Best Wings in Greater Cleveland: Skinny’s Bar & Grille among top finishers in readers’ poll (photos)

EUCLID, Ohio— There’s a sign above the kitchen door at Skinny’s Bar & Grille in Euclid that reads:

“Skinny’s is the place where brilliant minds assemble to willfully pool ignorance with questionable logic in order to reach stupid conclusions.”

We can get behind that motto, which appears to have hung there since this East Side dive opened in 1991.

Know this: the only questionable logic there after enjoying a basket of Skinny’s crispy, tender, meaty, mouthwatering wings is if you decide not to order more. It’s nearly impossible.

Setting the Table: Skinny’s, located at 780 East 222nd St. in Euclid, took third place in our search for the Best Wings in Greater Cleveland. To call it the quintessential neighborhood bar downplays a locale many hold near and dear to their hearts — including co-owners Dominic Ferlito, John Grgincic and Danny McGarry.

Top 3 wing restaurants in Northeast Ohio: Best of Cleveland readers’ poll

Grgincic “grew up in the parking lot” (his family’s house was situated behind the bar) and became best friends with the Skinny (a.k.a. Howard Thomas) and his nephew, Matt, who were “there all the time.”

Together, Matt and John would “wreak havoc” out back, then would clean up the parking lot and do other odd jobs in exchange for the bar’s divine Viking burgers. The story goes, Grgincic’s mom would get mad at Skinny because her son came home full at dinner time.

“Skinny would tell her, ‘I’ll eat their food! You make me dinner and I’ll make them dinner!’” said Ferlito.

Inspired by this delicate family treaty, Skinny’s Family Dinner Fridays feature Grgincic family recipes.

Talking to Grgincic and Ferlito, you get the feeling Skinny’s might just be a holy site. If it isn’t, it surely is sacred to them — inspiring the purchase of the bar from their not-so-skinny namesake owner just under a year ago when the opportunity came.

“The only way we could be here more often was to own and run the place,” laughed Grgincic. “So that’s what we did.”

The Vibe: It’s not a big, flashy sports bar. Not even close. At just north of 50 seats, call it a “peculiar watering hole-in-the-wall” in a century-old building with apartments upstairs, “old-school dive bar trapped in time,” and “a third place for dyed-in-the-wool Euclidians” and you’re almost there.

Wood paneling, retro décor, old photos and kitsch adorning the plaid, Irish green wallpaper. A random rosary dangling from the ceiling, bottlecap garlands on the wall. Polka on the TouchTunes in honor of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum just down the road.

“We like being this little, unassuming place that surprises you,” Grgincic said. “That’s the feeling we had coming here regularly, and we wanted to keep that going. Everyone here feels that way, which really feeds into how we make changes — few and subtle — and let the place and our food speak for itself.”

The Tribe: There’s a “Cheers”-like camaraderie to the place; everyone seemingly knows everyone else but not to the exclusion of newbies or anyone else. There’s plenty of laughter. Discussions range from local politics and high school sports to hilarious retirement banter, navel-gazing, gossip and bad jokes.

The “regulars” are an intricate network of bonds made in Euclid and Collinwood; in the Euclid Fire Department across the street, nearby Board of Education and Lincoln Electric just down the road. Villa Angela-St. Joseph and Euclid High School peeps, and an ethnic makeup of German, Czech, Polish, Croatian and Slavic folks round out the fanbase. Oh, and longtime employees are (or like) family and aren’t going anywhere.

All of them know what to expect when they arrive.

Nosh & Imbibe: What should you expect? Where to begin? Tacos and quesadillas on Tuesdays, those homecooked Family Dinners on Fridays, a perfect pint of Guinness, cold Genny Cream Ale or a whiskey neat on call. College football on Saturdays. Consistency is the key.

“We do have our standards and staples,” said Ferlito. “For the Family Dinners on Fridays, we do a yellow perch fish fry, we do pork chops, steak or prime rib, pasta, chicken dish… we do City Chicken, wrapped cabbage, a schnitzel cordon bleu—everything’s made from scratch, fresh in our kitchen.”

“We like to keep it simple,” added Grgincic. “We don’t reinvent the wheel here. We just do things right.”

And as if all that weren’t enough, you told us that Skinny’s has the best wings money can buy on the East Side on Mondays and Wednesdays. Their success is rooted in a “never frozen” and always “oil-fried” mindset (a non-negotiable truth for all three top three finishers). They come out crispy, perfectly seasoned and sauced.

The menu offers mostly traditional flavors, apart from a “Stingin’ Teriyaki” (a fruity-floral Asian sweet heat) and the house secret-recipe “Garbajon”— a zesty, fragrant blend of garlic, Parmesan cheese, Cajun seasoning and hot sauce. The latter was otherworldly. We never thought we’d use the words “complex and nuanced” in a chicken wing review, but here we are, mouths watering all over again as we type this.

“Garbajon is our most popular,” agreed Ferlito.

A Final Cluck-about: “We just talked to Skinny yesterday and he said, ‘Guys, it’s gonna be crazy for a while, so be prepared. Have enough wings on hand and that fryer hot and ready to go,’” said Ferlito.

“Who knew we’d land in the Top 20, let alone finish so high? Our fan club rallied around us. So, thank you, Skinny Nation and thank you cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer! We all feel very fortunate.”

Skinny’s Bar & Grille, 780 E 222nd St, Euclid 44123. 216-731-3443. facebook.com/skinnysbarandgrille