Following the Northside/Eastwood and downtown results, the much-anticipated Tipperary Hill bracket features Blarney Stone vs. Rosie’s Sports Bar & Grill, and Nibsy’s Pub taking on Patsy’s Pizza.
Tipperary Hill Opening Round: Game 1
(1) Blarney Stone’s “Hot” wings: 2 points
(4) Rosie’s Sports Bar & Grill’s “Hot” wings: 1 point
Kicking off the highly competitive Tipp Hill Bracket is Blarney Stone’s hot wings vs. Rosie’s hot wings. This was a tight race as both sports bars featured well-above-average wings. Rosie’s deserves credit for outstanding wings with great meat, great skin, and a slight hint of garlic, highlighted by an intense heat and some of the hottest wings in the tournament. I also liked the fact that a few wings still had the tips on them, which was a welcomed surprise and hints that they might cut the 3-joint wings themselves, but some of the drumettes suffered as a result and were small, boney, and in some cases indiscernible.
While most categories were a draw (hence the low score), Blarney Stone was able to come up solid in just about each category and pulled out a 2-1 victory over Rosie’s wings. Blarney Stone offered great, slightly crispy and chewy skins, above-average meat, a great heat level, and delicious and plentiful Buffalo sauce.
Winner: Blarney Stone
Tipperary Hill Opening Round: Game 2
(3) Nibsy’s Pub’s “Hot” wings: 5 points
(2) Patsy’s Pizza’s “Hot” wings: 0 points
The next Tipp Hill match-up featured Nibsy’s hot wings ushering in the first shutout of the tournament in a 5-0 victory over Patsy’s Pizza. Patsy’s was only able to muster up a fight in the heat department, with wings soaked in plenty of tasty hot sauce that had a great, albeit vinegary, Buffalo flavor. Aside from that, uninspiring chicken meat, small wings, dry skins, and a flavorless blue cheese with no celery made them susceptible to a defeat by the opposition.
Nibsy’s wings, served in a wooden basket lined with tin foil and in a pool of mouth-watering hot sauce, easily took the match-up and were by far some of the best wings in the entire tournament. Though Nibsy’s had hints of fattier meat and an exterior skin that was slightly thin, Nibsy’s were otherwise flawless. The tasty, jumbo-style wings were coated in a perfectly balanced hot sauce that made them, in my opinion, the definition of classic Buffalo wings that contained just the right amount of heat.
Winner: Nibsy’s Pub
Tipperary Hill Second Round: Championship Game
(3) Nibsy’s Pub’s “Hot” wings: 2 points
(1) Blarney Stone’s “Hot” wings: 1 point
The championship round of the Tipperary Hill bracket featured Nibsy’s and Blarney Stone in a fierce battle for the third spot in the upcoming Final Four. Blarney’s hot wings are truly excellent and, admittedly, will always be my biased wing of choice when on Tipp Hill. With a perfect amount of heat, outstanding skins, and tasty, chunky blue cheese, it’s hard not to pick them, but the self-proclaimed “oldest tavern in Syracuse” edged them out. While Blarney’s had an excellent amount of sauce that made getting fingers messy enjoyable, Nibsy’s overwhelmingly better sauce flavor was the deciding factor and, helped by the jumbo-style wings, put Blarney’s to shame. A battle royale on Tipp Hill between Nibsy’s, Rosie’s, and Blarney made it difficult to judge this bracket, but Nibsy’s was able to come up the victor with outstanding Buffalo wings and deservedly earns the title of best wings on Tipp Hill.
Winner and champion of the Tipperary Hill bracket: Nibsy’s Pub
One division remains and the three teams in the Final Four, Change of Pace, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, and Nibsy’s Pub, await the winner of the Southside/University Hill bracket. Pulled into Syracuse’s 2011 Wing Tournament returns in two weeks to The Eagle, so stay tuned!
Josef Lorenz is a Syracuse resident and blogger who contributes bi-weekly to The Eagle. His extensive list of restaurant reviews are online at pulledintosyracuse.blogspot.com .
