Intro to B-Dubs and the Blazin’Challenge
A few years back (2012 or 2013) the second Buffalo Wild Wings in Hawaii opened up in Pearl City. That’s when I found out that they had a food challenge. I found out from one of my friends who apparently loves spicy food and food challenges. Prior to learning about the challenge, I enjoyed the Mango Habenaro Wings and have tasted the Blazin’ Wings. In my opinion, I found the Mango Habenaro more painful, even though on their menu spiciness chart it’s considered not as hot as the Blazin’. For me personally anyway, I found that the Mango Habenaro provided a longer burn, whereas the Blazin’ seemed like a big but quick burn. In any case, these two are pretty spicy.
If you haven’t been to Buffalo Wild Wings, I’ll provide a short general review. Since I’ve only been to the Pearl City location, and that I haven’t visited in awhile, I can’t provide an objective review in regards to service and quality. I can however, give some description that I can recall from memory.
Buffalo Wild Wings, basically it’s a sports bar with a very impressive interior setup specializing in a variety of chicken wings. In the inside it is split into two sections, a bar section and a dine in restaurant section. Back then, it was quite popular and the wait to get a table in the dine in section was about 45 minutes to 2 hours, if I remember correctly. Average wait was probably about an hour. The bar section was walk-in if there was space.
The inside of B-Dubs was highly decorated with sport memorabilia (mainly jerseys and pictures on the wall) and a whole bunch of flat screen TVs and a number of projector screens showing ESPN or some kind of sports playing. As for the projectors, I can’t imagine how quickly they must burn out with the continued use. The colors you’ll experience inside B-Dubs would be in darker tones, mostly black and yellow. I believe those are the restaurant colors. There’s also a certain smell in the air that I can’t quite point out; however, I think it might be recognizable for this restaurant. I don’t think the smell is bad, just kind of distinctive. Also, all the servers are uniformed in a sports jersey, which is pretty cool I think. They even have their names on the back of their jersey.
As for the food, I mentioned briefly that they specialize in chicken wings. They have wet wings or dry rub, and you can choose between traditional or boneless. As for flavors, they have from non-spicy to their special Blazin’ wings, which all together are about 20 different flavors. My faves were the Honey BBQ, Mango Habenaro, and depending on my mood, Blazin’. However, they served other types of food as well. They had an assortment of appetizers, such as mini corn dogs and fried zucchini, yum! They also had sides such as mac and cheese and even rice. They also have different burgers, some using the same spices or sauces as the wings. For desserts, I never actually got to try the desserts, but they had a decent selection as well. For more details on their menu, I included a link below to their website.
Buffalo Wild Wings Official Website: http://www.buffalowildwings.com/en/menu/
Now a quick brief on the Blazin’ Challenge. Things may have changed since then, and the prize varied on location. I heard at one time the Waikiki location posted a pic of winners, but the Pearl City one didn’t do that, instead what you got was a B-Dubs’ shirt that had “IT’S LIKE WALKING ON HOT COALS. EXCEPT YOU EAT ‘EM” written on it.
For the Pearl City location, one would have to ask the server to take the challenge, and you would get a warning or some kind of playful conversation about it. Once you make your decision, they will have you sign a waiver. Exciting right? After the waiver, comes the wait. They’ll bring you the wings and I believe they were smothered in the Blazin’ sauce.
Now the challenge is to eat 12 pieces of traditional Blazin’ wings within 6 minutes, while a server will keep time and watch you. The catch is of course, no water or any other drinks, and no dipping sauces. You are also not allowed to wipe your face or anything else that could relieve the heat and pain you’ll experience. Then if you survive eating the wings within the time frame, you’ll have to sit and wait until the server says you are done. Then you can drown yourself in water or beer to cool off your tongue that’s about to burn off and fall out your mouth. So if that sounds like a good night out to you, have fun!
Pics of the Waiver and Blazin’ Challenge Shirt
My Moment
Alright, now for my account. I went one evening after watching a movie with some girls. As we got to B-Dubs, we ran into a bunch of people we knew. We all decided to go in as a big group and sat in the bar section. I think there was about 10 of us or so. As we gathered and talked story, I brought up the challenge. One of the girls got excited about it and encouraged me. So of course, like a cave man, I relinquished myself to by baser instincts and said “hell yah” internally to myself and accepted the challenge. I called over the server and with a roar said “I’ll do the challenge.” They gave me their warnings then gave me their wavier, I signed it and before handing it over, took a pic to post on instagram.
I waited and chatted with my friends, with the thought in the back of my mind of impressing them. Then the time came, and the wings were brought forth. The server gave me the rules, I listened and prepared myself for what pain was to come. I took a breath, and they began the time, then like a rabid animal, I jumped right in.
The advantage I had however, was the cheers from my friends, especially the girls who I came with. The shouts and cheers with my name being yelled, “JOEI! Whoooo!” gave me the power to push through any pain. In addition to my pride, I was also quite hungry. The growl I gave was not just from my mouth, but my stomach. So there I was, hungry and proud. I ripped and sucked the flesh off the bones, until I was settled. In the end I was burning, but devoured it all in about 2.5 minutes; but, I was still pretty hungry!
My greatest regret was not ordering extra food, so that I can enjoy a meal with my friends. Instead, I ordered after the challenge and had to wait a bit extra. Oh and yes, if you were wondering, once I was cleared, I drank quite a bit of water.
Below is a video of my win. In the end I didn’t get the girl. But at least I have a fun story, won a free shirt, and a good night hanging with friends. OH! And one other funny thing that happened, was when my friend sitting next to me tried to sample just a little bitty taste of the Blazin’ sauce. The moment he put it in his mouth he yelled with shock in his voice haha. Good times.
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