episode, so you were compelled to see how everything worked out.

We needed a break, and that's where One Way Inn came into our lazy Sunday. We ordered Cajun wings and sausage pizza. And were pleasantly surprised. Mathias picked up our order and said the place was pretty trendy. Nice hardwood floors, wi-fi and a group of guys surrounding a laptop working on their fantasy football teams. I've driven past so many times and never realized how delicious the food would be.

The sausage pizza reminded me of Luchetti's (see the photo!!) and the wings were very meaty and flavorful. Pricing was about $20 - typical. And the order wait time took about 1/2-hour.

I'd easily give One Way Inn a 6 outta 8 slice review. Can any readers help me with this? Was One Way Inn once located north of the Glenwood YMCA?

Try them ... you'll like them!!

The 411:
One Way Inn
4344 Peach St
Erie, PA 16509-1443
(814) 864-5212