Great Wings are Hiding at The Ruck

There's very little in the world that I enjoy more than a good dive bar.  We've told you before about The Pub in Somerville and why it's a great place to grab a cheap beer with some friends and watch a game.  No doubt, The Pub is fantastic, but as far as dive bars go very few that I've seen can touch The Ruck.  And it's not just for the beer - there's a hidden gem cooking up at The Ruck that you just might have to taste to believe.The Ruck is a staple for me, Cait and our group of college friends.  Every time we end up in Troy, NY (at least a few times per year to visit the hometown of our friend Kyle) we don't leave without at least stopping by The Ruck, a task made easier by the fact that The Ruck is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year until 4:00 AM.  It's about five times as long from front-to-back as it is wide from side-to-side - it's never quite empty, but never too full.  It's rated at 4.5 stars on Yelp, which is damn impressive for a dive.When you go to The Ruck, you can expect a fantastic beer selection that's always different at great prices, darts, video games (as Kyle and I demonstrate on the left), a full-size shuffleboard and tons of TV's all to go along with friendly bartenders.  It's dive bar heaven.But even at the best of all the dive bars in the land, you can't usually expect to find great food.  The wings are what take The Ruck to the next level.The wings are $7 for 10 or $13 for 20 and you can try different levels of buffalo heat, bbq, or garlic parmesan.  Whether you order a single or a double order, you're going to get loaded up with tons of celery, carrot sticks and delicious blue cheese to help you battle the heat.And the blue cheese in itself is enough to keep coming back.  It's loaded up with just the right amount of garlic and pepper, and it's got chunks of blue cheese while still keeping a creamy consistency that lets you slather up your wings to your liking without any trouble.They're constantly frying up fresh batches of wings, and they know what they're doing.  The wings are crisped perfectly on the outside, and they're still plenty juicy on the inside.  The hot sauce is actually hot, and it'll definitely make you break a sweat by the time you hit wing 4 or 5.I'm not sure what time they officially turn off the fryolators at The Ruck, but it's pretty damn late. In our last visit, we arrived to The Ruck after midnight and nursed a round of beers before we ordered.  They were still going strong in the kitchen well after we got our food.I always tell people that The Ruck is my favorite bar in the world, and it's no exaggeration.  It simply doesn't get any better than cheap beer, great wings and big buck hunter until four in the morning.  So if you find yourself in Troy, even if it's a holiday, stop into The Ruck and see for yourself why it's King of the Dive Bars.