What’s a real Buffalo wing like? The New York original opens in Texas near AT&T Stadium
The home of the original Buffalo wings has come to Arlington.
At least, the Anchor Bar of Buffalo, New York, claims that.
The Anchor supposedly popularized Buffalo wings 60 years ago, which was also when the Buffalo Bills won their last championship.
Now, the 90-year-old Anchor has dropped a location into the Village at Ballpark, 2150 E. Lamar Blvd. That’s north of Interstate 30, 1½ miles from AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field.
Here’s the surprise: For a chain far from home, it’s pretty good.
The wings and tenders spare no heat. They come with a choice of 13 sauces and four rubs, all atop traditional wings, white-meat “boneless wings,” full-size tenders or grilled tenders, plus cauliflower or plant-based bites.
The original Buffalo sauce, billed as medium, is plenty hot.
Anchor Bar has seven flavors that are hotter.
The menu offers more than just tenders and wings. It includes Buffalo-blue cheeseburgers, Buffalo-blue chicken pizza and even Philly-Buff-Tex cheesesteaks with Buffalo sauce and queso.
There’s also a western New York favorite, the “beef on weck.” It’s a roast beef sandwich with au jus on house-baked kummelweck, a German bread.
The Anchor Bar in Buffalo claims to have originated Buffalo wings on March 4, 1964, when the Bellisimo family fashioned them from discarded chicken parts as a late-night snack for a son and friends.
But another restaurateur, John Young, had been serving them at his Wings & Things restaurant in the Black business district as early as 1960, his family has said. Several Buffalo restaurants had advertised “barbecued” wings.
The founder of national competitor Duff’s Famous Wings, Ron Duff, has said he dined at Young’s before Anchor Bar contends it first served wings. Duff’s operates a North Texas location at 2787 E. Southlake Blvd., Southlake.
At the Anchor Bar one midday during opening week, north Arlington had yet to get in touch with Buffalo culture. The sports bar side, lined with giant TVs, wasn’t busy.
Yet a lunch of green-chile Gouda mac-and-cheese with Buffalo chicken bites came out perfect. Chicken tenders were a generous size.
Advice: Upgrade the side dish from fries to tater tots, onion rings, mac-and-cheese or sweet-potato fries.
There are chocolate desserts and apple pie, if you need something to counter the spice.
Anchor Bar is open for lunch and dinner daily; 682-248-3937, anchorbar.com.
This story was originally published September 23, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
