Cheap Eats - Burn, baby, burn
Scorch your tongue at Marietta Wings
When it comes to my fondness for certain foods, I really am from Alabama. Attending culinary school in France and living in four different countries did not temper my penchant for orange cheese and fried food. Don’t get me wrong - I’m happy and at home at a Michelin-starred restaurant. But when it comes to cutting calories, the greasy, salty eats are always the last to go.
Brazilian passport: Saying no to hot wings and cold, cheap beer is particularly hard, and Marietta Wings is my dirty little diet-crashing secret. Stationed in a strip mall of Latino businesses, the wing joint looks like any other. There’s a Bud Light poster in the window and a haze of smoke wafting from the circle of patrons at the counter. You’d never guess Marietta Wings is both owned and patronized almost entirely by Brazilians. Other than the imported beer, the menu is solidly junk-food American: chili cheese fries, burgers and, of course, wings.
Deal of the century: The restaurant’s interior isn’t much to look at, with its beaten-up linoleum flooring, cracked vinyl booths and patchy walls. A jukebox stacked with Brazilian rump-shakin’ tunes keeps the atmosphere lively, sometimes even leading into a sing-along. Food is served on plastic plates and you sip your suds out of plastic cups. Trailer-trash culinary bliss can be had for a minimal price with the $15.95 special of 15 wings, fries and a pitcher of Bud.
Wear a tank top, bring a bib: Wings come in 30 varieties, from “mellow” to “911” in the hot category, and other flavors ranging from lemon-pepper to teriyaki. All are the basis of a serious fetish. Ranch wings ($5.95 for 10) are sauceless; the garlic, onion and parsley flavoring is part of the crispy batter. Hot garlic wings are basted in a cumin-heavy hot wing sauce and enough crushed garlic to render you unkissable for days. The “911” wings will shrivel your tongue with several thousand raging Scoville units. Not for the faint of heart, these sadistically spicy wings are crunchy, moist and sticky on the first bite. There is no second bite — you’ll already be sweating profusely, drooling and gasping.
Philly fix: Although wings are the highlight, Marietta Wings’ sandwiches are not to be scoffed at. The Philly cheesesteak ($6.25) is pure salty, goopy cheese satisfaction. Lacy shreds of beef are napped in melted white cheese on hoagie roll so cushy, your fingers leave dents in it. Chicken sandwich lovers will flip for the sandwich of hand-breaded tenders fried to a golden brown and served on a squishy roll with a tangle of shredded iceberg and an intoxicating amount of mayonnaise ($5.95). On the rare occasions I miss Lower Alabama and can’t make the five-hour drive, I just truck myself over to Smyrna. With the exception of the Brazilian soap operas on the large-screen TV, I almost feel like I’m home.