Gators Wing Shack Grill & Pizzeria

Best wings in the town. Tangy sauce and amazing taste. Wish they had a rewards kind of program for regular customers. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ and will definitely recommend everyone to this place.

This place is like 45 mins away from my house. So while in the area I jumped on the opportunity to check them out. We came in for lunch & dined on the lunch menu. We had 10 pc garlic buffalo & 10pc BBQ & an order of fries.
Since it was a nice day we sat outside. We enjoyed breeze. No bugs!!! Yayyyyy. The waitress was cool & attentive. It took the wings about 15mins. The garlic is VERY garlicky, but pretty good. Didn’t taste the BBQ but hubs said it was good. The fries are expensive $ 5.00. They’re good, but not that good!!!
I definitely wanna come back to try other flavors. Also try out the drinks/​drink specials. I like that they stay open til 4am too.

One of many places serving wings. This is essentially a bar that happens to also serve food. For the price everything is good and messy.

Second time going, enjoyed the jalapeño buffalo chicken wrap with the side salad. The wrap was extremely messy, oozing of buffalo sauce. Tears of enjoy from the jalapeño/​buffalo combo. This wrap is hottt!!! The side salad, well is salad. It was good but way too many tomatoes compared to greens and the waiter brought me the wrong dressing. but all forgiven ha, I used the wrong dressing and enjoyed the salad!
My friend got the terkayi boneless wings, he’s not from the area. He loved the wings. He also skipped the fries and ordered celery. Which is good with the Bleu cheese dressing!
I usually stick to the other side of Palatine, but occasionally I’ll stop by this place and try something new too!

Good place to go. Wings are good service was good all i can say.

This place is practically right around the corner from my work, so I’ve gone to it a good handful of times with coworkers. I stick with the lunch specials – you can’t beat a ½ pound of boneless wings and fries for $ 7.99. I love that the sauce I get seems to be made from scratch and has cut up pieces of jalapenos in it. Try it – you’ll like it!

I’m not a big wing person and I love gators! They have the best sauces and give generous portions. Some of my favorites include garlic BBQ, buffalo garlic, teriyaki jalapeño we, and Mexican hot.

The service is great, the wings are delicious. Specially the buffalo jalapeño. It had the perfect punch of spicy. They were a great size with an order if 10 you can get full easily. I only ate 6 and had to take the rest home, that’s how big they are.
The slab of ribs… Not the best, was a bit disappointed. The meat was dry. The flavor was great but the meat was just to dry. Maybe i just had the bad one idk i would have to give the benefit of the doubt.
Other than that i do gotta agree, this wings are way better than BWW no questions asked.

Edible. I don’t get why so many people say this place is so good, and I found a very mediocre. Just because the sauce looks really good when it’s served, doesn’t mean it tastes really good. I like my wings to have some crunch on the outside and be very tender on the inside. This place tastes more like a slow cooker with a bunch of sauce thrown on it. Skip it and find another place, you’ll thank me.

First time here I ordered 20 piece buffalo wings and cheddar bacon fries. I work right by gators so I figure I would pick up n go home. When I get home I see there was no cheddar or bacon on my fries!! i live 40 mins away so I couldn’t return.
I call because I got upset and the owner was very sweet and apologized. He said he would send me a gift card to make up for it so that was very nice. My plain fries are still good! And the wing are sooooo delicious and big!
It looks very fun to dine in. Place is bigger than what it looks on the outside. Parking looks a little tight. Inside they had a bar section and plenty tables. Their was also an outdoor area but I think it’s closed due to the winter season.
I will return to gators once I get my gift card in the mail. I heard they are known to have a lot of Blackhawks fans go! So that’s a plus because me and my boyfriend love the Hawks.

Well for starters it’s kind of divey and I love dive bars. Secondly, it has plastic plaid tablecloths… love those! Lastly, it has some of the best wings I’ve ever had.
Why do stupid people go to BWW when this place is around? Seriously, the wings here are large, meaty and delicious. I think BWW gets their wings from scrawny, baby chickens and that is just icky and sad.
Here, I like the lemon pepper flavor and garlic. Their buffalo version is good too and if you are a wing purist, you can get them simply fried. Their menu is large and varied. If you don’t feeling like being fat ass, you can get some pretty healthy grilled chicken salads and they have lots of low carb options too.
If you’ve got your fattie going on, they have a bunch of French fries options (garlic, parmesan, cheese, etc.) and some pretty good burgers too. They also have skirt steak a bunch of different ways that would put any Mexican eatery to shame. Never had the pizza.
Great, casual place with some outdoor seating when the weather cooperates.

Free wings Fridays between 4 and 540pm. Garlic wings are the best. 2 drink minimum. I always leave a 30% tip because the wings are free. Forgot to mention several Kinds of pizza, pasta and garlic bread.

Even the chicken tacos are fantastic. Try the back side if the menu. Chicken sandwiches with your favorite sauce. Also be lean with a char grilled lemon paper chicken breast.

On the night we went, it was almost dead. We had an order of regular Buffalo Garlic wings and one of non-​garlic Buffalo Tenders. Both were first rate, if a bit pricey (about $ 12). The beer here is overpriced — $ 6 for a draft Sam Adams is pushing it for its «Pizza Joint» décor (as that is what it was years ago). Service was friendly and efficient. Having a «Groupon-​type» deal made it well worth it. Convenient handicapped parking, a rarity for a «sports bar».

Got these wings for the Cubs wild card game tonight. Hands down the best wings I have ever had. The Buffalo garlic sauce is amazing! They were even delicious reheated in the oven. I’m looking forward to trying other sauces in the future, although from what I’ve read I’m not alone in loving the buffalo garlic.
I would love to say something that hasn’t already been said. However this being my first try at Gators I’m left speechless. I’ll definitely be making this a regular request for hubby to bring home.

It doesn’t matter that I’ve had Gators wings dozens of times, every time I take that first bite of garlic buffalo wings I’m continually surprised at how damn good it tastes. I first stumbled upon Gators wings at the Chicago Wingfest and immediately knew we had something special right there. How could a wing joint from Palatine beat the best of the best from the city? One word: Garlic! It’s not even a complicated concept at all… take your classic buffalo wing and toss a shit ton of garlic in it and boom you got yourself a winner. They just execute it so well and it’s consistently delicious.
After that first Chicago Wingfest we went to, we definitely had to check out the actual location.
Ambiance: From the outside Gators looks like just a small neighborhood restaurant/​bar off Rand Rd. When you walk in you have a bar on one side and a bunch of tables and booths on the other. The atmosphere is pretty divey, with just plain tables and chairs similiar to what you might set up in your basement for a house party. All that didn’t matter though. The only piece of décor you needed to see are the trophies they take home year after year at the Wingfest.
Food: It’s all about the wings when I come to Gators. Garlic buffalo is hands down my go to flavor, but I’ve tried most of them over the years. Not only is the sauce fantastic, but these are some of the meatiest wings I’ve ever had. These chickens must be on roids haha. They serve full jumbo wings with the tips, and overall these wings make b-​dubs and even Hooter’s wings look tiny.
They have a bunch of combinations of sauces. There are 3 different base flavors: buffalo, BBQ, and teriyaki.
Then on top of that there are 3 variations of each of these base sauces:
Garlic — Self explanatory. Add garlic to the sauce… but in insane quantities that will make your breath smell glorious.
Jalapeño — Again, pretty self explanatory. Throw some jalapeños in the sauce to add a little heat.
Mexican — This is the next spice level up from just jalapeño. In addition to jalapeños they throw a bunch of other spicy elements like crushed red pepper. It’s a tasty type of burn.
My two favorite flavors are easily the garlic buffalo and the Mexican hot BBQ.
The fries are actually pretty legit here too. I would definitely upgrade to the waffle fries and throw some cajun seasoning on it. You won’t regret it. If you order one of the sauced fries like garlic buffalo fries though, be warned that they definitely don’t skimp on the sauce. The fries are drowned in it and even a flavor as amazing as garlic buffalo can get tiring if everything is covered in it. There’s usually plenty of leftover sauce at the bottom of each bowl of wings, so my strategy is just to get regular fries and use the leftover sauce puddles for dipping.
Random tidbits about Gators:
–They have a killer lunch deal: $ 7.99 for 10 jumbo wings. It’s 10 min from my work and a dangerously convenient lunch option.
–They have a printable 20% coupon on their website that always comes in handy.
–Sometimes on Friday nights they have this magician walking around to the tables doing different magic tricks. His bit always ends with a creepy clapping monkey.
–They’re not open for lunch on Saturdays. I learned this the hard way.
–On Friday afternoons, they have a free buffet when you buy a drink. They bring out different types of pizza and wings, but people empty out the trays within seconds of it hitting the table. You never really know what type of wing or pizza they’re bringing out at any given time. I’d rather just pay for my wings and not have to deal with the stress of gettin your fill. Not a bad option though if you just wanna chill and you’re not too worried about maxin’ out on wings.

One of my favorite things about Gators is the hours. 4am? Heck yeah! Not like we usually go that late but on the days when my boyfriend and I want to hangout but not stay home, this is one of our go to places because it’s a short walk away.
Gators is a really casual place that sometimes feels borderline dive bar and borderline where you go after school with your friends for wings. There is a bar side and dining side, you do have to be 21 to come in once it gets later, and there is also a patio that has a bunch of seating. I’ll admit, I don’t like the checked plasticky table clothes they have, those always feel dirty to me, but they do seem to clean their tables so it’s just me. The bar has plenty of seating, TVs, darts, and other games including pinball (yeah buddy).
The wings are pretty good here. While they do cost about $ 1 or so a wing, they are HUGE! It’s not like when you go to many places and get this tiny little thing that looks like it came out of a the Caputos frozen aisle, here you actually get a meaty bone (or nugget for you heathen boneless eaters) not to mention the wide variety of flavors you can choose from. IMPORTANT TO KNOW: there are ALWAYS coupons on their website that can give you some great savings on your bill! Print them out! Drink specials: ask for them! They always have $ 4 long islands and daily specials (see picture).
I’ve had nothing but good experiences with the staff, they seem nice. As can be expected, if you come in late, you are going to encounter a lots of drunks so keep your women close, men!

As I sit here on the toilet at 2 am with a bhole on fire, I wonder if I really should be writing a 4 star review on Gator’s wings. But you know what? Even though they’re no good coming out, they really are excellent going in.
Gator’s is one of those dives that you can’t imagine would have good food. They have crappy tables and chairs, picnic table tablecloths, paper plates, those old school (fake?) wood bowls, etc. but I’ll be damned if they don’t make some killer wings. Especially the garlic buffalo (so garlicky and delicious!) and the jalapeño buffalo (see also: firey bhole). There’s some other bar food on the menu too but I’ve literally only gotten beer, wings, and fries here so I can’t tell you much about anything else. The fries are hand cut and cooked crispy and are best Cajun or in one of my favorite flavors listed above. There’s a lot of pointy fries in there but there’s enough flat ones for weirdos like me who don’t eat points. (Thought I’d let you know in case there’s anyone else out there like me.)
The service is always good and really fast, the wings (which are always dripping in sauce) are good in either boneless or bone-​in, there’s a good enough beer list, and even though it’s a dive, it’s a clean dive. If you like wings, you’ve got to check them out.

It’s one of my sister-in-law’s favorite places to go for dinner.
They also offer great coupons online and we had a party of 10 so enjoyed the 20% off the total bill for a maximum of $ 20.
The wings are the best here. They are big wings and they also serve the boneless variety too, but I like them with the bones. I like to work on eating my food. I tried the Teriyaki Jalapeño sauce but it was not spicy at all. The Mexican Hot Buffalo sauce was just a tad spicy too. The Honey Mustard sauce is the same as their salad dressings so it was tasty.
I wouldn’t recommend the Buffalo Chicken pizza because it was too small about 8 inches and thin so not very filling. My husband shared my lunch as a result.
I like that they offer their salads already chopped so it soaks up more of the dressings and they have a large selection of salads to choose from.
They do refill pop and iced tea so this is nice after all the wings. I would definitely come back if I was in the neighborhood.

Wings here are DELICIOUS! I came here with a group of 14 and the staff was very accommodating to our large size. I shared a check with 3 other people and we ordered one 10pc Buffalo Garlic wing, one 10pc Barbecue Garlic wing, and Cheddar waffle fries. The wings here are not be messed around with, they are BIG! This was more than enough food for all of us. The servers we had provided great service and were really assertive with our group.
I like eating bleu cheese with my wings, however since the majority of my group were ranch fans, we ordered ranch. Our server overheard our back and forth, and when our food came out she dropped a bleu cheese next to my wings, and said, «Because I know you like Bleu Cheese!» Our party was impressed
Our waffle fries were great! Everything you expect from waffle fries. However the cheese was disappointing. You pay a dollar extra for cheddar waffle fries compared to the plain waffle fries, but they barely give you any cheese, and it wasn’t that great either.
I will be coming back here again for the wings, but next time I’ll order PLAIN waffle fries.