The Quest for the Greatest Chicken Wings Ever.

It was the morning of January 25th and my tour bus was en route to Buffalo, NY.
It may have only been 8am, but chicken wings were the only thing on my mind.

I had seen plenty of Food Network shows over the years featuring both Anchor Bar and Duff's chicken wings. Buffalo seemed to be a city divided. Some people would jump in front of a moving bus for Anchor Bar wings, while others said those couldn't hold a candle to Duff's. I had to find out for myself.

Anchor Bar

Anchor Bar claims to be home of the first chicken wing, created by owner Teressa Bellisimo in 1964. There are a few story versions of how it happened, but they all point to Anchor being the originators.  (except for one, which says that a man named John Young developed a "Mambo Sauce" and put it on a type of chicken wing. They were prepared in a different way than Teressa's, uncut with the sauce poured on top, not tossed, but there is no real proof that John was first.)


ANYWAY, on to Duff's, which opened in 1946. Owner Louise Duffney served up Duff's first batch of wings in 1969 and they were quickly a hit, selling about 20lbs a week.
Duff's quickly gained a reputation for having the best wings in Buffalo. (Thank you google)

I had high hopes of trying them both, but only being in Buffalo for one evening (and also performing a show) that dream wasn't gonna happen.
Transportation can be tricky while on tour. The cast travels on a bus, so we don't really have the luxury of jumping in our cars and driving wherever we please.
I googled directions for each place and ran into a problem. Anchor Bar was within walking distance of our hotel, but would be closed by time we got done with our show. Duff's was open late but was a 15 minute drive from the hotel.

I realized that I might be leaving Buffalo without trying some legendary wings!
Luckily, that didn't happen because my friend Sunny saved the day!
She happened to be in Buffalo watching our show because her brother Greg is in the cast.
Sunny happily piled 5 of us into her car and we were on our way to Duff's!


I'll spare you details of the restaurant itself...let's get onto the food!


For traditional sauces, they had Mild, Mild-Medium, Medium, Medium-Hot, Hot, Superhot, Death, and Armageddon.
They also had other sauces including Honey Garlic and a variety of BBQ sauces, and i'm sure they're fantastic, but as a first timer I was going with the original stuff.

10 piece medium wings with perfectly crisp veggies!

Our server (and the menu) warned us that Medium wings were HOT, Medium-hot were VERY HOT, and Hot were VERY VERY HOT... Armageddon wings...yeah, probably not a wise choice (unless you're into pooping out fireballs)



I decided on the Medium wings, and for me, that was the perfect decision. I'd say they were at least as spicy as other restaurants medium-hot, or hot sauces. It was the perfect amount of kick for me. My mouth/lips were burning a bit after having the first wing, but the creamy bleu cheese was a delicious help.
I do like my wings with some heat though, so I was happy. :)


The wings themselves were an average size and pretty drenched in their amazing sauce (but without a messy puddle of sauce on the plate!) but somehow still maintained their crispiness. I don't know how you do it Duff's, but bravo.
I also ordered a side of fries, which was massive! You can kind of see them in the next picture, but it does them no justice. They came out in a wooden bowl, piping hot, with the perfect mix of potato and crispiness.

Mission accomplished!

We all stuffed our faces and everyone was happy. Great service and a chill atmosphere...the night was a success!
In retrospect I should have bought a T-shirt, (Yeah, i'm one of those) but these pictures serve as a fantastic memory.

The aftermath!

Now it was time for a crammed car ride back through the freshly fallen snow to our hotel...for dessert of course! 

Sunny got us there safe and sound...aside from being an awesome driver, she is also an amazing baker. She makes the most delicious pie's i've ever had. She brought us a chocolate peanut butter pie. It was topped with mini Reeses cups and had an oreo crust. It was the kind of pie that makes you want to cry...in that good way. 

You can see more of Sunny's awesome creations and even get recipes on her blog For Your Pies Only

*End Shameless Plug* :)

                                                            Final Thoughts 

I really couldn't have asked for more from my Duff's experience. (except maybe for extra wings to-go)

I've eaten a lot of wings so far in my life, and in my humble opinion, I'll have to say that these were #1.

I left the restaurant with a full belly and a big smile. I look forward to returning to Buffalo some time to try out the wings at Anchor Bar, as I'm sure they are also delicious. Let's just say it's a good thing I don't live up there because i'd be eating wings wayyy too often!

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!