Big Kahuna – Wings and More!

A couple of years ago, Laurie and I had eaten at Big Kahuna Wings and it hadn’t worked out so well… Laurie focused on the big wings that we’d ordered and that was such a negative for her, it took quite a while to convince her to go back and give Big Kahuna another chance.

Big Kahuna Wings is located in west Knox County on Kingston Pike, (US Hwy. 11), just a short distance from the Loudon-Knox county line.  This restaurant opened in 2014…

BKW is owned and operated by Matt Beeler.  However, the company was founded in the early 1960s with his family’s ‘secret’ seasoning recipe for chicken wings.  The seasoning is now successful stand-alone brand.

There is a small bar area in the restaurant but they only serve beer. 

Over the years, Matt experimented with the family’s special seasoning on various menu items.  These included steaks, burgers, pork, fish and vegetables. 

Today, Big Kahuna’s on-line store offers 6 different spice mixtures to its customers.  The choices are: Original Gourmet Brand; Fire Seasoning; BBQ Rub; Steak Rub; Cajun Rub, and; Seafood Rub.  All are priced at $5.59.  To check out these spice offerings, you can just go to https://www.bigkahunawings.com/shop/.

Big Kahuna Wings Restaurant is not a large place.  It is cozy and family friendly.  Customers are not overwhelmed by big screen TVs and plethora of sporting events coming at them from all directions.  The place was packed shortly after we arrived...

2018 marks the 6^th year for the annual Big Kahuna Wing Festival.  The event will be held in Knoxville’s World’s Fair Park on Saturday, June 16^th from Noon until 8 PM.  Last year over 8,000 people attended this event.  Forty teams with 100 sauces competed for the honors.  This year, the theme is “Buffalo Wing” in honor of the first wings served up at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo New York back in 1964.  To learn more about the Big Kahuna Wing Festival, a charitable event, just go to https://www.bkwfestival.com.

We did order a beer to go with our Big Kahuna Wing Appetizer.  Sorry about the photo but we started eating before I remembered to take a picture!  Instead of the “Famous Big Kahuna Wings” that we’d ordered during our previous visit, we ordered the smallest order, 5 of the Traditional Wings. ($6.99)

The difference between the traditional and famous BKWs is size…or really how the wings are served.  The famous wings are served with all 3 pieces of the wing attached whereas our traditional wings were served in 2 different pieces… We both agreed…these were excellent wings!

FYI…If you like a variety of flavors/sauces with your wings, Big Kahuna offers 18 or 19 choices!  If you prefer boneless wings, they are also available.

I’d remembered a pretty good burger experience on our previous visit, so on this occasion Laurie ordered the Boursin Burger. ($10.99) This Angus Beef burger is seasoned with BKW’s Original Gourmet spice blend, then topped with homemade Boursin cheese, baby arugula and sautéed tomatoes.  It was a very satisfying hamburger!

There are a number of appetizers on the menu at Big Kahuna Wings.  The most prominent item listed is the Kahuna Pig Fries. ($8, 49) This consists of Kahuna fries topped with hickory-smoked pulled pork, crispy bacon, shredded cheddar cheese and fresh chives served with garlic sour cream.

For my burger, I selected the Jalapeno Bacon-Cheddar Burger. ($10.99) My burger was topped with a homemade cheddar cream cheese blend, applewood bacon, lettuce, mayonnaise, tomatoes and fresh jalapeno slices.  It was a very nice burger but I was a little disappointed with the fact that all of the ‘heat’ had been removed from the jalapeno peppers.  What’s the point in putting them on a burger?  Without a little heat, they don’t add much to the sandwich…

Big Kahuna offers chicken and pulled pork sandwiches and wraps as well as the burgers.  For sides, they have the BKW Chips which we had (excellent!), potato salad, kale slaw, French fries and baked bean sopresa…

We definitely enjoyed our meal and we will return for more wings and probably the burgers as well!  The Big Kahuna Wing restaurant is located at 12828 Kingston Pike (US Hwy. 11) in Farragut Tennessee.  They are open from 11 AM until 9:30 PM Monday – Thursday and from 11 AM until 10:30 PM Friday and Saturday.  They are closed on Sunday.  Phone: 865-288-7891.  Website: https://www.bigkahunawings.com/.  

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave