IJW opened recently as a delivery only restaurant, or a ghost kitchen. Has anybody tried the wings there yet?
1 Like
First I would like to state for the record that I am an idiot. I thought, hmm, I have no dinner plans so why not TOFTT? To repeat, I am an idiot. So I ordered…
I have no pics so you should at least get the whole story. I am a big advocate of ghost kitchens and have been in talks to open a breakfast delivery kitchen on and off for two years now. The concept is good and, if done right, has a lot of potential. IJW did not do it right.
You must have your own delivery people. It’s fine to also offer your food through, say, Door Dash, but you must have your own people. IJW has no people and after I got through paying fees for my supposedly “free” delivery my check ballooned by more than 20% pre-tip.
Next, my order was partially wrong ( no sauce on one order of wings ) and there was literally no way to make that known to anyone at IJW. Door Dash person drops it off and I get a pic of a closed bag in front of my door. The problem is that bag could have been full of poop ( it wasn’t ) but still I would have appreciated a complaint line or even a way to do it online.
Finally, they were waaaaay too heavy on the breading and too light on the sauce. All the above complaints aside, if these were awesome I would have forgiven it all. They are barely average. Pizza Hut has better wings ( I’m guessing.) Save your money.
5 Likes
I just DoorDashed for the first time last week: IJW is operated out of Chili’s and indeed is takeout/delivery service only. I was very confused when I had an order for Chili’s and IJW at the same time and had to ask a worker about it.
2 Likes
Wait a second, are you saying IJW is really just Chili’s doing an anonymous ghost kitchen to sell their wings? Or (even odder) is Chili’s sub-leasing their kitchen to someone for wings?
3 Likes
I believe it’s just an anonymous ghost kitchen, yes.
1 Like
I abhor these delivery services and never use them. I’m not fond of take-out, but the very few places where I’m willing to do it, we pick the order up ourselves. One exception once. I got an email from Wegmans offering free delivery via Door Dash for their Meals to Go. Took them up on the offer. No problems with the delivery. Since the food was pretty good, we did Meals to Go a few times after that, but we drove to the store and had the order brought out to the car. (It was during the time we were not yet vaccinated.)
In NYC, restaurant delivery via DD, Caviar, etc., is ubiquitous. But the only place we’ve done delivery to our apartment is from Sarge’s Deli because they have their own delivery guys. However, last week, when we had dinner outdoors at Paul & Jimmy’s, a favorite Italian restaurant not far from us, they told us they have their own delivery guys and would deliver to our building. So, in the future, we’ll definitely use them. Otherwise, there are a few other places we like that are close enough for us to walk to do pick-up.
1 Like
Chili’s has been doing IJW DoorDash-only for awhile, at least a year? We’ve gotten wings a few times from them and I agree they are average at best. Only did it because my kids bugged me.
2 Likes
Many chains are doing this because people who wouldn’t order if they knew it was from the chain, order thinking it’s a place specializing in wings. (or burgers or cheesesteaks or whatever they’re peddling)
5 Likes
I did other from IJW one time last year… they are so forgettable that I have no recollection what the order even taste or look like. But i think on the DoorDash app if you look at the address, it’s a Chili. There’s also a burger equivalent of IJW (not operated out of Chili’s; maybe a pizzeria(?)) on Door Dash.
3 Likes
I tried burgers and fried chicken through ghost kitchens (a halal joint and bagel shop, respectively.) Wasn’t at all impressed with either and have no further plans to use them.
2 Likes
Applebee’s has one known as Cosmic Wings. Look it up on Uber Eats.
Chuck E Cheese is (was?) doing something similar because many people would never knowingly order pizza from them.
I’ve had the wings from Chili’s when they send us a coupon for a free appetizer when you buy an entrée. My wife likes their fajitas (yeah, I know), so we order the lunch portion and get the wings for free. They’re not going to win any awards, but for under $10 for the two of us, it’s OK. And they are better than the wings at Applebee’s.
2 Likes
