Wrentham, Massachusetts native, TJ Gianfrancesco grew up in the restaurant industry.

“We’re lucky to be in Wrentham. It’s where I grew up.

From being in this area and being from this town for as long as I have a little bit of a following and people kind of know my style.  They know that they’re going to get a great meal.”

So when it came to opening up his OWN PLACE he decided there was NO PLACE like home.

Set in this cozy spot, Parker’s Pub is a family-friendly restaurant with a menu that’s sure to cure any snack attack.

“We’re just a neighborhood kind of sports bar.  We wanted to bring, you know, cold beer, steak tips and chicken wings to Wrenthem.”

The place is named after TJ’s son, Parker, who likes to spend time with dad in the kitchen.

“He’s got a pretty good palate for a 10 year old, you know, he go back there and make his own sauce.  He made a buffalo lemon sauce, which will probably end up on the menu.”

And besides their love of cooking, the two also share an overwhelming obsession with chicken wings.

So TJ lined the menu with all kinds of saucy options.  All flipped in a wooden bowl; a practice that predates the place from a nearby wing institution.

“I think we have to tip our hat to Wendells in Norton.  And I just I always loved that presentation where, you know, they toss the wings, they flip it over all the wings get sauced in it, and then when you open that bowl.  It’s just, it’s perfect.  Cover ’em.  Shake ’em.  Flip ’em. Serve ’em.  I can’t take credit for it.  But I did steal it.”

And with around 30 different ways to have your wings, choosing a sauce or rub can be challenging.

You can go with the old favorite and order the buffalo….

Or try something more complex like the pineapple teriyaki.

“We use fresh pineapples grind them up, add a teriyaki base and then sesame seeds, fresh garlic, fresh scallions you get a little sweetness you get a little saltiness in the teriyaki and they’re sticky so people like sticky wings.”

If you’re into dry rubs, the Salt N Vinegar brings all of that zip of that chip to a wing.

“I mean if it’s good on chips why would it be good on a wing?

It’s sharp. It’s salty. It’s peppery.  It’s really good.”

Parker’s even adds toppings to their wings like this one doused with queso and bacon with a cool ranch drizzle.  Or this crazy concoction rolled in Flamin Hot Cheetos.

“We toss the wings in a little bit of ranch and then put them with a flaming hot Cheetos. So you get that crunch. You get that that that flavor and you get a little spiciness. When you open that bowl and it’s bright and it’s colorful, and you can tell exactly what they are.”

They even offer weekly wing specials, like this one which promises “Trump” all the other flavors.

“The Orange 45 is bigly on flavor as it’s douse in orange cheese puffs. Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is orange. We tried to think of the most orange thing we’ve come up with so we ground up cheese puffs.  You ever see those big huge things that you can get at like Job Lot. It’s like sitting there eating a bowl of those.  It’s unbelievable.”

Other snacks to kick off your meal include Mexican street corn coated in garlic lime aioli, cotija cheese and Cajun dust.

A sharable foccacia style pizza that tastes more like a Big Mac.

And flavor packed Bacon Wrapped Brussel Sprouts.

“We wrapped them an apple with smoked bacon and we serve it with a horseradish dipping sauce. People think that they don’t like brussels sprouts but if you wrap it in bacon people are gonna like it.”

And then there’s the Pork Belly Burnt Ends.

“The pork belly burnt ends is a sous vide pork belly. We crisp it up in the fryolater. So you get that crispy outside, but nice and tender inside. And then we toss it lightly with a little bit of barbecue sauce and served with a nice cold jalapeno ranch slaw.  You get that crust on the outside from frying the pork belly, but inside it’s like, it’s like velvet. It’s so smooth and then you get a nice smoky barbecue sauce on there. “

When it comes to entrees, there really is nothing more over the top than the Chicken BLT Taco.

“We basically take cheddar cheese and melt it down in a pan and fold it over into a taco shell. It’s grilled chicken inside lettuce, chopped bacon, and then we do a ranch aioli for the sauce.  It’s enormous. It’s like half moon shape. It’s like the size of a football.

There are hand held classics, “amped up”, like these hot dogs wrapped in bacon and deep fried.

And a breakfast burger that is more than a mouthful.

“It’s like breakfast on a burger. It’s our it’s our certified Angus burger. It’s got a fast food style hash brown pattie on it, bacon, a fried egg. It might get a little bit messy but it’s worth it.”

Larger plates include Southern Fried Chicken served alongside a jalapeno ranch slaw, garlic smashed potatoes and a buttermilk biscuit.

And that pub favorite, steak tips.

“I think a good order steak tips is the marker of any good pub…and we want to have great ones.  We cut our own steak.  We marinate our own steak.  We grill our own steak. The marinade tenderized a little bit and then you know we char broil them so there’s a little bit of sweetness a little bit savoriness. Really good.”

And whether you’re from the area or not, this hometown hero will make like an old friend when you eat at Parker’s Pub.