The Origins of Buffalo Wings

They Don't Come From Where You Think

In my travels around the country, I have heard the question of buffalo wing origination uttered by patrons of various gustatory establishments.  It’s an interesting question, and one that seems quite legitimate.  After all, Buffaloes do not fly, and to my knowledge, have never been adorned with anything that might afford them the opportunity of winged flight.  And that tasty little morsel is much too small to have come from a half ton buffalo even if they were capable of flight. So why?  Why Buffalo wings?

The answer is as simple as the answer to the question, Where do Philly cheese steaks come from?  After all, cheese steaks do not grow on horses.  Nor do any of the phillies I’ve watched circle a quarter mile track ever seem to be sprouting anything resembling cheese.  This is, of course, a silly illustration.  We all know that those cheese steaks do not come from female horses; they come from the city of Philadelphia.  

And therein lies your answer.  Those spicy little appetizers known as Buffalo wings originated in the city of Buffalo, New York.  They do not refer to the great animal, more properly known as the bison, at all.  And there is, of course, a story behind the Buffalo wing’s humble beginnings.

Buffalo wings, called simply chicken wings or more commonly wings in the Buffalo area (as Philly cheese steaks are called simply cheese steaks in Philadelphia), were created at a local bar and restaurant in downtown Buffalo, called The Anchor Bar.  As legend has it, it was late on a Friday night in 1964 when Teressa Bellissimo, the owner of the Anchor Bar with her husband, Frank, was asked by her son, the bar tender, to whip up something for his friends to eat. Teressa deep fried some chicken wings, a part of the bird usually thrown out or used for soup stock, and coated them with her “secret” sauce.