By:
CJ Ricciuti
Being a college student in North Philadelphia at Temple University, it isn’t always Ramen and cereal for meals. Some of the best food I’ve had in my life has come from this area and when there is a wing place merely feet from my apartment; I’m bound to give it a shot. Plus, as a Philadelphia sports fan, I am even more inclined to try it when former Eagle draft pick Raheem Brock owns it.
The outside of the place is honestly nothing to eye catching or extravagant. It’s located at 1600 N. Broad Street right in the middle of a strip mall. If you blink, you’ll miss it, and if you walk by it, you might miss it as well because you’ll be too busy trying to ignore the bums begging for food or a buck. Side note: watch out for the Lt. Dan hobo, he can get pretty feisty when asking for money and yes he has no legs. Like I said, I live merely feet from it and just realized it was there the other day and it’s been open almost a year. The inside is nothing impressive either. There was one TV in the whole place and it was on MTV Jams . Not a bad place to eat in if you are looking for a quick bit, but I would suggest doing take out, just my opinion.
To start off, they have a great selection of flavors for their wings. Of course they have the normal everyday flavors like regular, medium, hot and barbecue, but they also have some different flavors as well. Other flavors include Atomic, sweet barbecue, lemon pepper, garlic parmesan, General Tso’s, Cajun jerk, New Orleans, Chipotle, Asian sweet and spicy and sweet teriyaki. I decided to go with one of their more popular flavors and try the lemon pepper wings with a side of crab fries.
I knew it was going to be a good meal right away when they handed me a brown bag with grease spots all over it. I soon came to realize that it was because they left the fries uncovered in the bag. When I pulled the container out of the bag and saw the wings for the first time, it was almost like a good-looking girl giving you the green light. I threw the top off, stuck my face in, took a whiff and went to work.
The smell of lemon and black pepper hit my nose and I knew right away that I was in for a treat. All the wings were nice and even in size, not too small yet not massive, they looked great and weren’t completely drowned in sauce. I picked up that first drumstick, took and bite and knew I found something special. Super crunchy wing, great flavor and very juicy. I haven’t had a wing with such good flavor like this in a long time. There was just enough citrus to not overwhelm you and the little bite from the black pepper was a perfect endnote. The crab fries were decent, nice and thick cut, but no Chickie’s and Pete’s.
Price wise, the wings were on the average side. 10 wings will run you a little over 8 bucks, and 20 wings will run you about 14 dollars. I think this is a decent price for what you get. My meal, which was 10 wings, a side of crab fries and Gatorade ran a little over 13 bucks. For an average person that’s not bad. For a college kid, that’s like 5 cases of Top Ramen.
All in all, I would recommend this place if you’re in the mood for some good wings. The wings were some of the best I’ve had in a long time. I wouldn’t go out of your way for them, but if you are ever in Philly and feel like trying some place different, Brocks won’t disappoint.
1600 N Broad St, Philadelphia 19121
(Btwn Cecil B Moore Ave & W Oxford St)
Phone: (215) 765-6555
Www.brockswings.com
