Buffalo Wings

Anchor Bar on Buffalo's Main Street courtesy www.johnnyroadtrip.com.

The Anchor Bar is credited with inventing the chicken wing back in 1964.  However, how the wings were invented is still under dispute.  Owner Teressa Bellissimo told the story of how her college son Dominic came home one evening with his friends and wanted a late night snack.  She had nothing but wings, which were usually either thrown out or reserved for soup stock.  Teressa decided to deep fry them and add some cayenne hot sauce; she served them to her guests with celery sticks and blue cheese.

However, Teressa's husband tells the story of a mistaken delivery to the Anchor Bar of chicken wings rather than backs and necks; to make do they deep-fried them and covered them with hot sauce.  

A third explanation was put forward by their son Dominic saying that late one Friday night, the mainly Catholic crowd, who normally ate nothing but fish on Friday, was hungry and he suggested frying the wings as a midnight snack for the patrons.  

A fourth theory says that Buffalo had a blizzard (no surprise there) and the Anchor Bar owners were snowed in.  The workers could not get to work nor could deliveries get to the bar.  The Bellissimo's had to make do with what they had and so they deep fried the normally cast aside chicken wings.

While the chicken wings did become popular in Buffalo, they were not very well known across America until 1990.  That's when the Buffalo Bills went to the Super Bowl, the first of four consecutive trips.  The media profiled the famous Buffalo wings and the rest is history.  Now the wings are served at most pubs.

The last time we went to Disney World we flew out of Buffalo.  At the airport is an Anchor Bar.  My husband Rob was able to chow down on the chicken wings.  He devoured them!  So they do hold up to their reputation.

Photo courtesy wordpress.com.