The Buffalo Wing & It's Rise to the Ultimate Sports Food .

[mrags]

6 hours ago, T master said:

Last night as i sit thumbing through the channels I saw a listing on the History channel the name of the show was The Foods That Built America so i went there to see what it was about i got up went to the kitchen & when i came back the show that had just come on was about the Buffalo wing & how it started to be .

 

In 1963/64 there was a black restauranteur by the name of John Young that had a restaurant near the old rock pile i didn't happen to catch the name of it but he had been ordering wings & frying them then adding what looked to be a barbecue sauce on them & they sold very well among the community but this was during the time of much distress in Buffalo due to the civil rights movement .

 

John Young fell upon hard times & wound up moving to Illinois so only those that came into his restaurant new about the chicken wings in the sauce which after he left no one was making them & the chicken wing was considered a throw away item so not many other restaurants would buy them until one day a restaurant about a mile away named the Anchor Bar got a shipment of chicken wings by mistake .

 

The original Anchor bar which was a Italian restaurant owned by Frank & Theresa Velisimo which Theresa was the main cook took the mistaken order of chicken wings & she wondered why they got delivered there & just exactly what she would do with them until i believe it was her son asked if they had anything mom could cook up for him & a couple of his friends so instead of leaving the wings hole she cut of the tip & cut the 2 remaining pieces into the the drumstick & the flat .

 

She fried them but when she took a bight they didn't have much of any flavor so she added some butter & a spicy sauce that she had for a different recipe & covered them in the sauce . Her son & his friends thought it was much to spicey all by them selves so she thought how can i take the heat down a bit so she added blue cheese as the dip & then she wanted to add something more after she put them on the menu because they started out as free in baskets on the bar kind of like they do with peanuts .

 

But soon everyone in Buffalo was coming in to eat them so that's when she put them on the menu & added celery with them & the original sauce to cover the wings is now known as Franks Red Hot which i'm not sure about this if any of you do know please elaborate on this but but i'm thinking that seeing as the owner of the Anchor bars name was Frank that could be where the red hot sauce got it's name & i wonder if they were the originators of it .

 

Of course the show goes on to tell how 2 brothers from Ohio that had visited Buffalo  & went back home & while sitting at a bar ordered some wings to which no one knew about them so they decided to try & duplicate the sauce but couldn't & had 12 sauces made up & decided to have all 12 on the menu . 

 

They wanted to open a restaurant so they did they had 50 different beers on tap 12 sauces for the wings & at first they called Buffalo Wild wings & Weck the Weck being Beef on Weck as we all know from living up home but it didn't start out to great . The bar was near the Ohio State Buckeye stadium in Columbus & 1 day while a college student came in for a beer & some wings he asked if they could turn the Buckeyes on the TV it was near the end of the game so he did .

 

So they dropped the Weck from the name & Hence Buffalo Wild Wings was born & became the first Sports bar which was 1982 . Shortly after that hooters came to be and we all know now that Buffalo wings are all over the world & they said that the anchor bar serves 1 ton of wings per day .

 

If you get a chance look up on the History Channel the show called The Foods That Built America & the name of this episode is "Flight of the Buffalo Wing" I think being Buffalo fans you would dig it I know i was glued to it till the end . So now we all know a bit more about how Buffalo wings came to be in Buffalo & I believe they said John Young's daughter opened a bar not to far from the Anchor bar which again i didn't catch the name but maybe we should pay homage to Mr. Young for first starting to put wings in sauce .

 

But there will only be 1 Anchor bar where the original Buffalo wing was first made !! Thank you Theresa Velisimo for many nights of drinking to be able to have Buffalo wings to go with an ice cold Brew !!! 

I Watched it last night also. Was a really good show. I also managed one of the franchises at one point years ago so it was good to see everything and be reminded of many of the things I forgot about. 

[PBF81]

4 hours ago, BUFFALOBART said:

My wife worked for Buffalo Wild Wings in Columbus, Ohio, when she was a student at Ohio State. (A long time ago)

 

I'd been to one back in the 90s.  Pretty cool dive bar.  

 

The chain struggled and nearly went under.  A Sally Smith turned it around which is when Buffalo Wild Wings was born.  

 

 

10 minutes ago, mrags said:

I Watched it last night also. Was a really good show. I also managed one of the franchises at one point years ago so it was good to see everything and be reminded of many of the things I forgot about. 

 

You in the restaurant biz?

 

[mrags]

17 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

I'd been to one back in the 90s.  Pretty cool dive bar.  

 

The chain struggled and nearly went under.  A Sally Smith turned it around which is when Buffalo Wild Wings was born.  

 

 

 

You in the restaurant biz?

 

I used to be an Ass. GM if one of the busiest BWW in the country in Vegas. Moved back to Buffalo and passed up on opportunities to manage them in the area. In Vegas it was franchised (at the time, not now) anywhere else is corporate. I couldnt stand the differences and the ways they were run. Also the fact that I went from one of the top 10% of 500+ locations to bottom 10 of 500+ locations didn’t help. Nobody in Buffalo NY goes to BWW for wings. 
 

I currently work for the state. After a few year stints at BWW and Ingram Micro. 

[PBF81]

1 minute ago, mrags said:

Nobody in Buffalo NY goes to BWW for wings. 

 

Roger that.  People elsewhere complain about them.  

 

 

[mrags]

Just now, PBF81 said:

 

Roger that.  People elsewhere complain about them.  

 

 

In Vegas they were the only place you could get any decent wings at the time. This was back in the early 2000s though. Things are different now as Vegas has probably tripled in population since I lived there. 

[PBF81]

5 minutes ago, mrags said:

In Vegas they were the only place you could get any decent wings at the time. This was back in the early 2000s though. Things are different now as Vegas has probably tripled in population since I lived there. 

 

Yeah, no doubt.  Phoenix has exploded too.  

 

Also, the wings there used to be better to.  They were notably better before Sally Smith took over and made it corporate.  They were OK for a while after that but they've gone downhill considerably since.  

 

I mostly make my own.  Anytime I go out I regret it.  I don't live anywhere near WNY anymore. 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by PBF81

[mrags]

1 minute ago, PBF81 said:

 

Yeah, no doubt.  Phoenix has exploded too.  

 

Also, the wings there used to be better to.  They were notably better before Sally S mouth took over and made it corporate.  They were OK for a while after that but they've gone downhill considerably since.  

 

I mostly make my own.  Anytime I go out I regret it.  I don't live anywhere near WNY anymore. 

 

 

I used to travel to the Phoenix quite a bit when I lived in Vegas. Had a cousin that lived in Tempe(I think). I really liked it there. Too dry for me honestly. But that was many years ago. I may embrace that now. Lol

[PBF81]

1 hour ago, mrags said:

I used to travel to the Phoenix quite a bit when I lived in Vegas. Had a cousin that lived in Tempe(I think). I really liked it there. Too dry for me honestly. But that was many years ago. I may embrace that now. Lol

 

I don't know when you were there last, but Phoenix has tripled in geographic size in 30 years.  

 

Is it that much less humid in Phoenix as in Vegas? 

 

Both are desserts.

[mrags]

3 hours ago, PBF81 said:

 

I don't know when you were there last, but Phoenix has tripled in geographic size in 30 years.  

 

Is it that much less humid in Phoenix as in Vegas? 

 

Both are desserts.

No. But compared to the humidity in Buffalo, they are both too dry. Lol. Last I was in Phoenix was around 2005. 

[entropyrules]

There was an episode of Murdock (highly recommend this series if you are a bit nerdy) where they get invented at the turn of the century when Murdock is tracking down a killer in Buffalo..very shameless of those Canadians

[ProcessTruster]

13 hours ago, T master said:

Last night as i sit thumbing through the channels I saw a listing on the History channel the name of the show was The Foods That Built America so i went there to see what it was about i got up went to the kitchen & when i came back the show that had just come on was about the Buffalo wing & how it started to be .

 

In 1963/64 there was a black restauranteur by the name of John Young that had a restaurant near the old rock pile i didn't happen to catch the name of it but he had been ordering wings & frying them then adding what looked to be a barbecue sauce on them & they sold very well among the community but this was during the time of much distress in Buffalo due to the civil rights movement .

 

John Young fell upon hard times & wound up moving to Illinois so only those that came into his restaurant new about the chicken wings in the sauce which after he left no one was making them & the chicken wing was considered a throw away item so not many other restaurants would buy them until one day a restaurant about a mile away named the Anchor Bar got a shipment of chicken wings by mistake .

 

The original Anchor bar which was a Italian restaurant owned by Frank & Theresa Velisimo which Theresa was the main cook took the mistaken order of chicken wings & she wondered why they got delivered there & just exactly what she would do with them until i believe it was her son asked if they had anything mom could cook up for him & a couple of his friends so instead of leaving the wings hole she cut of the tip & cut the 2 remaining pieces into the the drumstick & the flat .

 

She fried them but when she took a bight they didn't have much of any flavor so she added some butter & a spicy sauce that she had for a different recipe & covered them in the sauce . Her son & his friends thought it was much to spicey all by them selves so she thought how can i take the heat down a bit so she added blue cheese as the dip & then she wanted to add something more after she put them on the menu because they started out as free in baskets on the bar kind of like they do with peanuts .

 

But soon everyone in Buffalo was coming in to eat them so that's when she put them on the menu & added celery with them & the original sauce to cover the wings is now known as Franks Red Hot which i'm not sure about this if any of you do know please elaborate on this but but i'm thinking that seeing as the owner of the Anchor bars name was Frank that could be where the red hot sauce got it's name & i wonder if they were the originators of it .

 

Of course the show goes on to tell how 2 brothers from Ohio that had visited Buffalo  & went back home & while sitting at a bar ordered some wings to which no one knew about them so they decided to try & duplicate the sauce but couldn't & had 12 sauces made up & decided to have all 12 on the menu . 

 

They wanted to open a restaurant so they did they had 50 different beers on tap 12 sauces for the wings & at first they called Buffalo Wild wings & Weck the Weck being Beef on Weck as we all know from living up home but it didn't start out to great . The bar was near the Ohio State Buckeye stadium in Columbus & 1 day while a college student came in for a beer & some wings he asked if they could turn the Buckeyes on the TV it was near the end of the game so he did .

 

So they dropped the Weck from the name & Hence Buffalo Wild Wings was born & became the first Sports bar which was 1982 . Shortly after that hooters came to be and we all know now that Buffalo wings are all over the world & they said that the anchor bar serves 1 ton of wings per day .

 

If you get a chance look up on the History Channel the show called The Foods That Built America & the name of this episode is "Flight of the Buffalo Wing" I think being Buffalo fans you would dig it I know i was glued to it till the end . So now we all know a bit more about how Buffalo wings came to be in Buffalo & I believe they said John Young's daughter opened a bar not to far from the Anchor bar which again i didn't catch the name but maybe we should pay homage to Mr. Young for first starting to put wings in sauce .

 

But there will only be 1 Anchor bar where the original Buffalo wing was first made !! Thank you Theresa Velisimo for many nights of drinking to be able to have Buffalo wings to go with a ice cold Brew !!! 

It is Frank and Teressa Bellissimo , but hey you were close.  https://anchorbar.com/history/

 

Spent a fair amount of time in there in the late 70's when it was just a one room dive bar .  We were Bryant & Stratton (across Main St. on North) students and that was our afternoon beer spot.   It is unrecognizable now with all the add on spaces .. not sure if the original barroom is even there any more.  Thanks for the OP.   That was a time back then. 

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by ProcessTruster

[BillsPride12]

14 hours ago, jayg said:

 

Intersting series in general.  

 

I thought the candy episode was fascinating and brought back a lot of childhood memories 

[T master]

Wings now seem to be on every menu in about every restaurant you can go in butt here is 1 thing that every body thinks about wings like it is in general with most everything .

 

Bigger is better . Which if i wanted a chicken drum stick i would go to Kentucky fried chicken !! I can't stand the really huge what some consider chicken wings they are not what i conceder Buffalo wings & Buffalo Wild Wings are starting to get just about as bad the wings are just way to big .

 

But when i come home to WNY i aways go to get some because those in the area know how they were meant to be . I have traveled all over the US & there food in and around Buffalo is some of the best any where !! 

[GaryPinC]

16 hours ago, T master said:

Last night as i sit thumbing through the channels I saw a listing on the History channel the name of the show was The Foods That Built America so i went there to see what it was about i got up went to the kitchen & when i came back the show that had just come on was about the Buffalo wing & how it started to be .

 

In 1963/64 there was a black restauranteur by the name of John Young that had a restaurant near the old rock pile i didn't happen to catch the name of it but he had been ordering wings & frying them then adding what looked to be a barbecue sauce on them & they sold very well among the community but this was during the time of much distress in Buffalo due to the civil rights movement .

 

John Young fell upon hard times & wound up moving to Illinois so only those that came into his restaurant new about the chicken wings in the sauce which after he left no one was making them & the chicken wing was considered a throw away item so not many other restaurants would buy them until one day a restaurant about a mile away named the Anchor Bar got a shipment of chicken wings by mistake .

 

The original Anchor bar which was a Italian restaurant owned by Frank & Theresa Velisimo which Theresa was the main cook took the mistaken order of chicken wings & she wondered why they got delivered there & just exactly what she would do with them until i believe it was her son asked if they had anything mom could cook up for him & a couple of his friends so instead of leaving the wings hole she cut of the tip & cut the 2 remaining pieces into the the drumstick & the flat .

 

She fried them but when she took a bight they didn't have much of any flavor so she added some butter & a spicy sauce that she had for a different recipe & covered them in the sauce . Her son & his friends thought it was much to spicey all by them selves so she thought how can i take the heat down a bit so she added blue cheese as the dip & then she wanted to add something more after she put them on the menu because they started out as free in baskets on the bar kind of like they do with peanuts .

 

But soon everyone in Buffalo was coming in to eat them so that's when she put them on the menu & added celery with them & the original sauce to cover the wings is now known as Franks Red Hot which i'm not sure about this if any of you do know please elaborate on this but but i'm thinking that seeing as the owner of the Anchor bars name was Frank that could be where the red hot sauce got it's name & i wonder if they were the originators of it .

 

Of course the show goes on to tell how 2 brothers from Ohio that had visited Buffalo  & went back home & while sitting at a bar ordered some wings to which no one knew about them so they decided to try & duplicate the sauce but couldn't & had 12 sauces made up & decided to have all 12 on the menu . 

 

They wanted to open a restaurant so they did they had 50 different beers on tap 12 sauces for the wings & at first they called Buffalo Wild wings & Weck the Weck being Beef on Weck as we all know from living up home but it didn't start out to great . The bar was near the Ohio State Buckeye stadium in Columbus & 1 day while a college student came in for a beer & some wings he asked if they could turn the Buckeyes on the TV it was near the end of the game so he did .

 

So they dropped the Weck from the name & Hence Buffalo Wild Wings was born & became the first Sports bar which was 1982 . Shortly after that hooters came to be and we all know now that Buffalo wings are all over the world & they said that the anchor bar serves 1 ton of wings per day .

 

If you get a chance look up on the History Channel the show called The Foods That Built America & the name of this episode is "Flight of the Buffalo Wing" I think being Buffalo fans you would dig it I know i was glued to it till the end . So now we all know a bit more about how Buffalo wings came to be in Buffalo & I believe they said John Young's daughter opened a bar not to far from the Anchor bar which again i didn't catch the name but maybe we should pay homage to Mr. Young for first starting to put wings in sauce .

 

But there will only be 1 Anchor bar where the original Buffalo wing was first made !! Thank you Theresa Velisimo for many nights of drinking to be able to have Buffalo wings to go with a ice cold Brew !!! 

I don't think it became Buffalo Wild Wings in 1982.  I first became aware of the franchise in the early 90's here in Cleveland it was still Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck, then quickly shifted to BW3's.  I believe it switched over to it's current name in the later '90s.

 

And Frank's Hot Sauce was first made in Louisiana in 1920.  They are proud of the Buffalo wing tie-in.  https://www.franksredhot.com/en-us/about#:~:text=Because over in New Iberia,RedHot is%2C well%2C bottled.

[T master]

13 minutes ago, GaryPinC said:

I don't think it became Buffalo Wild Wings in 1982.  I first became aware of the franchise in the early 90's here in Cleveland it was still Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck, then quickly shifted to BW3's.  I believe it switched over to it's current name in the later '90s.

 

And Frank's Hot Sauce was first made in Louisiana in 1920.  They are proud of the Buffalo wing tie-in.  https://www.franksredhot.com/en-us/about#:~:text=Because over in New Iberia,RedHot is%2C well%2C bottled.

 

I just wasn't sure about the Franks Red Hot sauce i just thought it was quite the coincidence that the owner of the Anchor bar's name was Frank it would be easy to put those 2 things together & think that could have been where the name came from . But thanks for the clarification .

[coloradobillsfan]

10 hours ago, TC in St. Louis said:

He reversed the fish frying process.....first fry the wings, then coat them with a sauce, then freeze them and package them.

Thanks for the story!  I'm just curious how they are intended to be re-heated, if they are frozen while coated with sauce. 

[Kiva]

John Young made fried chicken whole wing with a bbq, pineapple sauce.  No relation to our Franks and Butter wings.  Why the history channel gave him any credit is a head scratcher, I’ll assume it’s some form of woke equity. 
 

The real original Buffalo Chicken wing was invented and perfected at the anchor bar.  

Edited March 21, 2023 by Kiva

[teef]

7 hours ago, ProcessTruster said:

It is Frank and Teressa Bellissimo , but hey you were close.  https://anchorbar.com/history/

 

Spent a fair amount of time in there in the late 70's when it was just a one room dive bar .  We were Bryant & Stratton (across Main St. on North) students and that was our afternoon beer spot.   It is unrecognizable now with all the add on spaces .. not sure if the original barroom is even there any more.  Thanks for the OP.   That was a time back then. 

 

i lived on the corner of deleware and north in the early 2000s.  we would go there on occasion because it was close, but by that time it was always crowded and the food was rather meh.

[Bruffalo]

11 minutes ago, Kiva said:

The real original Buffalo Chicken wing was invented and perfected at the anchor bar.  

 

They certainly don't have them perfect anymore.  The Anchor bar is terrible.   

[Kiva]

19 minutes ago, Bruffalo said:

 

They certainly don't have them perfect anymore.  The Anchor bar is terrible.   

They sold out several years ago. Bar Bill picked up the slack.