The Mistake That (Maybe) Gave The World Buffalo Wings
Buffalo wings. They're a fixture on sports bar menus across the country, thanks to their eminently snackable combination of grease and heat. Yet, intriguingly for something so popular, their creation may have been the result of a delivery mistake. (Although the exact history of Buffalo wings is debated.)
What's for certain is that the idea of deep frying chicken wings, coating them in a buttery, vinegary hot sauce, and serving them with blue cheese dressing (and sometimes, raw celery and carrots) dates to the 1960s in Buffalo, New York — hence the name. A watering hole named the Anchor Bar is often credited with their creation, and specifically, one of its family owners, Teressa Bellissimo. The story is that in 1964, the bar mistakenly received a delivery of chicken wings that should have been necks or other parts that were to be used in a spaghetti sauce. At the time, deep-fried wings weren't really a thing. Wings were pretty unpopular and mostly used in things like stocks. Unwilling to take that route, Bellissimo fried them up and slathered them in sauce, and boom — Buffalo wings were born. However, there are some unanswered questions in this story. For example, it's not clear why Bellissimo decided to snap the wings in half or why specific ingredients like hot sauce were used, but the idea that they were a happy mistake is nonetheless a common Buffalo wings origin tale.
Another version of the Anchor Bar story
There's another version of the Anchor Bar story out there. The idea that Buffalo wings resulted from a mistake came from Teressa Bellissimo's husband, Frank, but their son, Dominic, has a different take. He agrees that Teressa devised the idea, but the context was different. Dominic was bartending late at night and had friends who wanted a snack. So, Teressa improvised with wings, hot sauce, and blue cheese, and Buffalo wings were the result. In this story, it's a little clearer why these specific ingredients were used. It was late at night, and Teressa was just working with whatever was on hand. In this version, the chicken wings weren't an accidental delivery; They were just leftovers. Again, since chicken wings were unpopular at the time, they weren't really eaten on their own as a snack.
Regardless of which story is correct, Buffalo wings still weren't a massive hit immediately. It wasn't until the '70s that many other bars in Buffalo started serving a version of the dish. In the '80s, they started to take off around the country, becoming the sports bar staple they are now.
An alternate origin story for Buffalo wings
Another possible origin story for Buffalo wings suggests that they may have emerged from a bar in Buffalo's Black community. This story credits restaurant owner John Young at a place called Wings 'n Things, located about a mile away from Anchor Bar. Young's daughter has suggested he was selling fried wings at multiple restaurants before 1964, the year that Anchor Bar reportedly made the first Buffalo wing.
The wings Young served were a little different from what are considered Buffalo wings now. They were breaded, and Young used a dressing called "Mumbo sauce," which featured the familiar hot sauce but also ketchup and sugar. These differences are likely why Young has not received as much credit as the creator of Buffalo wings. While they're not wildly different, the Anchor Bar recipe is far closer to the version of Buffalo wings you'll find nowadays.
No matter which story is true, the idea of frying up wings didn't appear in a vacuum. For one, fried chicken has a history that goes back much earlier than the '60s. Fried wings were likely served in Chicago during the Prohibition era (the Mumbo sauce on Young's wings is also thought to originate there), so chances are, there's some truth to all of these stories.