Aviators Wing House Takes Off in The Colony

Jason Quiroga thought he had left the restaurant business. A former general manager of Wing Bucket, a Dallas mini-chain of fast-casual chicken wing restaurants, Quiroga had been working in construction, finding more enjoyment in remodeling homes and businesses. He would occasionally work on restaurant buildouts, which kept him in touch with contacts from the industry. That's how the opportunity to launch a new wing concept in The Colony came about.

Quiroga was approached to take over the lease of a former Cajun restaurant at Windhaven and Plano parkways. “I liked the space, but they told me I had a week to make a decision,” Quiroga says. He decided to take advantage of his experience with chicken wings for the new establishment and lined up some business partners. After some brainstorming, he came up with the name: Aviators Wing House.

“I was doing some research, and was shocked that no one had picked Aviators as the name of a wing place,” Quiroga says. In short order, he commissioned a logo for Aviators, a chicken wearing stylized aviator sunglasses.
Quiroga then went to work remodeling the space, leaning heavily into the aviation theme, and we have to admit, it’s cleverly done. There are airplane panels on the walls and stylized aircraft light fixtures with red, green and white marker lights. The lighting over the bar looks like the red and blue lights you see on the taxiway at the airport. A wall of clocks channels more vintage airport vibes.

Aviators is more than just style: there’s some well-executed food and drinks too. Wings and beer go together like peas and carrots, and if a pint of suds is your style, Aviators has eight draft varieties. But there's a surprisingly strong craft cocktail game as well. We sampled the Amelia ($14), a blend of Ketel One grapefruit, hibiscus agave and prosecco, served in a martini glass garnished with hibiscus petals and rimmed with strawberry pop rocks.
Drinks in hand, it was time to peruse the menu, divided into aviation-themed sections. We opened our meal with an order of Paratroopers (fried cheese curds) for $9.50. The beer-battered curds are fried golden and are addictively bite-sized. If you can imagine a way to fry a potato, Aviators probably has it: there are seasoned fries, Parmesan fries, tater tots (regular or loaded) or sweet potato fries to fill your tuber cravings. A quartet of salads is available if you’re trying to balance your fried food with something slightly healthier.

Aviators' wings are, ahem, top flight. The menu describes them as jumbo, and that’s no exaggeration; two of us split an order of 10 wings ($20) and we were more than full by the time we touched down. Aviators brines the wings before frying, so each meaty flat or drum is juicy and flavorful.
With an order of ten wings, you can mix a pair of wing sauces, so we opted for the Dog Fight (buffalo and lemon pepper) and the Hot Honey. The Dog Fight sauce had a solid vinegary bite and decent heat, while the Hot Honey traded a bit of heat for a bit of sweet. We added a side of seasoned fries to our wing order for three more bucks and we upgraded ourselves with an order of the Admiral’s Beans ($5), a mashup of kitchen sink beans, bacon and beer. The beans were well cooked, neither too firm nor too mushy, and a flavorful alternative to fries.

Quiroga tells us that call-in orders have been a steady part of the business, and during our recent Friday evening visit, the dining room and bar had filled up nicely. Eventually, Quiroga would love a chance to expand to other locations, but for now, The Colony is the destination for our latest wing fix.

Aviators Wing House and Craft Cocktails, 2851 Plano Parkway, No. 270, The Colony. Tuesday – Thursday, 4 p.m. – midnight;  Friday, 4 p.m. – 2 a.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m. – 2 a.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. – midnight.