Reading’s Street Food fans are counting down the days to Blue Collar Corner reopening after a post-Christmas break.
The popular venue will celebrate its third anniversary of its Hosier Street base in March.
It is the town’s first permanent street food venue and has a rotating selection of businesses visiting to offer a range of tasty treats, including burgers, mac and cheese, bao buns, wings and pizzas.
There are also regular cook-off contests, aimed at celebrating some of the very best street food in the country. They are themed along the lines of Cheese Wars, WingJam and the British Street Food Awards.
Traders usually visit for a week to a month.
Who are Gurt Wings?
Originally from Bristol, the Gurt Wings team specialise in American Buffalo Wings.
Founded by Gurty, the company is based on his love of the dish, experimenting to create his own secret blend of herbs and spices – a mixture of a Southern Style-US Friend Chicken coated wing with buffalo sauce.
After trial and error, he created the recipe that he was happy with and served it to friends, neighbours and family, gaining their approval before sharing it with the wider world.
Gurt is a Bristol word for great, and Gurty says it seemed like a perfect fit for his wings.
The company has been serving Gurts Wings since April 2018, and their menu was simple: five wings with either Buffalo and Blue Cheese or Garlic and Lime Mayo, and Tator Tots or Loaded Tator Tots with Cheese and Bacon.
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They won a third place at the 2018 London Wing Fest for their buffalo wings, and scooped the judges’ choice award in the 2023 contest.
Last year, they branched out to sell bottles of six of their sauce flavours.
Things that make Gurt Wings stand out…
All its sauces, flour mixes and wings are freshly prepped that day. They say that if it is not up to their standards, they won’t serve it.
They use eco-friendly and biodegradable packaging that will decompose naturally.
They now have two trucks touring across the week, and Reading will be their second permanent residency.
What have Blue Collar and Gurt Wings said about the new residency?
Blue Collar has announced the news that Gurt Wings will be in residency when they reopen on Thursday, January 16.
Gurt Wings have shared on their social media their delight at coming back to the Ding.
“we’ve been coming to Reading once a month and we love it! It’s always really busy, we have a great time and we love seeing you! So we thought, why aren’t we here all the time? Well I have some great news for you! We will be opening in Reading at the @bluecollarfood on January the 16th 2025!”
And they will be offering a special extra: home delivery for its wings, sauces and merchandise.
The Reading branch will open ahead of its new restaurant in Wapping Wharf in Bristol. This will welcome customers from February.
“2025 is going to be the year of Gurt” they promise.
When is Blue Collar open?
The Hosier Street venue is open:
Thursdays and Fridays: 5pm-12.30am
Saturdays: 11am-12.30am
Sundays: 11am-8pm.
It also has a pop-up street food market in Market Place, off Kings Road and Blagrave Street, on Wednesdays and Fridays from 11.30am to 2.30pm.
Dogs and children are allowed in up until 8pm.
Tables can be booked for groups of eight or more.
For more details, log on to: https://www.bluecollarstreetfood.co.uk/blue-collar-corner
Will I be warm and dry if I visit Blue Collar in winter?
The majority of the site is covered – both upstairs and downstairs – so no need to worry if it’s raining or even snowing.
And there are heaters at every table.
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