Buffalo Wild Wings Seeking Liquor License Transfer for Downtown State College Location

Seven years after scrapping plans for a location in Ferguson Township, Buffalo Wild Wings may finally be coming to the Centre Region.

The national restaurant chain has applied for a liquor license transfer to The Maxxen building, 131 Hiester Street in downtown State College, according to the agenda for Monday's borough council work session. The liquor license would be acquired and transferred from the former Don Patron Mexican Grill, which closed its restaurant at 1653 N. Atherton St. in Patton Township in 2017 and has held the license in safekeeping.

Buffalo Wild Wings public relations did not immediately respond to a request for comment and a commercial leasing agent for The Maxxen could not be reached on Friday.

The restaurant and sports bar franchise previously submitted plans in 2015 for a 5,440-square-foot location 1308 N. Atherton St., near the intersection with Blue Course Drive in Ferguson Township. After multiple deadline extensions, however, the plans were withdrawn in 2017 .

Several engineering issues, which the township's planning director at the time described as "not insurmountable," were identified in the plans, including required traffic improvements.

At The Maxxen, Buffalo Wild Wings would join El Jefe’s Taqueria, Mezeh Mediterranean Grill and Tropical Smoothie Cafe, which is expected to open this fall.

Borough council is scheduled to discuss the liquor license transfer on Monday and will hold a public hearing on Aug. 5.

When the Pennsylvania Liquor Code was amended in 2002 to allow intermunicipal transfers within a county, it included a requirement for the receiving municipality’s approval when it has more than one liquor license per 3,000 population. While State College’s numbers have fluctuated, it has always been above the quota during that time.

The borough can place restrictions on a transferred license, and has typically done so — though they have varied from case to case and involved extended debate..

In the most recent instance for a restaurant comparable to Buffalo Wild Wings, Brothers Bar & Grill , 134 S. Allen St., was required to have a "food stipulation" guaranteeing that the size and scope of its menu would not change. The measure is meant to ensure the restaurant would not over time transform into a nighttime bar geared only toward college students.

The last liquor license transfer into the borough was approved in May 2023 for Figo Italian restaurant , which has yet to open in The Standard, 330 W. College Ave. For that transfer, council added a requirement that no more than 40% of the restaurant's revenue could come from alcohol sales.

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