Our Vendors! (Vendor bios by Mark Johnson for Westender Magazine) Become a vendor! Crehan's Crehan's is back again in 2011! Always a local favorite, Crehan's has been in Belleville for many years and has consistently provided patrons with great food, friendly atmosphere and cold beer! Fletcher's Fletcher's has long been a staple of West End cuisine, the is restaurant comfortably decorated, has a relaxing atmosphere and always good food. Last year was their first time in the Wing Fling and this year they'll return with a slightly new game plan.

For their second run they'll bring their in-house wings and another, yet unknown, new wing to be unveiled at the event. Last year they brought an Asian teriyaki wing which was well-received. This year Chef Keyveon Baerga-Plumey and management are still devising the new recipe they can bring to wow the wing world.

Geo's Wings

Geo's Wings has an unprecedented line up of Wing choices. The greatest task is figuring out which wing to order. The opportunity to order a sampler platter is the best deal in town!

Jefferson's

Last year we won Most Creative Team and this year I really want to win the whole thing, said Jim Grindstaff, part owner of Jefferson's restaurant. Jefferson's almost played a larger role from the event's beginning, as organizers considered hosting it on the green space in front of the restaurant the first year. Despite the event being moved a few blocks east, they still enjoy the home field advantage fresh wings are brought from the restaurant to their booth as needed.

Jefferson's will offer their double-dipped wings, an in-house favorite. Called such because they are fried, tossed in their hottest sauce, turbo, and then dipped back into the frier for a few seconds.That takes the heat away and leaves it with a crunchy, medium-hot wing, he said. Grindstaff said he'd like to win an award, but he is also just a happy guy and seemed pleased to be a part of the event.

Raymond's Place

Raymond's Place will be entering the competition for the first year this October. Being a local mom and pop shop made it a stretch of manpower for Raymond's to be involved in the past. It's hard for me to get away on Saturdays, he said, but, luckily for us, this year I'm going to make an exception.

Raymond's is already known for their excellent burgers, fish and corn beef. Less known, however, is the fact that he also has three delicious varieties of wings at the restaurant. To showcase them, he'll bring along his three wings, Parmesan garlic and butter, double-dipped and bus-q all in a medium flavor. As far as hopes for awards go, Gary isn't too stressed. I never gave it any consideration, he said.

Roy-el Catering

With their offices located on the edges of town, Roy-el Catering is skillful competitor that might slip under the radar in an event populated by many restaurants. The family-owned business won the award for best overall wings the first year of the event and they'll return with their award-winning sweet and spicy hot, grilled and honey barbecue wings.

The Wing Fling brings thousands of visitors to each of the booths but for Roy-el large numbers are the norm. Since 1987 they've been catering events with as many as 7,000 meals in a single day. The son of owners Quent and Sherry Nungesse, Marty, sees the bigger picture of the Wing Fling. We're a local business and we're happy to be a part of something that benefits Belleville, he said. We're looking forward to another great year and hope everyone stops by and tries our wings.

Seven

Seven will offer their in-house charbroiled wings, which are tossed in their signature sauce. The restaurant is a popular spot, known for its delicious food, drinks and relaxing atmosphere. Even though it's a center of downtown nightlife, Seven is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and they offer a late night menu.

Shenanigans

Shenanigans is a veteran of the Wing Fling as well as other local wing competitions. This will be the third year they've brought a selection of their Hall of Fame wings to compete. They will have one of the largest selection of wings, including their garlic Parmesan, barbecue, buffalo, lightly breaded and no-breading wings.

This year they will be highlighting their Brady wing. Named after a customer, it's deep-fried, tossed in wing sauce and then charbroiled, which burns the sauce into the wing. It gives it a whole different flavor, said owner Mark Onstott. This isn't their first rodeo so Onstott maintains a veteran's coolness about the event, just being happy to be a part of the Wing Fling, awards come if they may.

Stevie Ray's

One of the West End's newest restaurants, Stevie Ray's, will make their first appearance this year. Stevie Ray's has quickly become a neighborhood favorite, offering their good, reasonably-priced food and drinks with frequent specials.

Bethany Bond is the manager at Stevie Ray's and is also the main cook for the event. She said that they will offer the bar's popular garlic Parmesan wings and one other, still undecided flavor. We're not sure what it'll be, she said. As one of the newcomers they were happy to be involved. We're really excited about the event.

The Apartment Community at Our Lady of the Snows

The Apartment Community at the Shrine's chef, Todd Schrage, is well known for his skill in the kitchen. Which perhaps go towards explaining his displeasure that his last submission to the Wing Fling, a smoky barbecue wing, won the Apartment Community only the Best Decorated Booth award.

Unleashing an entirely new concoction called the pickled pepper wing, Schrage's new recipe sounds as delicious as it does unusual. The wings will be brined in a salt and vinegar marinade, lightly breaded and fried, then tossed in a mild chipotle pepper sauce. The Shrine Apartments took a year off from the competitive side of the event and Schrage hopes to make a big comeback this year. If it's any indication of his hopes, when asked why he changed his recipe he simply replied We didn't win.

The Mirror's Image

The people's choice winners from last year are returning with their much-loved wings. They are also bringing something new to the competition that isn't really designed to be competitive. Last year The Mirror's Image booth had requests for unsauced wings from diabetics, so this year they are officially adding their naked wings to the roster.

Tina Womble, owner of The Mirror's Image, enlisted her cousin to make the wings for them. They will have three flavors, four if you include the purposefully unflavored: hot, hot barbecue, spicy barbecue and naked. Womble's husband works at Froesel Tire, who passed their Wing Fling involvement on to Womble herself. Despite their winning record she seems calm about the event. We're just there to have fun, she said, although she admitted that they made sure to find the fattest wings they could for last year's submissions to the judges.

To be a Vendor Contact: John Reichert 618-234-2588 or Jean Buerges 618-222-1564

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