For Yosemite Sam fans (like me) who remember his brief cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, you’ll recall him screaming “Fire in the Hatch!” followed by one of his more familiar catch phrases, involving a certain reptile – “Great horny toads…” Old Sam utters this right when his (for a more PC term) “derriere” is caught ablaze, and he finally puts it out by sitting in a puddle of water.
And that brings us to today’s topic – one of my all-time favorite places in Austin (yes, it is a chain but a local and rapidly-growing one!) – Pluckers Wings. “Now, wait a minute” – you might ask. “I thought you’re a vegetarian. You told us in your last post about being creative and prepared, but why would a vegetarian go out of his way to a wings bar?” Well, for the very title of this post – Plucker’s signature, 5-star-rated Fire in the Hole sauce!
As I’d mentioned in an earlier post, I have a tolerance for spice that is significantly above the average and even 99th percentile fire-eater such that very few things challenge me. Pluckers Fire in the Hole sauce,though, is one of them. In fact, so much so that I’d put this sauce at the very top! My tolerance has grown over the years, but to this day, I have enough of it and I feel the same amount of pain as our short-fused Looney Tunes friend feels down my own “hatch!” 🙂
Pluckers’ Fire in the Hole sauce is so far and wide famous that they have a challenge – unfortunately I can’t participate since I don’t eat meat – if you can eat 25 or more wings in a single sitting, you will be on their Wall of Flame, full of old-school Polaroids at every restaurant! The chain itself was started by a group of UT Austin students in their dorm room and has grown to over 22 locations, as of this post, including one in neighboring Louisiana.
I don’t think anyone can explain what it is about the sauce that makes it so…well, AWESOME! Maybe it’s how long they age the peppers, maybe they add extra hot pepper seeds, maybe it’s aliens (ha!), but whatever it is, it challenges even the boldest heat-seekers, including this Heataholic!
Pluckers is a great place to go with the family and I love taking mine there. Even though I don’t eat meat (they do), they offer a plethora of options for vegetarians – between their grilled cheese and veggie sandwiches and their insanely out-of-this-world sides. I usually get myself the Mom’s Grilled Cheese on huge Texas Toast with a side of waffle fries tossed in Fire Sauce. We’ll usually order a large order of fried pickles and cheese sticks, but there are so many options, it’s unbelievable.
Words to the wise:
- Whether it’s wings, fries or tots or something else, you have to tell them to make it “EXTRA WET!”
- If Fire in the Hole seems a little too extreme for you, start with the 4-star Buffalo Hot and work your way up – it’s nowhere near the extreme of the 5-star Fire, but it will give you a kick
- They sell bottles of Fire in the Hole and all their sauces, but they’re in such high demand (I KID YOU NOT!), they keep them locked up tight, hard-to-access places – one Pluckers had them in an overhead attic-like space that an employee had to use a ladder to climb up to get, while another kept them in a locked vault, that gives you visions of Fort Knox. Hmm, maybe when they market their “Bakers Gold” sauce, it must really have a “certain” ingredient in it! 🙂
We went to Pluckers this past Saturday and dined in – first time dining in since quarantine began and as you can see, my tolerance has improved, but in any case, I had leftovers!
Spice on, my friends!
