Blinco’s

I was sorry to see Blinco’s had closed. They were from Western NY and had some interesting food items that come from that region.

Definitely on the good side of average, I found Blinco’s to be very genuine and endearing. This is a great place to go to at the end of a long week, when you want a meal that feels like someone’s mom cooked it at home, but you also want to step outside of your home and eat in a decent place – maybe catch a game while you’re there, too!
The beer selection was good, while the food was hearty without being so rich that you need to sleep.
There are some sports bars in Raleigh that serve pretty bad food, but this isn’t one of them. I loved the jalapeño poppers! I had a Carolina burger that was great.
Worth noting, for all of you fries snobs out there, that this place has PERFECT fries – excellent ratio of crispy on the outside, smooth potato in the middle. The owners must clearly have had enough bad fries experiences to appreciate just how important it is to deliver on this.

I have been to Blinco’s a few times to meet up with friends prior to going somewhere else, and I would say that it’s been an average sports bar in terms of food, beer and service.
The layout is a little different here. Dining areas on the left and right hand side and a large bar area in the middle. Lots of Carolina Hurricanes stuff on the walls, so this is definitely a good place for Caniacs to congregate.
On a recent visit, we sat at a table near the bar and weren’t immediately waited on. After a few minutes someone did come to check on us, but since the place was practically dead, I thought we would be pounced on right upon entering. I didn’t notice any receptionist service either.
They had drink specials for bud light on draft for $ 2.50 which is an awesome deal. My BDL didn’t taste fresh though. Either that or the waiter mixed it up with another beer. Anyway it didn’t taste like it should. I ordered a beef on weck sandwich which was good but salty. This was my first experience with this type of sandwich so maybe that is how it is supposed to be? I liked the au jus that came with it as well as the side of horseradish. A friend ordered blue cheese and bacon potato skins and I sampled one and liked it, kind of a different twist on that appetizer. I think this place does a good job of offering some different type cuisine than at other sports bars. The Chicago Italian beef looked good for example. The of course do have the staples such as Buffalo wings and burgers as well.
I don’t think I would rank Blinco’s as my favorite sports bar in the area, but they do offer some good and different food, have plenty of tv’s and drink specials. If I am near Glenwood, I would stop in for a Canes game or other sporting event.

I’m not sure Blinco’s is the type of place I would choose for dinner but I wouldn’t be opposed if some else suggested it.
I had a pretty large salad that was fresh and delicious. It came with chicken and was more than enough to satisfy me for dinner.
My partner for dinner ordered the Chicken Parmesan sandwich that he likes a lot. I stole some fries and they were delicious!
The seating isn’t that large but the place is huge. Lots of space for pool, darts and the bar area. It would definitely be a great place to hang out. It has a better set up than most hang-​out bars in the area.
I will say it definitely had a «married man leaving his wife at home» kind of vibe. Not a bad thing, nothing sketch going on, just the vibe.

Here’s a review from two native Buffalonians… My wife and I moved from WNY a little less than a year ago and one of our hardest goodbyes was to the fantastic food in the region. We we’re directed to Blinco’s and informed that the owners are originally from WNY and that they served some classics, like true buffalo wings and Beef on Weck.
Despite what a few other reviews have claimed about the service, we had a delightful waitress who took very good care of us. No complaints there. The restaurant is a sports bar, with a good selection of games and many T. V’s. But let’s talk about the food.
We each ordered wings, «hottest» and «bbq» with a side of the hottest hot sauce they have (which isn’t on the menu). We we’re told they rivaled Duff’s and while they tasted fine, they simply aren’t on the same level. They are significantly smaller than what you’d get at any good wing joint in Buffalo. Their hottest hot sauce was tasty and had more than enough heat.
I ordered the Beef on Weck with fries. I was satisfied overall and LOVE the crispy fries they serve. The beef was just a tad on the dry side, but it was pink and came with a large portion of au jus to make up for it. Overall a decent sandwich. My wife ordered a fried haddock dinner which seemed to pass the test as well.
I can’t say I’d go back for the wings, but for the fries, certainly. They serve Hurricane Plates (aka Garbage Plates) which I’m eager to check out next time!

I’ve been here for drinks and pool. It’s a cool place to hang out because they have 2 pool tables, shuffleboard, and a few arcade games. I’ve never had the food, they always have drink specials. Sometimes they have a «Mystery Beer» special where they’ll bring you any bottle of beer they wish. Be prepared to drink anything if you get this because one day we were brought malt liquor!

Hated the food… It was cold, service was mediocre, and the chips tasted stale… And my husband got food poisoning after eating there twice! You would think he would learn the first time! Ha!
Will not be going back… 3 x and no charm …

Been going to Blinco’s for the past 4 years for the first full Sunday of football. We are there from noon until after the 4 o’clock games go off. I look for two things in a sports bar good wings and cold beer. Blinco’s has both. When we were looking for a place to record our podcast Blinco’s was the first place we looked. The service has been great.

I guess as far as a sports bar goes, it’s about as standard as it could, in my opinion: full bar, televisions with sports center and ESPN, booths and tables, arcade games and billiard tables, cheese fries and chicken fingers. Met up with a few friends and watch a college B-​ball game before heading out for the night. I kind of want to make more visits before I fully rate this place, so 3 stars is where it stands for now.

Went here to watch a Pats game when visiting family over the holidays. Really nice place, good food, good beer, and they have the speaker boxes you can put on your table to hear any of the TVs.

Low key sports bar with pretty good food and a great beer list. When entering there was a list of the games and arrows pointing to which room to sit for viewing. There are three rooms, two dining rooms on the outer sides and the bar area in the middle. The place wasn’t crowded at all, especially considering it was Sunday afternoon, so finding a seat wasn’t hard. I was there to watch basketball so luckily we found a television on poker and was able to get it changed with little hassle.
The daily deal on Sunday was $ 9.00 domestic pitchers and who were we not to take part? Outside of the standards there was a really good craft beer list with the likes of Avery, Big Boss, Dogfish, etc. That is definitely a welcome sight for a sports bar…
We sampled the chipotle barbeque wings and were pleasantly surprised. For some reason, i wasn’t expecting a lot from this place, but the wings delivered. The flavor had a perfect mild, smokey heat and the wings were very large. I then went with the Philly Cheesesteak which came with the original cheese sauce, just like they do it up in Philly. You might think its gross, but try it and tell me it doesn’t keep that thinly sliced steak super moist. The sandwich, stuffed with steak and sauteed onions and perfectly slathered with cheese sauce was pretty great. It’s not Jim’s in Philadelphia, but it was quite impressive as well.
The service was okay, not bad but not stellar either considering the light crowd. I will definitely be back here and look forward to more low-​key sports viewing with a solid menu & beer list to enjoy. Oh and there’s also some arcade games for the kids (and adults too… there’s golden tee!)

Bar staff and food is great but cops wait in the parking lot to pull people over.

Oh man. Blincos. You disappoint me so! So we went there on Sunday a group of about eight of my friends. The restaurant is pretty well laid out, bar in the middle of two table sections. The restaurant was not crowded at all but a few larger tables like ours. It took the waitress twenty minutes to take our order which in her defense she mentioned she was new. So in total it took between forty and forty five minutes before we got our food. An hour from the time we sat down.
Needless to say we were a bit upset. But as having worked in a restaurant I know things can run behind with larger parties sometime but what made it worse was the waitress and the managers response. When we asked about the hold up she stated they were working on it and got annoyed. I mean really. No apology nothing. The manager stated that the ticket time was only twenty five minutes when it was forty. So either he was lying or the waitress did not put it in? On top of all this, when the food finally arrived it was NOT good! I had the black bean burger which is pretty hard to screw up but it tasted like it had been in the freezer for a while or sat on the grill for WAY too long. I did not complain and/​or send it back due to lack of time and response from management. The manager said he was lacking staff… on a Sunday? During football season?

I could see how someone not from Upstate New York, or unfamiliar with the culinary «delicacies» of this region may be unimpressed with Blinco’s. But if you’re in that category, this place is a little slice of heaven. We aren’t from the Rochester area, but close enough, and we have friends from there so we are familiar with red hots, garbage plates, and Genny Ale. My husband gets homesick a little more often than me so I hoped this would make him happy. And boy, did it ever. He would probably give it five stars. They have «Hurricane Plates,» which are what they call Garbage Plates in Rochester. A heaping pile of mac salad, potatoes of some kind, two red hots or two hamburger patties, beans, and topped with some kind of chili sauce. Talk about comfort food, and the hubby ate every last bite. I had the meatloaf, which I was happy to see they offered with marinara or gravy. (I prefer marinara.) It was excellent! Really moist, flavorful, yummy. There were a ton of other items on the menu that seemed intriguing such as the firecrackers – jalapenos stuffed with chicken and cream cheese, wrapped in bacon?! Yum. The service was good, staff friendly, and this place is huge! Lots of TV screens for your sporty types, and a large bar right in the middle with tons of drink specials every night of the week.

On first glance, this might just look like another sports bar. There’s a ton of TVs (with nearly every game on), good beer selection, regulars at the bar, and plenty of comfort food on the menu.
But, this place is special because the owners (including Jim Blinco) are from upstate NY. I went to college in Rochester, NY and that’s where I first learned to truly appreciate Buffalo wings, beef on weck, and garbage plates. Blinco’s definitely delivers on their wings. Order them either hot or chipotle BBQ (which isn’t hot, but has great flavor).
Everyone needs to try a garbage plate in their life. So, one day, come to Blinco’s very hungry and order the hurricane plate. Ask for some ketchup and mustard if they’re not on the table, because you’ll need them. When it arrives, douse it with ketchup and mustard and enjoy! It’s not a true garbage plate, but it’s as close as you’re going to get unless you visit Rochester, NY.
I was a little surprised when I learned they don’t cook the burgers below medium well. But, I later found out that it’s actually a North Carolina regulation for any restaurant that doesn’t grind their own beef. Anyway, who needs burgers when there’s Zweigels on the menu?

Solid place to catch a game and some brew. They’ve got a zillion TVs that they’ll tune to whatever you want. But I don’t think they get the NBA package which doesn’t make sense for a sports bar (we requested the celtics game and they told us they didn’t get it). Wonder if they get any of the other sports packages. They’ll also bring over a little RF speaker that you can tune into the TV you’re watching for the audio. Neat.
They’ve got daily drink specials which you can find on their website. I’m a fan of the $ 3 black and tans. The food is all pretty good too. I’ve had their nachos, wings, burgers, onion rings, grilled chicken and grilled ahi tuna sandwiches. ***HOWEVER — big warning on the burgers*** Blincos only cooks their burgers «medium well). Not sure if they had a run in with the health department or something. So their burgers turn out to be tough crispy hockey pucks. But cooked in cajun spices and covered in bleu cheese, it turns out ok. Just don’t expect it to be juicy.

Awesome upstate NY pub grub. Speidies, Garbage Plate, Buffalo Wings, Beef on Weck! They’ve got it all! Good beer and bands now and then too.

Schneller, sehr freundlicher Service, umfangreiche Speisekarte, sehr leckere Burger und Chickenwings, große Auswahl an lokalen Bieren aus Microbrewerys. Spiele wie Dart, Billard usw. mit denen man auch mal einen Abend verbringen kann. Schöné lange Bar an der auch geraucht werden darf.

Blinco’s is a sports restaurant that is sort of really, average. Just north of Crabtree Valley mall, it’s a bigger restaurant with two separate dining areas (smoking — non-​smoking) and a bar in the middle. There are quite a few TV’s on playing the latest games, our area had 4 larger HD panels and 4 smaller ones.
Menu is typical sports bar variety: wings, sandwiches, burgers and fried foods. Nothing to write home about and nothing special. The crowd looks like mostly a suburban crew and older. Overall I can’t really recommend this place since it shouldn’t be of much interest unless you live in the hood. The décor is average, the food is average, the service is ok. Not a bad place to catch the game but there are tons of better and more interesting spots to watch sports…