Today I was taken out to lunch by a friend of mine, Mike. We went to a local greasy spoon called "The Other One". This place is tucked away in a shopping center near the GIANT PUBLIC POOL that resides in Oak Ridge (seriously, this thing is enormous). It is known for its burgers and sandwiches, but also for the "Food Challenges" it has, which I'll get to in a bit.
The menu is "lots of burgers of various sizes and toppings, lots of different sandwiches, some sides, and hot wings." You know, bar food. They have a wide variety of foods to accommodate a wide range of tastes, and I believe everyone who eats there can find something they can nosh on. Examples: The Summit - 1/2lb burger with Pimento cheese, The Tofu Reuben - Exactly what it says on the tin, and the Tank - 2 1/3rd lb patties with cheese and bacon. In addition, they have three menu items of questionable judgement: The Fatman, the Colossus, and the Hotter than Hale hot wings.
The Fatman is 4 1/2lb patties, stacked Big Mac style, with a lot of toppings and a side of fries. If you finish it in 11 minutes, you get it for free, otherwise you get your picture on the Wall of Shame. For the "I want the experience but not the full thing" you can order the little guy, which is exactly the same except it uses 2oz patties instead of 1/2 lb ones.
The Colossus is a 5 lb. burger, smothered in toppings and comes with 6 servings of fries. It costs $70 ($75 with cheese), and is designed for a party of 6 or more people to share and enjoy. I believe it is for parties, and may require a "call ahead" order, I'm not sure. There is no challenge associated with this one that I am aware of.
The Hotter Than Hale hot wings are the spicest wings in the joint, and if you can eat 10 of them in a row, without drinking, and with licking your fingers clean and sitting for five minutes, you win a free combo meal. As an alternative, you can have one wing as a side item for a $1. You can now see where this is going.
For my meal, I elected to have the Brooks Bomber, which is a 1/3rd lb cheeseburger topped with a small variety of cold cuts like salami and other things you'd find on a Subway Cold Cut Combo. I had a side of curly fries, which I were told were "crisp", and a diet soda as a drink. Mike had a Gyro, fries, and an extra tub of tzatziki sauce. I also decided to get a "tester" Hotter than Hale hot wing.
The wing arrived first. Having heard tales of its insanity, I elected to let it sit while I waited for the rest of my food. The scent of the wing was very strong, and I could feel the spice in my nostrils. This would be no ordinary hot wing. The burger soon arrived and it was actually really damn good. The patty was well cooked, the toppings complimented the burger, and all in all it was a delicious, if greasy, dish. The curly fries were fine. They were not "crispy", but were about what you would expect from curly fries, so I'm not sure what was up with the "crispy" description. I elected to preserve the majority of the fries to help mitigate the horrible spiciness of the hot wing, which waited for me to be suckered into its trap.
Because he's an asshole, Mike decided he simply MUST record the whole experience on his phone. Yeah, it's probably going to be on YouTube soon. Hooray? Whatever. I introduced myself, picked up the hot wing, and took a bite. All I could really taste was vinegar, which was clearly the base of the sauce. I chewed a bit, and then the burn started to kick in. Deciding that speed was of the essence, I wolfed down the rest of the wing, which still didn't taste like anything except Hot and Vinegar, and licked my fingers clean of the sauce. That's when my eyes started to water really bad, and I began sucking down my soda at an increased rate. Was it spicy? Fuck yeah it was spicy. It was so spicy that soon even the flavor of vinegar was banished and all I could taste was burning. Soda helped but a little. I tried eating some fries, but they didn't do much to mitigate the problem. On a whim, I dunked one into the tzatziki sauce. That did the trick, sort of. The burning was fierce, and I drank a lot of soda and ate almost all of Mike's leftover tzatziki sauce in trying to put out the flames, while my eyes watered and my nose, sinuses WIDE OPEN, ran a bit. Mike tells me I also turned red.
The Other One is a damn fine greasy spoon with a fun atmosphere and some "gimmicky" foods. I will totally eat there again, though I certainly won't have any of their Hotter than Hale hot wings again. It gets 3 smiley faces on a scale of 5 frowny faces to 5 smiley faces, and I'd bring friends there if they visit, and I can find the place.
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