Somehow despite living in this same town and our constant complaint about there never being enough places nearby for us to pick on Wednesdays, we seem to have avoided choosing this place for a while now.

Probably because the thought of dining in a place that also advertises having an arcade on premises immediately made us think about going to Chuck E. Cheese.

Spoiler alert: we weren’t wrong. More on that in a minute.

Full disclosure, the reason we decided to finally give it a shot involved a direct message on social media and the magic words “all you can eat wing specials on Wednesdays.” If that’s not speaking our love language I don’t know what is.

But also, the fact that this place has been open for more than a year now and this was the first we’ve heard about this special means they may want to do more with that message marketing-wise. Like maybe shout it from the rooftops and not just slide it into DMs? Just a thought.

Anyway, we’re here now, so let’s dissect the evening.

So first off, the layout of the space is, well, odd. Like I get the idea – put the games near the tables so that if you brought the kids you can watch them play while you have drinks and food. But if you aren’t a family or youth sports team and are just three friends out for dinner and maybe watching a game then it’s kind of like putting a table smack in the middle of the slot machine room at a casino given the noise level and the bright lights.

If they want our two cents – and I’m sure they don’t, but when have we ever cared what other people want from us, right? – they might want to pay a visit to The Foundry in Medina for a lesson on how to integrate games, food and drinks in a more welcoming manner. Out there they have a dedicated area for the brewery and food, but if you wanted to sit out where the games are you can. But here you’re just stuck in the middle of all of it, Chuck E. Cheese-style.

Cool.

But hey we’re here, so noise be damned we may as well eat, no?

The AYCE Wednesday wings are $16.99. How it works is that you start with an order of eight and then the additional orders come in increments of five. And you can change sauces every order of you want.

I didn’t order the AYCE because – as with more buffets or AYCE specials – there was no way I was going to eat enough to make it worth it. I ordered 5 (for $10.49) and then a side salad ($7) – so basically the same dollar amount as AYCE but I knew I would be full at that point.

It will shock no one that guys both got the special.

Shane and I also got garlic cheese curds, after asking the server what the best app was on the menu and having him tell us the exact two things we were already debating (the curds and the pretzels). At least we felt vindicated that we chose well, even if it helped not at all in making our choice.

Let it be known that we’re glad we ordered the app, because the curds were probably the best part of the meal.

When it was all said and done, Ted got four rounds of wings. He started with the Cajun dry rub, moved on to the mango habanero, then the hot honey and finally the regular buffalo sauce.

Shane got three rounds: honey garlic dry rub, mango habanero (ordered at the same time as Ted’s so I just took the one photo – you’ll have to scroll back up if you want to view that one again), and spicy garlic parm.

Ted said his meal was average at best. The wing flavors weren’t standout at all to him, and especially the ones that were supposed to be spicy didn’t have any of that flavor at all.

Shane also thought most of his flavors were bland. He commented that they must’ve used all the garlic on the cheese curds his honey garlic dry rub wings were severely lacking in the garlic department.

I thought my spicy garlic parm wings had a little bit of a kick to them (must’ve been made with the cheese curds?) – but then when Shane ordered that same sauce as his last round it tasted nothing like the sauce that was on my wings of supposedly the same flavor.

Maybe someone needs to do a little research on the word “consistency,” no?

And while they’re at it, maybe also look up “price gouging” – because we could hardly contain our shock when the bill arrived and my cans of High Noon Lemonade were $8.25 each.

I’m sorry, when I can get a case of these at the store for $17.99, there is no reason this should be $8.25. For reference, Shane ordered a Mule – a crafted cocktail which required a bartender to mix and serve – and it was the same price as this cab that they just had to pull out of the cooler and pop the top of.

Yikes.

They also made a point to mention to us that they have a speakeasy downstairs that’s open on Friday and Saturday nights. But after this price hike on drinks at the bar here in arcade world I don’t think any of us want to stick around to find out what they’re charging in that ambiance.

So yeah, all this to say that I don’t see us coming back to The Workz anytime soon. The food was mediocre, the drinks were overpriced, and we left feeling like we just spent a hour or so wandering around the slot floor of the MGM trying to hold a conversation. And it seems we aren’t the only ones feeling this way, since the only other people we shared the space with were another couple having a quick dinner nearby and a couple of groups of teenagers wandering around in the abyss of arcade games.

Which is sad, given it’s a really cool space that just needs some reconfiguring in order to entice people to spend time there. And we love the concept of the AUCE wing special, but it makes zero sense for us to return if the flavors are not good. I know they told us they just revamped their menu, but it seems they may want to take another stab at that, or maybe send their cook off for some training if they want to be known for anything of their items.

We actually ended up across the street at the Cashmere Cricket to finish out our night, which was like a warm hug compared to the atmosphere we just exited. Limited lighting and noise, and an excellently made espresso chai martini that I would gladly pay $10.00 for given what I just contributed to across the street.

Picked by: Shane