Jadens' Pints and Wings: Simpsonville, SC

So awhile back I attempted to try Jadens' Pints and Wings on a Friday afternoon for some wings (another self proclaimed "BEST" in the Upstate) and a cold Guinness. Upon parking my car, walking to the door, it was locked. No hours posted (or none that I could see, but I didn't look terribly hard) and not a person to be seen through the window I decided to try my luck at a different establishment for my quick fix. Seriously, 3:30 on a Friday afternoon you are closed?

So now several months later we find ourselves out and about on Saturday with nothing to do and three starving children. I decide to give Jadens a second chance as wings and a beer sounded good (but when doesn't that sound good?). We walked in around noon to a completely empty bar with the exception of what I am assuming to be the owner, owners wife/hubby (not sure which one is officially the owner) and the owners teenage child. Cool, family run place with actual family running it. The space itself is tucked into the end of a strip mall was smaller than I could have even imagined. Picture a small Subway restaurant with the tiny tables lined up and down a long hallway to the restrooms, this is Jadens. Now how on earth they have live bands on the weekends, that is another mystery all in itself.

I already knew they had a kids menu so we weren't going to have a repeat of that horrible "GERMAN" restaurant just a few minutes up the road plus they even had a fried shrimp platter for my middle child. Perfect, lets order some food and get these kids fed. While waiting for our food, it got a little uncomfortable. Teenage daughter and dad fighting over cell phones and facebook applications etc while wife did all the work besides actually cook our food. Lots of fun while trying to explain to my children what was happening etc...

So now onto finding the "BEST" wings in the Upstate. Nope, not even close. Not even a close second place. I ordered up 20 wings, Hot and some kind of sweet/spice sauce. When I asked about the spice level of each of the sauces they were described as Hot = Texas Pete, Hotter = Franks. Hmmm, that doesn't sound hot to me, but then again I tend to eat jars of Ghost Pepper Salsa in a single sitting.

The wings were very large and meaty and a lot of people like them that way, me however, the larger the wing is, the more difficult it is to cook it properly. With larger wings you cannot get the right amount of crispness and 99 out of 100 times get soggy when sauce is applied. I chose the Hot sauce since I was trying to stick to this theme at every wing joint. This so called Texas Pete sauce was a little different than the Texas Pete wings I make at home. When I make mine, I usually add 1/4 cup or so of Texas Pete per two - three Tablespoons butter for about 20 wings. This sauce was really watered down or something. I don't know what it was, but it just wasn't right. Maybe they used margarine instead of real butter? Overall they were still eatable, but would consider going with one of the other 14 sauces they offer. The sweet/spicy/tangy wings (or whatever they called them) was nothing more than just bottled teriyaki sauce with no presence of spice whatsoever. Very sticky and way too much sauce just sitting at the bottom of the basket. The wings never stood a chance, they were drowning in sauce.

Overall Jadens' Pints and Wings was a fun environment to enjoy some average at best wings and some cold pints of beer during a football game. Not a place I would ever bring my young children too again, but that is just me. A little spendy (two kids meals, 20 wings and a sandwich plus two beers - $48 before tip) and more than I care to ever spend again on lunch for the family. I get the idea that this place isn't known for great food, but rather great drinks and some live music. Maybe some day the wife and I will get to enjoy that life again, but with three kids, it is all about good food in a kid-friendly atmosphere. The disappointing part wasn't the lack of finding the "BEST" wings but rather the final impression I got when leaving. The restaurant has a partially open kitchen through the back of the bar and you can basically see everything in that kitchen. As we were walking out, past the open kitchen, their it was, a huge metal bowl filled full of some raw chicken wings on a metal push cart right next to the fryer. Now the cook/owner/bartender had not been in the kitchen since our food was delivered some 30 plus minutes prior and not another soul was in the restaurant at the time from when we walked in to the time we left. Now I feel sick.

Have you tried Jadens' Pints and Wings out before? Where and the hell do they set-up a band and still get more than 10 people through the door? Who has better wings than Wild Wings in the Upstate?