My new favorite wings place! I've been a fan of the Chandler Teakwoods wings, but these blow them away. On separate visits to The Hungry Monk, my wings were delicious and super crispy. This tells me that they are conscientious about the process by which they fry their wings to a perfect texture. Nothing disappoints me more than a soggy wing!
The other great thing about The Hungry Monk is the beer selection. I visited during Arizona Beer Week (February 19th - 26th, 2011) and was lucky enough to score a free pint glass and samples from San Diego's Ballast Point Brewing Company. The Ballast Point sampler of four beers I ordered were completely original, including a porter infused with coffee and vanilla and a Scottish strong ale aged in whiskey barrels. My buddies and I also indulged in some of The Hungry Monk's half-and-half draft beers which are mixes of their house beers on tap. The names are fun... when you mix half Rogue's Dead Guy Ale with half Stone Brewery's Arrogant Bastard, you get "Dead Bastard".
I cannot rave enough about the Thai Peanut sauced wings. Ordering them just "hot" (2 out of 4 on their spiciness scale) is plenty piquant to get your taste buds fired up. Not as big of a fan of the Cajun-spiced wing which, although flavorful, was a bit too salty for me.
And although I wouldn't mix these two beers deliberately, a stiff salute to whomever came up with the name for the half-n-half SanTan's Epicenter plus Deschute's Black Butte Porter: "The J-Lo". Epic booty indeed!