Four beers on tap, 30 bottled beers (including a gluten-free variety) and over 20 flavors of wings …what’s not to like? And on Wednesdays, you’ll like it even more because wings are 35 cents each, all day. According to George Vlamis, whose family owns the Gold Fox, the three most popular wing flavors are Sweet Thai Chili, Bourbon and Garlic Parmesan, but you can also get―to name a few―Garlic, Sweet Honey, Pineapple Teriyaki, Cajun, Jamaican Jerk, Lemon Pepper Vinaigrette, Barbecue, Honey Barbecue or Honey Mustard.
In our house, a tentative, “Any thoughts about dinner?” is code for, “Get in the car. We’re going to the Gold Fox.” If you’re looking for trendy décor, this is not your spot, but a platter of wings, a house salad (a large portion of lettuces, roasted red peppers, croutons, tomatoes and cucumbers, served with toasted bread) and a Sam Adams always work for me, especially when they’re served up by the smiling face of bar manager, Jack, in a place filled with friendly, familiar people to wave at and chat to.
Holy Hotness wings at the Gold Fox. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
For Buffalo Wings you do, of course, get to choose mild medium or hot …but then there’s Holy Hotness. Let me tell you about Holy Hotness Wings…. they’re HOT. Are we clear about this? My husband prides himself on a tolerance for hot foods that is off the Richter scale for most people. Still, he could not finish a whole plate of Holy Hotness wings, and while watching him try, I was mentally calculating how long it would take the Gardiner Fire and Rescue Squad to reach Ireland Corners. Spontaneous combustion seemed imminent.
The Gold Fox makes all its own wing sauces. Holy Hotness is made with fresh habanero peppers, rated between 100,000 and 350,000 on the Scoville scale, a rating system developed in 1912, because pharmacist Wilbur Scoville had some time on his hands and decided to use it figuring out which peppers were most likely to blow people’s heads off. By contrast, the more common jalapeno pepper rates a mere 2,500 to 8,000 Scoville units.
There are, of course, other great offerings in the bar, like fried calamari, hamburgers, fish and chips and so on, and you can, of course, get wings on any day of the week ($7.75 for a dozen) but Wednesday Wings, when wings are only 35 cents each, has become so popular that you can now get them in the restaurant section, too.