Red Heat Tavern Wilmington

I have driven by Red Heat Tavern in Wilmington numerous times and never had any urge to try them until a friend was raving about their smoked wings. It also turns out that if you sign up for their newsletter, you get a free app.

They are located conveniently just off Rte 93 on 129 with plenty of parking.

Nice shaded outdoor patio.

The inside is spacious and with booths, high tops and bar seating. The open kitchen can be seen in the back and the waitress informed me that they make everything from scratch.

And here are the much-heralded wings. Mesquite Smoked Wings (11.95). "Boneless or Bone-in, mesquite-marinated chicken wings two ways: Buffalo-style w/ smoked blue cheese dressing Sweet Thai-style w/ sriracha aioli." The waitress offered a half and half option that I gladly went with. First, the wings were excellent with a nice smokey flavor and still tender and juicy and a somewhat crispy exterior. The sweet Thai-style packed some heat, especially with aioli. The favorite, however, was the Buffalo Style with a really interesting smoked blue cheese dressing. The wings themselves was also covered in a sauce that was a bit on the spicy side. Boy, I'm looking forward to the leftovers tonight.

I also ordered Chef Alan’s Signature Ribs ($18.95). "All-natural fall-off-the-bone pork ribs slow-cooked w/ Harpoon cider, finished w/ a chipotle BBQ glaze, fries, coleslaw." The fries were good and the ribs were exactly as stated on the menu, fall off the bone tender so they don't qualify as good BBQ ribs but they were super tasty with a bit of bark and the glaze was excellent. They were also seriously meaty. The coleslaw was a nice surprise, this was an excellent and tasty variant. Service was great and my waitress did a super professional job of packing up all my leftovers including the wing sauces. There were a couple more appetizers that I thought looked interesting so I'll be back or maybe I'll just visit their new location in Bedford instead.