Wings fly at Dreamer's Cafe

(Credit: Jessica Bratton)

Dreamer's, a small, 20-seat lunch spot on Philadelphia Pike, came highly recommended. Several people told us that we had to try their sandwiches and their wings, so one lunch last week we ventured up Route 13 to see just what all the hype was about.

We heard raves about the wings, and weren't disappointed. They fry up the wings (order of 10 for $5.50, 20 for $10.50, 50 for $23.95) and then toss them in one of eight homemade sauces, ranging from mild (called "Lullaby") to their extreme heat ("You Must Be Crazy"). We got our wings in medium sauce ("Sweet Dreams"), with a side of "You Must Be Crazy."

The wings, an even mix of drumettes and two-parters, were appealingly crispy, and the medium sauce packed a decent amount of heat. The "You Must Be Crazy" sauce was hot enough to make my nose run a little, but still had good flavor, not a small feat for something so hot.

Wings were an appetizer, but we wanted to see what the sandwiches had in store. I thought I had settled on a sandwich, the Devil Baby ($6.25), a towering inferno of sliced chicken breast, pepper jack cheese, spiced pepper sauce, roasted red peppers, lettuce, tomatoes and onions on white bread, when I turned to the back of the menu.

There it was, the siren song of lunch. A pulled pork sandwich called Hog Heaven ($7.25), home-cooked pork broken down into fine shreds, and coated in a sweet, tangy barbecue sauce. More of that tasty sauce came on the side, for either pouring right on the sandwich, or dipping, as I did. It came with extra crunchy fries and cole slaw and served on a big, crusty round roll.

That same kind of roll, hollowed out, doubled as a bread bowl -- or, as they call it at Dreamers, a bread boule -- as part of the Prairie Dog ($7), which featured chunks of homemade roast beef and chicken, swimming in barbecue sauce, then topped with cheddar cheese. The cheddar cheese is then melted, creating a delicious string of cheese extending from the bowl to your mouth with every bite. While tasty, this wasn't exactly a light dish, so it's good for those cold, rainy winter days when you're wearing a heavy sweater.

If you're looking for something lighter, the good news is that their salads are just as good as their sandwiches. The honey blackened chicken salad ($7), came with cubes of pan-blackened chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, parmesan cheese and croutons, with honey mustard dressing. The chicken was still juicy and the dressing was nice and thick, but the best part of the salad was that everything was already nicely cut into bite-sized bits, saving us from having to arrange the salad. That is appealing, because it keeps us from having to spend the first 10 minutes of lunch cutting and mixing our salad, while everyone else is chowing down. And a place that can do wings, sandwiches and salads this well is a place where you'll see us again.