This new restaurant is digging into the popular fandom of anime with anime-inspired decor and wing flavours that fans will soon be able to enjoy for takeout or indoor dining.
The concept behind the one-of-a-kind restaurant comes from its owners. In their early to mid-20s, the owners are three best friends from high school in the GTA who wanted to create something unique and just happen to share a love for anime.
Partial owner and manager Krishi Desilda told Narcity they wanted to create a space where people with similar interests could come together and watch anime while enjoying wings that referenced the actual shows.
"We wanted to really bring anime and food together."
Crave Wings will be having its grand opening on May 11, and Narcity got a sneak peek at all the anime magic.
The space
The modestly sized restaurant sits on Eglinton Avenue West, and while it might look like your average wing spot on the outside, the interior is a whole other story.
Exterior of the restaurant.Brooke Houghton | Narcity
When you walk into the restaurant, your eye is immediately drawn to the massive hand-drawn mural alongside the right side of the shop, created by artist Kirusha Kirideran.
An anime mural.Brooke Houghton | Narcity
The mural, which has been a work in progress since August 2021, is divided into five sections and features characters and hand-drawn manga pages from popular animes like Death Note, One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen.
An anime mural featuring 'Demon Slayer' characters. Right: An anime mural featuring 'Death Note' characters. Brooke Houghton | Narcity
The restaurant's centrepiece features different characters posing with Goku, a popular Dragon Ball Z character, and two side murals featuring Demon Slayer and Death Note characters.
On the right side of the restaurant, there is a section of seating facing three TVs that will play anime shows for customers to enjoy while they chow down on their wings.
Interior of Crave Wings.Brooke Houghton | Narcity
The left wall of the restaurant is painted a mustard yellow and features Crave's logo, a faceless version of Luffy, a character from One Piece, featuring the character's prominent scar and outline.
The Crave Wings logo.Brooke Houghton | Narcity
Along with the street-facing window, there is additional seating where customers can get a close-up look at the hand-drawn manga pages along the wall.
Close up of mural at Crave Wings.Brooke Houghton | Narcity
The food
The menu has over 150 flavours of wings to choose from, featuring classics and unique options, with fun nods to anime characters and storylines.
The wings are made fresh daily and are hand dusted with a secret seasoning and recipe to give them their satisfying crunch, although they also offer other options like fries on the menu.
Three baskets of wings.Brooke Houghton | Narcity
I tried three of their flavours, including "Death Note," their spiciest wings on the menu, "Sweet Zenitsu," and "Where's Sasuke."
A pound of Death Note wings retails for $13.25, and these bad boys are deceptively spicy.
Death Note wings from Crave Wings.Brooke Houghton | Narcity
They are coated with Crave Wings' specialty reaper hot sauce and dusted with hot chilis and roasted garlic. At first bite, they may not seem hot, but the heat builds.
The spice isn't unbearable, and they still have a great flavour. However, I wouldn't recommend ordering them unless you can handle some serious heat.
Sweet Zenitsu wings from Crave Wings.Brooke Houghton | Narcity
Sweet Zenitsu was by far my favourite wing flavour of the day. These sweet wings have a great honey mustard flavour with the perfect amount of crunch, despite being soaked in sauce and smothered in sesame seeds.
If you're a fan, you might gather that the wings resemble the character Zenitsu.
'Where's Sasuke' wings from Crave Wings.Brooke Houghton | Narcity
The Where's Sasuke flavour was very visually appealing and had the same great crunch and juicy chicken as the others.
The hot honey flavour was milder than the other wing flavours, and I found the garlic parm sauce to be a bit heavy. So if you like it saucy, these are definitely for you, but if not, I'd look elsewhere on the menu.
I also tried some of their specialty fry baskets, which tasted like every hangover food I've ever dreamed of.
I grabbed the Garlic Parm Fries, which cost $7.99, and the Dolfamingo Fries, which are smothered in cheese and hot Cheetos, for $8.99.
Crave Wings
Price: 💸
Cuisine: Wings
Address: 557 Eglinton Ave. W., Toronto, ON
Why You Need To Go: To try out some anime-inspired wing flavours.
