Battle of wing shops swoop into Annex neighborhood

It all started at 376 Bloor St. West with the opening of St. Louis Bar and Grill that offered their 13 basic flavours of wings.

Then came along Wing Shop 366 at (coincidentally) 366 Bloor St. West that crushed their opponent by offering 30 wing sauces.

With the introduction of the new Puck ‘n Wings restaurant at 362 Bloor St West (where the deadpanned Cluck, Grunt and Low once lived) and their 50 flavours of wings, the small city block on Bloor between Dalton Rd. and Walmer Rd. now presents one of the highest wing-to-flavour ratio’s in the city.

For every one chicken wing on this city block, the new choices at the Puck ‘n Wings restaurant brings the total to an astounding 93 coatings that can smother these bone and meat medleys.

Being in such close proximity to two other wing shops in such a small block takes a brave business plan and the owner and founder of Puck ‘n Wings, David Eisen and his 50 flavours, are up to the challenge.

“I love the competition; I rise to the occasion. It makes us stronger and I have always liked to be the competition,” he said from outside his newest restaurant while contractors bustled around inside.

Eisen is not new to the bar scene either and feels confident his family history has given him the skills to succeed in this tournament of wings.

“Our family has been in the Toronto landscape for over 100 years culminated. We’ve owned some of the oldest taverns and strip joints and bars,” said Eisen.

He continued to say, “my grandfathers carried some of first (alcohol) licenses (in Toronto). Beer is in my blood.”

Eisen got into the bar scene by opening the first Puck ‘n Wings location at Yonge and Finch.

When asked if he felt he would be serving a different clientele in the Annex neighbourhood he laughed and said, ”we’re looking at a much more transient clientele. University obviously jumps out but there will definitely be a mix.”

The inside of 362 Bloor St. W is in the final stages of its conversion into a full-fledged hockey bar which would be a different style of restaurant to the area.

Eisen is promising his guests televisions throughout the bar along with Maple Leaf sports paraphernalia accented with some vintage and recent hockey memorabilia.

If you’re not the type that wants to be surrounded by this Canadiana-motif while you eat, he also promised a patio which would be served by the two garage doors on the outside of the bar.

While Eisen interviewed hopeful bartenders and wait staff out front of his future business, curious onlookers peered into the windows to see what was in store.

Some also seemed to sneer at the thought of having another bar to serve the university crowd that mainly populates the area.

One of these people was Kristina Jovanovic who was passing by the restaurant. She is anticipating the yells and hollers from a rowdy hockey crowd.

“It’s just going to be another source of noise in the area and I don’t think the patio will help the cause.”

Eisen counters these concerns with a simple statement:
“We will deal with whatever the regulations and legislations are but we do want people to enjoy their wings and salads out on the patio.”

He was quick to move away from the topic by differing to the food itself which is “always fresh and never frozen,” which has been Puck ‘n Wings motto from the beginning.

“We don’t just have wings either. We have the salads for the fat guys, the girls, and the health conscious also available in 50 flavours.”

Eisen seemed excited for the grand opening of the newest Puck ‘n Wings location which is expected to open sometime in early October for the Leafs ‘ home opener against Montreal.

For everyone else in the Annex, this upcoming hockey season won’t only bring excitement from the ice, but from the battle of wing shops from three contenders on the same block.

Let the face-off begin.


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I believe the two comments below are actually from people in association with Wing Shop 366. Both are associated to Wing Shop's blog and one of the comments is a verbatim quote from one of these blogs. I am only pointing this out to maintain the veracity of my review.