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Now Try This: Duck Wings at the Rabbit Hole

Normal Heights' new sports bar does a tough dish right

Duck wings
Duck wings
Place

Rabbit Hole

3377 Adams Avenue, San Diego

Duck wings can suck. Compared to chicken wings, they’re scrawny, and filled with connective tissue, which makes them hard to cook. The extra fat lurking beneath the skin makes it borderline impossible to achieve the exterior crispiness of a conventional chicken wing. Utilizing a slow cooking method is the only way to do them right, and even then it’s easy to get something gnarly and unappealing.

Hound dog sandwich

All the more props to Rabbit Hole for doing them well. The menu suggests the wings ($11) have been smoked; a novel departure from the more typical Chinese-style braising. The Rabbit Hole’s wings fall between tender and chewy, with toothsome crunchiness from a final trip to the fryer. Zesty barbecue sauce coats the wings with a touch of sweetness, which is good for duck, as a rule. Finally, the cartilaginous bits at the ends of the bones have been cooked down to the point of edibility, and crunching the bones is a delight.

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Sponsored

Besides that, it’s bar food for days. Heights Tavern closed, and the people behind OB’s Wonderland bought the business and swiftly renovated. They got local painter, Sean Dietrich, to throw a trippy, Alice in Wonderland-themed mural up on the wall, and changed the basic menu, but that’s about it. The concept is still solidly sports bar, but with just a touch more weirdness.

Some of the “fatty snacks” on the menu appeal to the glutton inside. The “Sloppy Louie” has turkey, roast beef, corned beef, pastrami, swiss cheese, slaw, and the restaurants signature Louie dressing on rye, with fries, for $10. That’s a good deal for 1500 calories, but it’s also hard to make something so gourmand and have it not be delicious.

One notable exception — the “hound dog” sandwich ($9) with PB, bacon, and banana on french bread — is almost reasonable, but still tickles the “I didn’t want to get skinny anyways” bone. It helps (or doesn’t, depending on one’s perspective) that the fries are good, thickly cut and potatoey, ready for dunking in sauce.

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Duck wings
Duck wings
Place

Rabbit Hole

3377 Adams Avenue, San Diego

Duck wings can suck. Compared to chicken wings, they’re scrawny, and filled with connective tissue, which makes them hard to cook. The extra fat lurking beneath the skin makes it borderline impossible to achieve the exterior crispiness of a conventional chicken wing. Utilizing a slow cooking method is the only way to do them right, and even then it’s easy to get something gnarly and unappealing.

Hound dog sandwich

All the more props to Rabbit Hole for doing them well. The menu suggests the wings ($11) have been smoked; a novel departure from the more typical Chinese-style braising. The Rabbit Hole’s wings fall between tender and chewy, with toothsome crunchiness from a final trip to the fryer. Zesty barbecue sauce coats the wings with a touch of sweetness, which is good for duck, as a rule. Finally, the cartilaginous bits at the ends of the bones have been cooked down to the point of edibility, and crunching the bones is a delight.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Besides that, it’s bar food for days. Heights Tavern closed, and the people behind OB’s Wonderland bought the business and swiftly renovated. They got local painter, Sean Dietrich, to throw a trippy, Alice in Wonderland-themed mural up on the wall, and changed the basic menu, but that’s about it. The concept is still solidly sports bar, but with just a touch more weirdness.

Some of the “fatty snacks” on the menu appeal to the glutton inside. The “Sloppy Louie” has turkey, roast beef, corned beef, pastrami, swiss cheese, slaw, and the restaurants signature Louie dressing on rye, with fries, for $10. That’s a good deal for 1500 calories, but it’s also hard to make something so gourmand and have it not be delicious.

One notable exception — the “hound dog” sandwich ($9) with PB, bacon, and banana on french bread — is almost reasonable, but still tickles the “I didn’t want to get skinny anyways” bone. It helps (or doesn’t, depending on one’s perspective) that the fries are good, thickly cut and potatoey, ready for dunking in sauce.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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