Taste of Sarcasm: Native Grill and Wings

March 1, 2016

By Denise DePaolo

Rapid City’s Native Grill and Wings is the latest in the tiny national chain’s measured expansion, and the only current location in South Dakota. Located in one of the miniature strip malls orbiting the mammoth ones making up the Rushmore Crossing shopping center, an area boasting a Target, Gap, Ulta, and several other chain eateries, we were interested to see whether Native Wings stood out.

We stopped in for lunch around noon on a Tuesday. It was pretty busy with what looked like largely business people on their lunch hour, but they were still able to seat us right away in a booth next to the window. The decor was strictly utilitarian, with booths lining the walls and tables populating the center of the room. The other side of the L-shaped restaurant housed a centrally-located bar surrounded by tall tables.

Our server showed up after less than a minute to take our drink orders while we looked over the menu. When she came back with our lemonade and sodas, we put in an appetizer order. It was between the Loaded Tots and the Buffalo Chicken Nachos. We ultimately went with the nachos, figuring it would be a good way to try the restaurant’s buffalo sauce, and leave things open to try more flavors on our actual wings.

I was eating with two friends who are not big fans of spicy food, and who do not care for traditional wings, so that weighed into our four choices. For boneless wings, we were able to order half a pound or a whole pound, and pick two choices of sauce for each order. So, we went with two half pound orders and selected the Parmesan Asiago, Salt and Vinegar, Honey Barbecue, and Hot Honey Mustard.