Fine Dining - Season Finale: A Nightmare on WingStreet Review feat. Rachel Bryant (Actor) [Part Two]

Episode Date: October 23, 2024

The End of Season 2! WingStreet is Pizza Hut's wing brand, and I hit one with my guest this week, actor Rachel Bryant while we both dressed head-to-toe as horror icon Freddy Krueger What's Going On Over There with the pizza boxes replacing the glass on the broken door? Some kids at the Popeyes next door come out to threaten us (some might say it's Way Too Much) The employee had fun putting our order in for "Freddies" The Secret Menu Category: Delicious Hassles What we ate: Wings (4 flavors), Chocolate Donut Bites Rachel talks about dining on top of the Eiffel Tower Two segments get murdered ahead of the new season "Fine" Dining is now on video! Head on over to my YouTube to watch this episode! Music by: James McEnelly (@Ramshackle_Music) Theme Song by: Kyle Schieffer (@JazzyJellyfish) Segment Transitions Voiced by: Sandy Rose "Fine" Dining is on Patreon! Get an extra episode every month (Next week, I'm dropping the October Patreon episode covering the iconic Mr. Chow restaurant in Beverly Hills), extended Yelp from Strangers segments every other week, merch discounts, download access to our music including the 7 singles from our Olive Garden musical, and more! Patreon Producers: Joyce Van, & Sue Ornelas   Get the 5 Survival Tips for Casual Dining at www.finediningpodcast.com!   Send in your WingStreet stories at [e-mail].   Follow the show on TikTok and Instagram @finediningpodcast Follow Rachel on Instagram @rachelamandabryant   Let me know where I should go next by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, PodcastAddict, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I read every one!   Next time on "Fine" Dining: Casa Bonita [Part One]! I'm off to Denver for the season 3 premiere, dropping November 6th, and I brought Dropout's Ify Nwadiwe with me! Ever work at Casa Bonita? Send your stories to [e-mail].

From this point forward, the word cheese will be bleeped because Michael finds it offensive. Hello and welcome back to the Fine Dining Podcast, the search for the most mediocre restaurant in America. I'm your host, Michael Ornelas, and I'm looking for the perfect five point double zero dining experience out of ten to find a litmus test. So we know where good becomes bad, bad becomes good. You need somewhere right in the middle. Currently, Cracker Barrel leads the way at a 5.01 out of 10. It's not perfect mediocrity, but it's pretty fricking close.

And this is my Halloween spectacular, A Nightmare on Wing Street. Ooh. I am dressed fully in Freddy Krueger garb. My guest. But you're not normally like this? No, I'm not normally like this. Oh. This is actually a costume, guest. But you're not normally like this? No, I'm not normally like this. Oh.

This is actually a costume, much like what you're wearing. What? My guest is also fully uggode out as Freddy Krueger. Whoa, judgment. You can see a picture on screen of what she actually looks like. Maybe it's this side, or maybe it's this side.

Yeah, it's one of the two. Rachel Bryant. Hi. Actress, friend. How you doing? You know what? I'm doing pretty darn good, Michael. Yeah. How you doing? You know what? I'm doing pretty darn good, Michael. Are you? Pretty darn.

I will say my skin is starting to come off, but that's normal. Your skin is coming off. I'm sweating like the back of my neck is like juicy. You're very wet. I'm very moist. That's what I call a wet dream. Yeah, there we go. There we go.

The line from Nightmare on Elm Street, what we're referencing this week. Yeah, there we go. There we go. It's a line from Nightmare on Elm Street, what we're referencing this week. Oh, Nightmare on right now. So yeah, like I said this show, I'm looking for perfect mediocrity and we're doing it based on three criteria. Every week I go to a restaurant and evaluate it based on its atmosphere. Based on its service. And based on its food.

Food. Mmm, yummy. Ooh, yum yums. Yeah. Yum brands. Yum. We. Ooh, yum yums. Yeah. Yum brands. Yum. We went to a yum brands place.

So Wing Street was the place this week. We're going to jump on in, but before I do, do me a favor. Just share this show with a friend of yours this week. I worked so hard on this show and I'd love it if you just showed it off to people. If you're into the show, they'll be into it too. And if they don't like it, then you know, you can do it to get back at your enemies, but share it to somebody. Yes, yes. Fine dining party of two. Anyways, we're going to jump on in.ving pancakes and ribs, I recommend the spaghetti.

We're here to satisfy, not to impress. Your table is ready, complimentary butter and bread. These walls have growth signs. Knick-knack, cowboy hat, good luck cat. Altograph guitar, some grab from your city. Behold the tchotchke of mediocrity. Fine dining. Just fine dining just fine dining!

Fine dining! Two letters on the sign are shining, near a flickering irregular timing. Identify the perfect fine g-routel ten. Fine dining! Fine dining! Bar and Dining. Bar and Dining. Bar and Dining. Atmosphere. Okay, so we drove to not the closest Wing Street to me, but the fourth closest. Yes.

All because... You love the number four. No, I love it that it has a prominent Wing Street sign on the building. This Wing Street takes up more real estate on the building than the word Pizza Hut. So it knows its audience. I think it is leaning into the Wing Street premise here. All of the other Pizza Hut's near me, while they still have Wing Street offerings, the sign says none of it. It's ashamed of it. And this place embraces-

Celebrates it. The Wing Street vibe. So we pull into this parking lot, we drove the whole way dressed as Freddy Krueger. We spent a couple hours getting makeup applied beforehand. This was an ordeal. and I'm gonna be honest, it was unpleasant. Oh, I'm sorry.

I mean, just sitting there sweating, it's hot. I'm used to it because I sit in a makeup chair often for a lot of horror movies, so I kinda knew what to expect, but it is hot, it is hot, I will say. I'm glad I did it, you know, for the bit. Sure. But it's like, I'm not physically comfortable right now. Right, right.

I wasn't physically enjoying being at the restaurant. Yeah, yeah. And it's just, it's not gonna be. But that may be more than just the costume that's influencing it. Can I, I'm sorry, can I like actually remove, like it's so. I can probably rip it.

Don't actually, I just, oh, okay. Oh, no. There we go. Yeah. Hello. Like it's so I can probably rip it don't actually I just okay There we go Yeah, hello, it just dangles onto your lip So that's what we rolled up in and you know There were a couple people that you know, we do live in LA and a lot of people do stupid stuff for social media So there's some people that don't even look twice. And then there's people that are obviously doing double, triple takes. Because we look like this.

Because we both look like this. Yes. And so the first thing I noticed is we're in the parking lot trying to take the selfie for the podcast cover art. The first thing I noticed was the fact that the door wasn't a glass door, The glass had been broken. Yes, there was a wooden door in place of the glass. And when we went inside, it was wood

and there were pizza boxes covering it, which might be their way of being like, ooh, this wood really isn't strong. Let's reinforce it with cardboard. Like the curb appeal off the bat when you're pulling into the parking lot and you know that there's broken glass at some point. Like, uh-oh.

And it wasn't just this. It was the Popeyes across the street. Yes, so something happened. Or across the parking lot, same parking lot. Same parking lot, but the Popeyes was also missing glass from the doors. And it makes me wonder a question, Rachel. It makes me wonder, what's going on over there?

What's going on over there? What's going on over there? Should I wear it? Should I dare? What is going on over there? Hey Rachel, what is going on over there? Why is their door like this? Well, it's called the wing straight, right?

Yeah. A bird flew in and broke it. What, they're on a crusade against serving wings? Or they wanna become the wings? They're like, Wing Street! And then- Here's the thing. I think you're looking at it from the wrong angle. You think that it's the wing part of the name

that influenced this broken door? I think it's the street part of the name. I think someone was upset that this restaurant wasn't in the street enough, so they were like, we're gonna break down that barrier between you and the street. We're going to bring the street to you. Popeyes 2, your collateral damage. Or it's a bird inside trying to get out.

Oh no. I would be sad if the food was shipped here live. If they're actually like slaughtering the chicken here. It's a chicken slaughter back there. And based on the taste of this food, there's no chance that it's that fresh. Very true. That said, I do think we figured it out.

I think that is in fact, what's going on over there. What is going on over there? Now that was the first thing you noticed was the door. The first thing I noticed was we're taking a selfie for the podcast cover art. And some kids come out of the Popeyes and go, hey, Freddy Krueger, I'm going to kill you in your dream. And I was like, you can't say that to strangers.

What is this? Communist Russia. Do they say that in communist Russia? Yeah. OK, they kill you in your dreams. In Communist Russia, I don't know if you're allowed to have dreams. It's true. Ugh. But these kids were just-

I wasn't excited. We were starting to get bullied by children. We were getting bullied by children, and then they went back inside, and I was like, cool. We're done with them. That's fine. They were like 12 years old. Yeah.

And so we go inside. We place our order. I'm taking in decor. Actually, I'll talk about the inside decor. You said decor is generous, but like I will go so far as to give them actual credit. There's like a door to the left where you, if you're an employee, can go back into the kitchen and the service area and all that. And the door has a window that is shaped like the Pizza Hut logo.

And it's like, it's kind of impressive woodwork. Like... I don't know if woodwork is even the right word. It's like a vinyl door with like a cutout in it. Look, I'm... I... Decor is a strong word, but I hear what you're saying. No, no, no. I'm gonna double check the evidence. Of course, my phone doesn't recognize my face.

Yeah, look, like it's actually like embossed. Okay, I guess. I guess I don't look at that and think, wow, fancy woodworking. Okay, I didn't say fancy, I said impressive. Okay, okay. It's impressive that a fast food restaurant went through the process of having that.

I will say it's a nice detail. You would think that it'd just be like a door, but they added a little extra. A little something. A little something, yeah. Little unq- A little unq- Unq-

Unq-ish, the word I used, yeah. That's not the word I used with that, but we can use that word now. I'm trying. I'm trying. The wallpaper was like onions and pizza toppings. And it was peeling, the wallpaper was peeling, unfortunately. Like your face. Yeah, like right here. Yeah. And it was peeling, the wallpaper was peeling unfortunately. Like your face.

Yeah, like right here. It was cute. And then- But it was clean, I thought in there. It was clean. The ceiling was like yellow, not tile. It was like drop ceiling. It's like that drop ceiling.

Drop ceiling, but it was like, it looked like the color of ****. It seemed like they were going for pizza theming, even all the way to the ceiling. Oh, I just assumed that that wasn't a choice. It was like the color of sh**. It seemed like they were going for pizza theming even all the way to the ceiling. Oh, I just assumed that that wasn't a choice. It was like that golden color. I don't know. I mean, I think it's very base level decor.

It is, but there was effort. There was some effort, I guess. I'm making a case for them just because I was impressed by a couple things. I guess you weren't expecting that much effort to be happening... Right. Okay, I see what you're saying. And then like underneath where you ordered, there's these like...

They're like probably foam or something, but they look like they're metal like... You know when Han Solo gets frozen in carbonite? What if instead of Han, it was the Pizza Hut logo and the Wings Street logo? It literally was that. Yeah. And it just felt like the details mattered. All that to say, there was nothing impressive about this atmosphere. Like even with those details that I'm giving them credit for,

it's still a sad place to eat food. Well, and to that point, it's not their intention for someone to eat food there. No. But they do have five chairs. Five chairs. Well, and to that point, it's not their intention for someone to eat food there. No, but they do have five chairs. It feels like a dentist waiting room. And I think it's for you to wait for your food because probably most people take it to go. Yeah.

We were the people that decided to sit there for a few minutes to eat. Did you notice the chips? Sun chips just in the window. But first of all, randomly, all the same flavor of sun chips. But I also, it's a weird, it's not that I have OCD, but every once in a while I'll notice these things. Like one of them was put up there upside down. And I'm like, but why wouldn't you just

turn it the right side up? Like it's the display of chips and it's an upside down chip bag. They don't care. I know, but- They don't care. That's such an easy thing to control. And so why should we?

Well. Yeah. So that's where I thought the atmosphere would end, but then those punk ass kids from Popeyes came back in while we're in the middle of eating. And bullied us again. And we're just like, they walked in and the employee's like, can I help you?

And he's like, oh, we just gotta ask him a question. I was like, what? Well, I'm in the middle of recording something right now. I don't owe you my time. Right, and of course the employee was upset too. She knew that these were like hoodlums essentially. Right, right. They broke the door.

They were the ones who broke the door. These 12 year old kids were just there, it caused mayhem. They weren't gonna order any food. You know what, I hate children. You know what, I'm gonna. I'm just gonna say it. You know what, I'm gonna go on, I'm gonna say that that behavior. Freddie Krueger was right.

I'm gonna go on record and give them an award. I think that behavior is way too much. It's way too much. This is, way too much. They don't know me. Yeah, you don't know me. They're not, you don't know me. You, you don't know me. You don't know me. You're not entitled to my time.

You're like, go away. Your behavior, where are your parents? Yeah. Where are your legal guardians? Yeah. Where's the babysitter? I don't care who it is, but someone needs to pick you up because your behavior was in fact way too much.

Way too much. All of that put together, I said a lot of things that I was impressed by the details of their atmosphere and decor, but then those kids came in and start harassing me. The window and our glass is broken. There's all this stuff that just adds to a negative. There's not even a table we're eating off of our lap. I know it's not the intent to eat there, but Pizza Hut used to be a restaurant, and I'm hanging to that.

So for the atmosphere of Wing Street, I'm going two thumbs down. Oh. Yeah. I agree with that. Just compared to every restaurant, like, of course. I agree with that. It's too Oh. Yeah. I agree with that. Just compared to every restaurant. I agree with that. Of course.

I agree with that. It's too bad. Yeah. All right, we're gonna move in and talk about the service. Service. Wow, the service was the bright spot. I agree. She had such a young energy to her.

Very positive. Like she, she was going with the flow. It was an immediate, like, you know, freaks walk in to these two crazy people walk in. You know, we're in Los Angeles, so she's probably dealt with a lot of crazy people. She was probably like, oh, what's going to happen on my shift today? Which like she was taken aback. But also I did go to this Wing Street last night to tell a man, like I gave them a heads up, hey, just so you know, I'm gonna be back here tomorrow dressed as Freddy Krueger,

and I just don't wanna like alarm anyone. Right. And she still seemed kind of alarmed. Initially, but then I think she put it together. She did. I think she put it together. But, and I even asked her, I was like, did someone give you a heads up? She was like, yeah, someone who was here last night told me.

And I was like, oh, okay. So I do appreciate that the message made it. Because I'm not looking to ruin someone's day or give them a hard time. We're just making a podcast, we're just making content, bro. Look, we're just doing Nightmare on Wing Street as you do. Nightmare on Wing Street.

As you do. You know what? It really was a Nightmare on Wing Street except for the service. Yeah, she was great. I don't know if I got her name, I just realized. I didn't, she asked for her face to be blurred for social media videos, so even if I did know her name, I'm not gonna like, out her.

She was really, really nice. She was very nice. Very helpful, I answered your questions, you know? Yeah, my favorite thing was, she was like, what's the name, should I put it under Freddie? And I was like, could you make it Freddys? she's like, what's the name? Should I put it under Freddie? And I was like, could you make it Freddie's? She's like, yes. She's like, yes, I had that thought too.

And so, and they actually had a display counter up top like with all the names of upcoming orders and what time is expected to be ready or if it is ready. And so it says Freddie, ready. You know, I just realized now too, that that is very indicative of this type of restaurant we were going to. When there's a screen counting down your order.

You get to leave this hellhole in five minutes. You get to see how many other people have ordered and are ahead of you, you know? There were three from the same Mike. Yeah, what is Mike's problem? Like he just kept forgetting stuff and being like, oh, I'm gonna get this. Now the other thing, so I called this restaurant

probably two weeks ago and asked, do you guys have tables inside? And they said, no, we're not a place where you eat inside. So just to like dilute any possible confrontation of they give us our food and then we start eating there, I didn't want them to say, you can't eat that here, you have to leave, because I don't want to eat on the curb.

This show, the whole conceit is to eat in the restaurant. So I came up with a plan that I thought was pretty cheeky, and it's let's order all the Wing Street stuff first, and then as soon as it's delivered, put in another order. Oh. For Pizza Hut stuff. So we got a pizza and like a dessert and some fries and all that.

They're not really going to factor into the rating because this is strictly about Wing Street. The Wing Street rating. But, you know, I want to pat myself on the back for being like, I figured out how to not get kicked out while we're eating. You deserve validation here. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Yes. And which is what we did. We sat and ate the wings while we waited for other food to get prepared. I did struggle immensely to grab my wallet. I was like trying to like, and then once I got my wallet out. Who would have thought this would be hard?

With a claw hand, with a power, I don't think this is the power glove, but whatever. Yeah, with a Freddy claw hand, and then once I have the wallet out, I'm trying to use it to open and fish out the credit card. Yeah. It was difficult. That being said, for the eating portion,

I thought this thing actually worked pretty good. Yeah, we'll get more into that when we talk about the food, but as a utensil, this is not about the food. But okay as a utensil, this is not useless It's not useless as a utensil. Yes. Yeah now the other thing That I just want to note real quick when we did place that second order on the screen. It said Freddy again So, yeah, I mean our sequel you see yeah Usually for like a fast casual restaurant where you just order and then food's given to you over a counter,

I usually don't go any higher than thumbs in the middle. I really did like the attitude of this employee. She was just fun, bubbly, friendly. Food was made very quickly. Food was made quickly enough. Yeah, I think I'm gonna go one thumb up. She was playful in the way that she put the name on the thing. So I'm gonna go one thumb up.

Accommodating for us. Just for service. Yeah, yeah. She was also irritated by those kids, which made me go, yes, you're right. Preach. Yes. Yeah.

You also one thumb up or where are you on service? You can go thumbs in the middle if you want. No, I would say one thumb up. It's who is service? You can go thumbs in the middle if you want. No, I would say one thumb up. It's who is the best, right? Who's the best. Yeah, I'd say one thumb up for that. Yeah, okay.

Because I think wherever you put that woman, she would be good at her job. Sure, and a good attitude goes such a long way into making an enjoyable customer interaction. Yes. So that's service, onto food. Food. Food. So that's service on to food. Food.

So this is going to be pretty limited because you know, we tried four wing flavors and then we got a couple other things, but I also have to mention we spent the whole time eating it with this stupid contraption. So I liked that you were like, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. And then I, you know what I did is I opened the thing and I just went skewer and it was on my thing. Yes, but like digging, like even opening the door was tough.

Getting the food out of the bag was tough. That was incredibly, it was such an inconvenience. Inconvenience. Inconvenience. Do that if it's... Oh! Oh! You hear the alarm going off?

Yes! Ah! Ah! Do you know what that means? What, what, what? You said the word that unlocks the secret menu minigame. Inconvenience was the word, but it has triggered the category, delicious hassles.

Ooh. The secret menu, basically, we get a joke category, we slingshot back and forth all the jokes that we can think of. You, in the comments, tell us who you thought did better. Oh. I didn't realize this was a competition. Everything's competitive.

Oh, gosh. But more importantly. I gotta use the right words now. Leave your own delicious hassle entry below. I'll pick my favorite one and send you a fine dining t-shirt when I announce you on the next episode. And the winner of last times goes to

TikTok user Idiot Bastard for their submission for spooky restaurants, the grave of the Burger King. Go ahead, send me a DM on Instagram and TikTok at fine dining podcast or send me an email fine dining podcast at gmail.com and I will get you a fine dining t-shirt sent your way. Everyone else best of luck this time. So delicious hassles. This is combining things that are a hassle

with foods and restaurants like getting a parking ticket cat bar. Oh, wow, wow. Or having your credit card decline dyke bar. Oh my. Yeah, look, they're bad. They're bad this week. No, mine are bad.

I'm gonna be real. So we're gonna put 60 seconds on the clock. I'll have you start in three, two, one. Applebee stings. Applebee stings. Tax's Roadhouse. That's pretty good, that's pretty good. Okay, so we're breaking up dip.

Losing your keys lime pie. Outback outhouse. I guess an outhouse is a hassle. It's very inconvenient. Ice cream getting called into work on a Sunday. Oh, okay. Seizure salad. Getting ghosted peppers.

Okay. TGI Monday. Waffle household chores. Okay, I like that one a lot. Okay, this one's vampire specific. Hanger steak through the heart. Okay. Having the cops called on you by an annoying neighbor-ger. Neighbor-ger.

F boys, you know? F boys in Berry Pie. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. All right, and that'll do it for the secret menu. Don't forget, comment your own below. I'll pick one for a fine dining t-shirt. And now back to talking about the food. Oh, hey there, bud. We heard you like Dungeons and Dragons.

Fancy that? We're your Canadian neighbors, eh? Dungeons and Dragons. And we just started season three your Canadian neighbors, eh? Dungeons & Dragons. And we just started season three, which means it's the perfect place to start with us. Let me give you a little taste of the show. How much is a donkey cost? Russ, how much is a donkey cost?

The question everyone wants to know. Is he ever gonna give you up? Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down. Orcas is gonna rule all in and he won't desert you. Find out why Dungeons & Dragons has been downloaded more than a million times. Start listening to season three today, anywhere fine podcasts are found or at dumdragons.com.

Hey, here at the Nerdy Reads Podcast, we read nerdy stuff such as sci-fi, fantasy, horror books, manga, comics, and all other things. We are a weekly podcast, so whether you listen to five books or 10 or 100 books a year, there is something for you on the Nerdy Reads podcast. You can find us on YouTube or wherever you prefer to listen. Join us in the New Stuff Cafe

where we review a new food or beverage item each week. You can also expect some of the latest and greatest news from across the nerd verse and a sighting of the week. And the best part of the show always happens at the end when we get some advice from our very own sweet baby Dylan. Listen. So what we did learn is, yeah,

while these things sucked to use in so many ways, they're great for just skewering boneless wings and eating them off of your claw. Or even bone wings. Like I used it to get it out of the dish. And then I was able to like, you know. Well, I did a thing where I poked it down with two claws and then ate it between them.

Yeah, and when you think about it, I guess this is like a knife in many ways. It is very much like a knife. I was able to get the meat out very well. So let's talk about the specific food that we ate. So we had the honey barbecue boneless wings. We got two sets of boneless, two sets of traditional wings just to-

Mix it up a bit, why not? Just to mix it up. And I thought that they were sweet, but average. Like they were fine, I enjoyed them. There was like so much sauce on them and it's so much, it just kind of tasted fake a little bit and overly sweet. But like, it didn't taste much, it just kind of tasted fake a little bit and overly sweet, but like, it didn't taste bad. It just.

Yeah, but like, it didn't have a texture of like, oh yeah, this is great quality meat. So I can only go four and a half out of 10. For that one, I would probably even, I'd probably go like three and a half out of 10. Yeah. Yeah. I like how this is kind of like a call in a spade, a spade. Like, look, it was good for our low expectations, but. Yeah. Yeah. I like how this is kind of like a call in a spade, a spade. Like, look, it was good for our low expectations.

Yeah. And I'm not a wings person either. Yeah. I'll preface that with that. Then we had lemon pepper traditional wings. These, I thought, were probably the strongest of the bunch. I agree with you on that. They weren't overly sauced. There was some nice acid in there because of the lemon, obviously, which added this nice flavor profile. And it didn't feel messy, which usually isn't a factor

that I care about too much. But when I'm eating it with a literal Freddy Krueger hand, I do kind of mind how much of a mess it's making. Yeah, understandable. I went five and a half. I was going to say five for this one. Yeah, five and a half out of 10 for the lemon pepper wings. It's no, like, the best lemon pepper wings you find

are probably gonna be like seven and a half, eight. Like, they can get very tasty. But for like a fast food. And this was our dry rub, our only dry rub one. This is our only dry wing. Then the Buffalo Burnin' Hot Boneless. Burnin' hot! I coughed immediately.

Like, literally the second it entered my mouth, I inhaled the like heat fumes and it was like. And I was nervous about it being too hot. And I will say it was just on the edge for me about on spice because I'm not a huge Buffalo person. But overall it was fine. It's still too much sauce I felt like for me. Yeah, I didn't love the super hot ones.

And like I like hot spiced things. Usually I'm't love the super hot ones. And like, I like hot, spiced things. Usually I'm not the biggest into the flavor of a buffalo. Like they had a sweet hot, I forget what it was, sweet Thai or something, sweet Thai chili. Sweet chili, maybe, yeah. Yeah, and that appealed to me, but I asked the lady that worked there what she recommended between the two

and I usually don't go against a recommendation because it seems rude to even ask in the first place. Well, I mean, just also like, oh, you asked my opinion and then didn't take it like what you asked. True, true. Yeah, so it's not my favorite thing. I went- What'd you grade that?

I went four out of 10 on the Buffalo Hot. I was gonna give that a three, probably. Yeah. And then the spicy garlic traditional wings. They just weren't very spicy. They weren't very spicy at all. That's why I thought I'd be fine with the buffalo because I knew that I wasn't gonna get blown out.

It was, again, so much sauce. Like, I opened the container to go in for another one and it was just swimming, and I was like, you know what? I really don container to go in for another one and it was just swimming. And I was like, you know what? I really don't think I want to take another one. I don't even know if it's sauce or grease or a combination of both. It's a little, it's not as exciting to want to eat, I feel like. And like, you know, the plating on it is literally just a, it's like kind of that like better

for the environment, plastic little bowl. And it's just, it's just like a pool of sauce. Yeah. There's nothing yeah there's nothing like special about and again this isn't a restaurant where they bring your food to your table. I get that. But presentation is still a thing you notice. Well and especially these are these are things they are making specifically for this.

It's not like they're buying general restaurant wear. Like these are made for Wing Street, and they have stickers on the outside so you know which flavor you're getting. So they have thought a lot about packaging for this particular establishment, and it doesn't really seem to really add much to it. Which is odd, because they're spending extra money to design and manufacture this.

Yeah. So it was uninspired. I think for the spicy garlic, I again just go five out of 10. I gave that a three and a half. Yeah. All pretty low. It's just, this isn't good quality food. It felt like maybe it was frozen chicken

that had been reheated, which is a lot of, I mean a lot of food unfortunately is- Which by the way, I'm not going to like claim it was. I'm just saying it did taste like it. It may not be. That's not the point.'m just saying it did taste like it. It may not be. That's not the point. The fact that it reminded me of that. Yeah.

I do assume it is, but like. Quality is not, they're more about convenience, I think, quick. And you know what you're gonna get. Because that's what fast food is. Oh, I know exactly what I'll get at McDonald's. I know exactly what I'll get at that place. Right, you just, you have a go-to order.

Same thing with Wing Street slash Pizza Hut. Like for me, McDonald's, I go, I get a McGriddle and I cry. That's my McDonald's routine. Oh. Well, that sounds like something to talk about with your therapist. Yep.

We're working through a lot of things. And then I got two more things that I do wanna talk about and then one more that won't factor into the rating. But you know, we got a pizza. We got like a- True. Just like the pan pizza, which- Their standard, you know. Their standard. We got pepper pizza. We got like a... True. Just like the pan pizza, which... They're standard.

They're standard. We got pepperoni for me, cheese for you. It's fine. It's a Pizza Hut pizza. I'm not even gonna give it a number because it doesn't factor into this. But because they got the fryer for Wing Street,

I do wanna factor in the Cajun fries. Did you try one? I did not. I did not. But it was like a steak fry you were describing, right? No, it was... Or it wasn't a crispy fry you were describing, right? No, it was. Or it wasn't a crispy fry. It was kind of mushy.

It was like the same dimensions as a Burger King chicken fry to where it's like a little bit thicker, but not, yeah. It was really soft on the inside, right? Yeah, and it's very like, it's like a perfect square around the sides. The seasoning was pretty good. The texture, now to be fair, we carted it home.

So it was in the car for 10 minutes. But that's the guys of this place. It's a to-go place. You're not supposed to eat it fresh. But even still, I'll say with that seasoning, I went six out of 10. Oh really? Wow.

I did not try it, so I'm not going to grade it. I was more impressed than I expected to be with the Cajun fries. And then the other thing that just looked interesting, they added a new dessert. It was like hot chocolate donut bites or something, and they're like, they're a chocolate-filled chocolate donut. Yes. Almost like a little, like a beignet. I was gonna say, they had beignet shaped to it.

Yeah. They were, they existed. Yeah, like first of all, one thing I hate about like these, this is gonna sound like really complainy, but like corporate restaurants is they always have pictures of food, right? And they never look like the picture. And it will never match it.

Like I ordered that and this is what I get. Yeah. And I felt like that with that and this is what I get. Yeah. And I felt like that with that. The disconnect with the donut. The donut thing. It just kind of tastes like general sweet. And it's probably not any real chocolate or cocoa in there. It's probably like that fake chocolate stuff.

It's fine. It's not like it was, I threw it up. This is gonna be a really weird comparison. But the difference between a pretzel and a soft pretzel. This felt like the equivalent of like a breakfast cereal. Soft like the texture of this was like, God, what is it? There's like a little cocoa breakfast cereal that has like chocolate inside. Cocoa puffs? Oh, I want to say crave maybe.

OK, I'm not a super familiar with. I could be totally wrong. But there is like a breakfast seal that's like chocolate with chocolate inside. This felt like the soft pretzel equivalent of that, but blown up. Okay. And it just, it could have been more,

it didn't taste very fresh. It didn't taste fresh. I wanted the inside to be gooier. Yeah. You know, like more like a molten lava cake or something. Right, right. Which is not at all the case. No. It was like almost really gooier, you know, more like a molten lava cake or something, which is not at all the case. It was almost congealed inside.

I went, I'll go 3.8. I'm almost at a four, but I'm 3.8 on these. Which for a dessert- That got greater lower for me. I would say that's a two. That's a two. And I've got such a sweet tooth. So for something to even get in the threes for me,

when you have that two point bias from me loving sweets. Yeah, because I'm not a sweets person. Yeah. So, yeah, you dropped the ball on this thing that like it has potential conceptually, but the execution is. Well, and maybe it is a new menu item that's trying to kind of figure out the kinks a little bit, but it was not exciting.

It was not exciting. No. So when we put all of that together, the food, one thumb down. Like when I'm comparing this to all other restaurants, the food here is one thumb down. Like it might be two thumbs down. I don't know, where are you?

I'll be nice and say one thumb down. Can I do one and a half? I'm gonna say one and a half. Can you have a half thumb? No. One and a neutral? How about this, you go one down, I'll go two down, and then they average out.

That's what you deserve, Wing Street food. Yeah, not the best meal I've had in my life. All right, well, we have to put all of these score considerations and get a rating out of it. But before we do, speaking of, it's not the best restaurant or the worst restaurant, I want to stop by the calibration station and hear about those things from you.

After the theme song. Calibration station, comparing this meal to the best or the worst. Calibration station. Chugga chugga chugga chugga choo choo. Rachel. Hi. I'm here. I don't know how to snap.

I need to calibrate your scale because I've been to all of these restaurants. I know when I give a score what it's compared to. Sure. This is your first time on the podcast. It is. And that's totally okay, but I need you. And maybe I'll be back. I need you to calibrate. This is your first time on the podcast. It is. And that's totally okay, but I need you. And maybe I'll be back.

I need you to calibrate. And maybe you won't look like this next time. We'll see. Maybe you can be you. We'll see. So I wanna know what are the ends of your personal scale, the worst restaurant experience you've ever had, and the best restaurant experience you've ever had.

I'll let you pick which one you wanna start with. I guess I'll start with best. I'm very lucky. I've traveled a lot, and I've been to some really nice restaurants. Yeah. My best restaurant experience is, uh, the really, really, really, I don't even, I might be a Michelin star rated. I haven't looked it up, but, uh, the restaurant that's on the Eiffel tower,

Jules Verne, very expensive, very fancy, multiple courses. You get fed a bunch of free courses, in fact, as part of this experience. Food, you're getting interesting flavors, beautiful plating, it's not just salt and sweet. It's thoughtful. Yeah, someone's really creating an experience, a dining experience.

It's clean, oh, the service, there's like three waiters per person. Everyone's getting their food at the same time, I always find that very fun. Is it one of those places where if your napkin falls off, oh, the service. There's like three waiters per person. Everyone's getting their food at the same time. I always find that very fun. Is it one of those places where if your napkin falls off your lap, they immediately. Yes, there's like water being immediately refilled. Also, it doesn't hurt that you're on the Eiffel Tower.

I do acknowledge that that is probably swaying this experience and you're looking over the city of Paris. Like literally, most beautiful city in the world. I love Paris. So yes, that's my best dining experience. The food was incredible. I remember we had lobster ravioli. I remember we had, like, they kept giving us free desserts

and like little truffles and things. I was there with my family. That's best 10 out of 10 experience. Great, let's hear that zero. Here's the thing, Michael. I hate complaining, I do. I don't like to disparage things. It's funny that you say that,

and I'm trying to think, eh, does she, and then I'm like, yeah, I actually don't know if I can remember you complaining. I really, it's not a place I like to live in. I don't like to live in a place of focusing on the negative, but I really did think about,

so I say that because I think I have found a lot of silver linings and negative dining experiences. So the experience I'm gonna talk about, I don't even really remember the food. I just remember it not being positive and I'm pretty sure the food, I just can't tell you specifically what I ate. I'll say that.

So this other experience, I am in London and I'm with friends. Such a jet setting lifestyle. Well, you know. and I'm with friends. Such a jet setting lifestyle. Well, you know. And when you're in London, for the love of God, do not go to a Mexican restaurant. Let me tell you, that was our first mistake.

We'd been there, so I went twice when I was in college to these three week experiences where we were seeing theater. So I was living in London for three weeks. And by the end of that, we were all like, we need Mexican food because I'm a Caligula. You know? I'm like, well, there's a Mexican restaurant. Like it can't be that bad.

It was not great. We were there, we were in this random area trying to, you know, before a play. So we go into this restaurant. First of all, there's like, you know those chairs that are like at the ballrooms where it's like just plastic vinyl chair and they all stack on each other. That's the kind of chairs and it's just like, you know, folding tables.

Not promising. And then, you know, greasy, you know, nothing tastes like Mexican food. It tastes like one, a British person who saw a Mexican TV show once decided to start cooking Mexican food. He was like, no decor. Tomatoes, I can put ketchup in it. Yes. Everything is just like gross and service is fine. Nobody else is even eating in there.

I'm like, how does this place even stay open? Like that's probably my worst starting experience. And I bet you I've had bad food. I just can't think about it. Cause I've tried to like block it from my memory. What's funny is I should have learned my lesson cause I was in London last year. I was there with my ex-boyfriend

and we got the appetizer platter. And there were nachos on the appetizer platter. I should have known, because nachos are a Mexican dish. We shouldn't have gotten it. And they put mayonnaise. That was sour cream. That's so weird.

Black olives, mayonnaise, and there were some beans, and then the wasn't melted. This is the problem with British people is they don't understand how to make Mexican food. Black olives, mayonnaise, and there were some beans, and then the cheese wasn't melted. This is the problem with British people, is they don't understand how to make Mexican food. Right, that is the problem with British people. This is the only problem.

Nothing else. This is the only problem, yeah, yeah. Yeah. All right, well, it's your 10, that's your zero, you're properly calibrated. Somewhere between those two, closer to the Eiffel Tower, or closer to British Mexican food. Where is Wing Street?

We gotta give it a number. We're gonna jump into the final rating. Final rating. All right, Rachel, put all the factors in, give us a little like recap of how you got there, but we need a number. Okay. For Wing Street. It is closer to the side of British Mexican food. Of course it is.

It is higher than I initially thought because of the service, I'll say that. I'm gonna give it a 2.22. 2.22? And so the food, eh, decor, ugh. Yeah. Service? Eh, eh.

I am kind of right there with you. Our scores are very close. Yeah. When I look at the low end of the Chachki of mediocrity, there's White Castle and Shonies, which are experiences that I would say I hated. There's Gaddy Town and Medieval Times, which, not good, but like there were some things about them

that had redeeming qualities. This is probably between those two for me. So I went 2.30. Oh, so on the site higher. I thought you were gonna go a little higher actually. Very close to you. So when we put our scores together, Wing Street goes up on the tchotchke of mediocrity

at a 2.26. Wow. And now let's see if I can affix it with this claw. That's not the first time he said that. Yes it is. Uh oh. Wow. Look at that.

Which means, Wing Street is officially less than mediocre. Less than mediocre. Not quite as good as Cracker Barrel. That is what that means. Which means it's not the perfect 5.00, which means that I need to go somewhere next time.

However, next time is going gonna be in two weeks, not in one week. Because this is my season two finale. Wow, this episode right here? This episode that we are in right now, the end of season two, end of October, a horror spectacular nightmare on Wing Street. Oh, this is pretty horrific. Wasn't nearly as spooky as my season one TGI Friday the 13th episode.

But, you know, there is a nightmare to inconvenience, which we did experience plenty of trying to eat dressed like this. I'm sweating my I'm sweating my life away. Oh, oh, oh, you are very wet. Yeah. I'm sweating my life away. Ow. Oh, you are very wet. Yeah. You're not even supposed to be able to remove it like that. But you're so wet, I think it's working.

Like look at how this is the nightmare that I have dealt with. And I am juicing out of the back of my bald cap. You know what's funny is I started to think you looked like that more. Anyways. Like I forgot what your face looked like. Yeah, I did too.

So as part of my season finale, Yeah. I'm gonna kill off some elements of the show that aren't gonna make it to next season. Whoa. So next season. I get to be privy to this? You get to be privy to this.

Okay. So, I don't know, what did you like the least about this episode? Oh, I guess I kind of felt like I was put on the spot with like the what's going on over there. Ah, that's me killing what's going on over there. Ah! What's going on over there?

Ah! Look, I've given out a lot of awards, specifically the This Is Way Too Much award over the course of this show. And I just feel like, look, it's expensive to give out so many awards. So I'm gonna kill that off. Well, you should get the final award

for This Is Way Too Much, because it was way too much to be giving out that much. It's been way too much giving out the This Is Way Too Much award. This Is Way Too Much! So I'm gonna kill that off next season. But more importantly, I'm gonna try something a little bit different for the reviews.

Look, I've been going at this for two years, looking for the perfectly mediocre restaurant, and I haven't been able to find it yet. And I think that there's a little something wrong with my formula. I've been looking for the restaurant that moves the needle the least. I've defined mediocrity as a place where it's like,

eh, you know, in service atmosphere, food, all of those elements, it's just meh. And I don't think that's the right way to go about it. I think what I should be looking for is the restaurant where the good and the bad are in perfect harmony. A place that makes me feel something and not nothing, but it makes me feel both ends of the human experience. Powerful.

So that's going to be my goal. It's a little bit of shift in how my episodes will be organized, but I'm not going to go to the You Must Bowl to determine where I go next for my season premiere. I'm going to do something very special. I'm heading to Denver, Colorado. Huh? I've been on the wait list for 10 months, and I finally get to dine at Casa Bonita, the restaurant from South Park. You know Casa Bonita?

I went there like 10 years ago. Oh, you went there before the remodel. I was gonna say that was one of my worst experiences. Ha ha ha ha! Okay, well, I'm super excited because it's been entirely revamped by the guys who own South Park. Okay, maybe it's better now. Maybe it's better now. We'll find out, but tune in in two weeks. Next week, I will be dropping a trailer for season three. Thanks everyone so much for following along with this journey so far. I will be back in two weeks with a brand new episode on Casa Bonita. One week with

a trailer. Leave a comment below, you know, leave a like, all that stuff, share the show. Obviously, I'm trying to grow as much as possible. You can follow me on Instagram and TikTok at Fine Dining Podcast. Rachel? Yeah, you can follow me on Instagram at Rachel Amanda Bryant on TikTok at Rachel A Bryant. And I do have a horror movie coming out. It's premiering this month. It's going to be out by the end of this year, the beginning of next year. A hard place. It stars, Felicia Rose and Lynn Lowry, two horror icons.

It also has byling in it. But guess who actually is the lead of the whole movie? Freddy Krueger. Again, she looks like, actually looks like this. Picture, yeah. Awesome, well thanks so much for coming. It's been really fun having you on. Of course, I had a blast.

We didn't find the most mediocre restaurant. But we found each other. In America, but we found each other, looking just busted. Terrible, I'm so sorry. As they say. The search does in fact continue. I'll see you in two weeks.

Have a fine day. The search continues, our journey did not conclude The mother-repping search continues, writers and idols review And hey, while you're at it, why don't you go ahead and make it five stars, huh? Come on! Follow us on TikTok, the same on Instagram, all the socials, at Find Dining Podcast, we have a website, finddiningpodcast.com, buy our t-shirts, then put them on And don't forget, you can always suggest where we go next OK!

We're going to find it, mediocrity The search continues See you next week! Cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough