Pendalo Wingery opens in Braxton Cincinnati

Just in time for Cincinnati Wing Week, Pendalo Wingery has opened at Braxton Cincinnati in the Pendleton Arts District. With a name that is a mashup of Pendleton and Buffalo, Pendalo is forging a bit of a different path with their all-fresh pickle-brined wings and unique sauces.

Fresh Wings

I sat down with Pendalo’s chef Mike Schieman to talk about Pendalo and what makes them different. Schieman told me, “…we don’t deal with frozen foods, we don’t deal with commodity items. We get our chicken in fresh and all of it – our tenders, bone-in wings and boneless wings – is all brined in pickle juice and buttermilk.” Schieman adds that the brining adds great flavor and keeps the chicken nice and tender, regardless of how it is otherwise prepared. “We just try to do it right from the ground up,” he added.

Unique Sauces

Pendalo’s selection of sauces is a little different than your average wings place and their Alabama Pickle sauce is probably the best example of that.

“We use the pickle brine from our Fire & Ice Pickles and use them to make a white barbecue sauce. You can get the sauce tossed or on the side with any of our traditional wings, boneless wings, tenders or cauliflower, and we top those with some of the pickles.

Other unique sauces include a sweet Pineapple BBQ sauce, a mustard style Carolina Gold sauce and Sriracha Honey.

There’s also a Korean Fire sauce made with Gochujang chili paste. Gochujang has a strong spicy, smoky, umami, sweet, and nutty flavor that’s pungent and hard to compare to anything else and I’m sure that this one will please fans of hot wings.

Pendalo doesn’t skimp out on the traditional Buffalo sauces, however.

“We brag about our buffalo sauce,” Schieman said. “We make it in house. It is a sublime sweet, spicy and tangy (sauce). So it’s not too sweet, not too spicy, not too tangy. You go to some places and it’s really one way or the other. We’re really proud of it. We have a sweet, a medium, a hot and then our super hot we like to call ‘Nah Bruh’. You eat about 4 wings and the last two, you’re like ‘Nah Bruh’. We use ghost pepper and scotch bonnet (peppers) in house and we love using the natural pepper capsaicin because it just tastes good. You go to some of the other places and they’re using artificial capsaicin and we just don’t like that.”

More Than Wings

Although the focus at Pendalo is on wings, the menu doesn’t skip on other options.

In addition to the previously mentioned Fried Fire & Ice Pickles, Pendalo also offers snacks like Beer Cheese with Pretzel Bites, a Chicken Quesadilla, Loaded Crinkle Fries and more. They also offer a house and a Bacon Bleu salad.

Vegetarians can also enjoy any of the the sauces broiled or fried with Pendalo’s cauliflower wings.

“Cauliflower is kind of like the gumby of vegetables right now, It does whatever you want it to do,” Schieman said. “I’ll tell you that buffalo cauliflower is definitely one of my not so guilty pleasures.”

Easy to Order and Enjoy

Unlike Chix, the previous chicken place that shared space with Five Points Brewery, Pendalo’s ordering system is integrated with the bar system, so you can order food and drinks all in the same order and have it delivered to your table. There will also be QR codes at every table, so guests can order from their without ever going up to the bar.

The Beer!

As previously mentioned, Pendalo is located at the new Braxton Cincinnati location, so they’ll have an incredible selection of Braxton beers, Vive Seltzers and more.

Take It Home

The online ordering system will also be accessible from outside the restaurant, enabling you to order from home and pick up your order to go.

Schieman is also woking to get set up on the major food delivery platforms.

The Details

Pendalo is co-located with Braxton Cincinnati at 331 E. 13th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. They are open Wednesday and Thursday from 3pm to 9pm and from noon to 10pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Learn more about Pendalo Wingery here and check out all that is happening with Braxton Cincinnati at their web page.

You can also stay up to date on Facebook at @PendaloWingery and @BraxtonCincinnati and on Instagram at @PendaloWingery and @BraxtonCincinnati.