Subscribe
Jobs
Cars
Real Estate
Apts
Classifieds
Shop
It is the elder statesman of sports bars in Fort Wayne.
For more than two decades, folks have been heading to Wrigley Field Bar and Grill in Georgetown North to watch the big games and have a few beers or some of its highly reputed chicken wings.
The place has changed with the times, most recently by adding family dining, but the wings are still the most popular thing on the menu. But it was something even simpler that I enjoyed best during my visits.
There isn’t anything more mundane than a grilled cheese sandwich. It is so simple that it seems silly to pay for one at a restaurant. But when they are done right, it’s hard to find anything better.
At Wrigley Field, Mason’s grilled cheese was done right. Thick Aunt Millie’s Texas toast perfectly browned, buttery but not a smidge soggy held two thick layers of American and Swiss cheese. It was gooey and delicious. Carl White, who owns Wrigley field with his brother, Daniel, and Daniel’s wife, Beth, named the sandwich after his 4-year-old grandson who always asks for them and helps "Paw-paw" make them. Mason, however, prefers his with cheddar and American, an option anyone can exercise because, White said, Wrigley prides itself on doing whatever it takes to make its customers happy.
A great partner to that grilled cheese was a cup of vegetable-beef soup from Wrigley’s soup, salad and hot bar, available from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The soup had the standard vegetables – peas, carrot, potato, corn and lima beans – but its stock was super rich in beef flavor and full of cubes of tender sirloin. The salad fixings on the bar were pretty pedestrian, but the macaroni and cheese and macaroni-ground beef casserole were a step up.
The best thing on that bar was the Texas sheet cake, which was almost hidden on a table down by the soups. It was moist, rich and topped with a sugary icing. It tasted like a big chunk of brownie. It is not on the menu, but White said you can still ask for it on days the bar is not open.
The create-your-own Wrigley chicken sandwich also proved to be a winner. A boneless, skinless breast is served on a fresh Kaiser bun with lettuce, tomato, red onion and your choice of two toppings listed in the create-your-own Wrigley burger section. Additional toppings can be added for 50 cents. I chose bleu cheese and mushroom. The zippy red onion was my favorite topping, but the tender mushrooms and sharp cheese did not disappoint, nor did the chicken, which had a nice sear that made you forget the missing skin. The french fries on the side were also hot and crisp.
The Wrigley big salad, which I had topped with steak for an additional charge, had plenty of fresh, crunchy iceberg lettuce, but not romaine, which the menu said it should. The halved cucumbers, boiled egg, shredded cheese blend, tomato and more red onion were just as fresh as the lettuce, but the steak was the best topping by far. It was cubed, just like it was in the soup, and was perfectly pink and juicy. It made me want to try a steak dinner; more of which, White said, could be added to the menu soon.
The pizza offerings were not as pleasing. Wrigley’s pizza is fine; it’s nothing special, but passable for a tavern’s with its thick, sort of bready crust. The dough did not translate to the sausage roll, however. This long, thin roll (about 2 inches wide and a foot long), had a thick layer of crust on the bottom that was actually hard to eat, and the thin top was split and had sauce and cheese oozing through it. The round pieces of sausage were OK, but there was just too much dough for the fillings.
I also wasn’t as happy with the wings as I expected to be. Wrigley makes its own hot sauce, which is red, peppery and perfect, and the wings are fried, then sauced and then grilled. White said this process started about three years into the bar’s existence so the wings would be dry and not drip all over customers. The grilling also adds a nice charred flavor component to the crispy exterior, but during both visits I found myself wanting more sauce. During one trip, the wings, which were pretty average-sized, were not grilled well enough and came off rubbery. Next time, I will order mine well done with extra sauce.
Inconsistency also showed up when it came to service, too. On the busiest night I visited, my server was prompt, always checked back and was extra attentive. But during a slow lunch hour, the server was too busy visiting with a table of friends to refill my drinks or bring my bill. In spite of clearly seeing my wife put jackets on the kids and head for the door as I stood waiting, the bill still never came and I had to go ask for it at the bar.
And speaking of kids, that brings me to my biggest issue with Wrigley Field Bar and Grill. The "family dining" exists in the main dining area, but it isn’t at all family-friendly. It is still a bar with beer signs, stickers and the like, and the atmosphere is not one I would want my kids in for too long. I don’t expect it to be as sanitary as McDonald’s, but I didn’t like hearing my kids comment on how the guy on the big TV (every TV, actually) was hitting that other guy in the face as they watched some mixed martial arts bouts in the middle of a weekday afternoon.
And despite being smoke-free, a haze hung over the dining room on a busy Friday night, and my clothes reeked of cigarette smoke when I got home. Wrigley’s designated outdoor smoking area is a patio just off the dining room, and every time a smoker went in or out, the smoke got sucked back inside the door.
Restaurant: Wrigley Field Bar and Grill
Address: 6527 E. State Blvd.
Phone: 485-1038
Hours: 10:30 to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday
Cuisine: American
Handicapped accessible: Yes
Alcohol served: Full bar
Credit cards accepted: Yes
Kid-friendly: Yes, but family dining area still affected by bar atmosphere
Menu: Wings ($3.95 for 6; $6.95 for 12), soup ($2.50 cup; $3.25 bowl), sausage roll ($6.95), 14-inch, one-topping pizza ($9.95), Wrigley chicken ($5.50), Mason’s grilled cheese ($3.50), Wrigley big salad ($5; add steak $3.50)
Note: Restaurants are categorized by price range: $ (less than $20 for three-course meal), $$ ($20-$29); $$$ ($30-$39), $$$$ ($40-$49), $$$$$ ($50 and up).
