Chalk it up to Upstate, NY doing what Upstate, NY does best: Cold Beer and Chicken Wings. And in this case, it should be Chicken Wings first and cold beer second. You can certainly pull up a bar stool and drop a Utica Club in a can or get a Saranac draft. No issue there.
But what you really want to be doing is ordering wings. Seriously...get in car...drive to Prospect...order wings. Look, you can get caught up in wings from Buffalo, Rochester, New York City (not SF because there is not a good wing in this entire city...although at least Kezar makes an effort)...whatever. They all take a back seat to what you get in almost every establishment in Syracuse and Utica. Let's put it this way...it's HARD to be at the top or near the top (which Tavern on the Gorge is) in the wing category in Central NY. Just WAAAY too much competition and people in CNY like their wings. But Tavern on the Gorge...they get a high seat in the Top 5 category and my debate upon leaving the bar was whether or not they were number 1.
Wing sauce is apparently a tough thing. I don't think it's a tough thing, but to most bars and restaurants it's essentially the toughest thing they must do. NOTHING varies more establishment to establishment than a chicken wing. Certainly there are some places trying to put their own spin on it (90% of these folks are just making a mistake btw). Not a good idea fyi. The wing sauce at TOTG is as close to perfect as your going to get.
Depending on who you talk to, you'll get differing opinions on wing sauce. But in general, the diehards know the base recipe and an ingredient that can have a major impact is butter/margarine. So those wings sauces you see that have sort of a heavier texture (heavy being almost creamy)...they crank up the butter/margarine. Not a bad thing. The place in direct competition with TOTG does this and those wings are ridiculous as well. But TOTG does things a little differently and what you end up with is a sauce with slightly less creaminess and amazing tang. And they don't skimp on the heat...in fact, they dial it to perfection. Don;t worry about going in and having to order mild because you don't. If you don;t want to go hot...go medium...that's fine as well. But just know that Upstate does it's wings the right way...in a fryer, with ridiculously good sauce.
TOTG has it nailed. Great place to grab a couple of UC's or a Saranac and eat wings. These are great wings. Period. read more
