How Did Buffalo Flavoring Get Its Name?

Home of the original chicken wing

When it comes to the history of Buffalo flavoring and hot wings, there are no doubt a few tales and different recollections about who made the discovery of the original Buffalo hot wings. The name itself has nothing to do with actual buffalo or bison, but instead, the credit goes to a small family-owned restaurant called Anchor Bar located in Buffalo, New York. It is known as the original place this tasty snack was first served.

Frank and Teressa Bellissimo bought the bar in 1939. It is still operating today and is known as the "Home of the original chicken wing." The story has been recounted many times over the years by Frank himself, that the invention of the Buffalo hot chicken wings happened all due to a mistake.

Here's how the story goes

The story goes that sometime in 1964 Frank and Teressa received a large delivery of chicken wings instead of the backs and necks they were expecting. Rather than letting them go to waste, Frank’s wife Teressa decided to find a way to use up all those excess chicken wings. She experimented in the kitchen and ended up broiling the wings and then smothering them in a special spicy hot sauce that she made from scratch. She then served the spicy chicken wings up with a side of celery and bleu cheese dressing.

Dominic, son of Frank and Teressa also presented the idea of serving the wings to their mostly Catholic customers after midnight on a busy Friday evening. At the time, many Catholics had a tradition of only eating fish and vegetables on Fridays, so bringing out this new tasty dish at midnight seemed like an excellent idea.

Whatever prompted Teressa to cook up these wings, the fact is they became an instant hit. Soon the buffalo wings were a part of the Anchor Bar menu and were popular with their customers in Buffalo, New York. Now over a half a century later they are a staple in many restaurants across the country.

And there is football

The biggest push, though, came after the Buffalo Bills football team made it to the Super Bowl in four consecutive seasons from 1990 - 1993. During those years, the media outlets covering the team and city featured local highlights and food, and of course, they featured the spicy chicken known as Buffalo Wings. After that, the chicken wings phenomena began, and football fans started making hot spicy chicken wings a traditional snack to eat while watching football.

Did you know this?

The original buffalo wing sauce contains melted butter, hot sauce, and cayenne pepper. The celery and bleu cheese first served with the wings at the Anchor Bar were meant to balance the heat of the sauce.

The term “buffalo” is now attached to other food items that are seasoned with the hot sauce first used on the "original" chicken wings.

At Salmon Brokers, we have taken the flavoring first invented by Frank and Teressa and made it part of our Buffalo Salmon Burger. The Buffalo Salmon Burger has that traditional buffalo flavoring to give it the right taste and delight to your palate.