Legendary Buffalo Wings at Anchor Bar

Eating Buffalo Wings at Anchor Bar is a must for food travelers. But do the legendary wings live up to their hype?

Buffalo Wings at Anchor BarPhoto by2foodtrippers

Ask any Buffalonian for a wings recommendation and you likely won't hear Anchor Bar.

In fact, just the mention of the wing pioneer brings vehement opinions from locals who feel that the historic bar's days have long passed. While we empathize with that thinking in light of the restaurant's foray into franchising, we decided that a visit to the historic spot was a must so that we could make our own opinions.

Have the wings changed over the years? Were the wings served in the sixties the same super spicy product that's now served at sports bars across America? We really don't know. After all, we weren't alive in 1964 when Anchor Bar started slathering wings with hot sauce.

For us, the opportunity to saddle up to Anchor Bar's historic wooden watering hole and order wings was special. But what did we think about the wings?

Anchor's Buffalo-style wings, while not exceedingly spicy, have excellent flavor and their award-winning, untraditional habanero ranch wings, are succulent, crispy and explodingly juicy. In other words, we liked them.

We're not alone with our Anchor Bar appreciation. The restaurant has earned numerous accolades over the years including a coveted James Beard award in 2003. The Buffalo Wings joint even made its way into a 2019 episode of The Simpsons - not too shabby for an operation that's been slinging wings for more than a half century.

Inside Anchor Bar

Tourists come in droves to chow down at the bar where the Bellissimo family first fried wings and coated them with hot sauce in 1964. We get their motivation. It's fun to let the imagination wander as you sit at the very seat where the bar's first wings were eaten.

Though spacious dining rooms were added later, those rooms are fun too. Their walls are covered with 350+ license plates plus bikes, trophies and other memorabilia.

Were these really the first wings ever served at an American bar? Certainly not. Were they the first wings served at a bar in Buffalo? Nope. But they're a cornerstone to understanding the origins of something that's become a ubiquitous bar food. And they taste good too.

Pro Tip: You can bottles of hot sauce, t-shirts and other branded items at Anchor Bar's on-site gift shop.

Buffalo Wings and More at Anchor Bar

Anchor Bar's expansive menu features more than just wings. Its spicy 'buffalo wing style meets diner cream of chicken' soup pairs nicely with a pint of local beer as do its burgers, pizza and other bar foods.

However, don't get distracted and skip the wings. We enjoyed ours so much that we later created a baked Buffalo Wings version to eat at home. And, while you can now find Buffalo Wings at bars around the world, there's nothing better than eating them in Buffalo.

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