Restaurant reviews by food category have been
around for ages, but one man is betting that sports fans, or anyone for
that matter, aren't satisfied with the information about chicken wing
establishments.
Enter Mark Gilmor, the man behind Kluckr, a Web site and iPhone app that lists more than 20,000 restaurants that serve chicken wings in its database.
Of
the 20,000 places, Gilmor says about half are currently rated in
appropriate categories, including heat, variety, service, value and
atmosphere.
With
chicken wings selling at such a feverish pace that wings are selling at
a greater per pound wholesale price than breast prices, this just might
be the perfect time for such an endeavor. Arguing over the "perfect
wing" is already part of gameday conversations.
"Guys
always debate the difference between a good and a bad wing," said
Gilmor, who heads up Kluckr Communications, the company created for the
project. "We want to be part of the dialogue and engage the competitive
nature of the debate."
Since
launching last month, Gilmor says Kluckr.com has had four times more
Web traffic than the company originally projected. In three weeks,
they've sold the Kluckr iPhone app, at 99 cents apiece, to about 1,000
people.
Gilmor
believes Kluckr can get to 100,000 downloads by next October as word of
the app spreads and more information fills the Kluckr database.
Getting
to that many downloads requires investing in the chicken wing space.
People that register with Kluckr are eligible to be invited to chicken
wing parties organized by the company. The company is also hosting wing
parties around the country — this weekend at Virginia Tech — to spread
the word about the Kluckr name to those who haven't heard about it.