There are a number of legends about how Buffalo Wings came to be, but among all of the variations, we at Franks For The Memories acknowledge Teressa Bellisimo and the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY as the originators. The story below is actaul text taken from the Anchor Bar's own website on how things came to be.
"On a Friday night in 1964, Dominic Bellissimo was tending bar at the now famous Anchor Bar Restaurant in Buffalo, NY. Late that evening, a group of Dominic's friends arrived at the bar with ravenous appetites. Dominic asked his mother, Teressa, to prepare something for his friends to eat. They looked like chicken wings, a part of the chicken that usually went into the stock pot for soup.
Teressa had deep fried the wings and flavored them with a secret sauce. The wings were an instant hit and it didn't take long for people to flock to the bar to experience this new taste sensation. From that evening on, Buffalo Wings became a regular part of the menu at the Anchor Bar.
The phenomenon created in 1964 by Teressa Bellissimo has spread across the globe. Although many have tried to duplicate Buffalo Wings, the closely guarded secret recipe is what makes Frank and Teressa's the proclaimed "Best Wings in the World."
Although we do acknowlegde this as the true story, there are other variations of the story, even variations involving the Anchor Bar itself. Here are some other versions that are listed on WIKIPEDIA - the Free Web Encyclopedia.
One story is that Buffalo wings were first prepared at the Anchor Bar, located at 1047 Main Street (between North Street and Best Street) in Buffalo, New York on October 3, 1964, co-owner of the Anchor Bar with his partner Frank. Upon the unannounced late-night arrival of his son, Dominic (and several of his friends from college), he needed a fast and easy snack to present to his hungry guests. It was then that he came up with the idea of deep frying chicken wings (normally thrown away or reserved for stock) and tossing them in cayenne hot sauce.
A second version as told by Dominic Bellisimo (Frank and Teressa's son) to "The New Yorker" reporter Calvin Trillin in 1980 stated: "It was Friday night in the bar and since people were buying a lot of drinks he wanted to do something nice for them at midnight when the mostly Catholic patrons would be able to eat meat again." He stated that it was his mother, Teressa, who came up with the idea of chicken wings.
The third version of the origin involved a mis-delivery of wings instead of backs and necks for making the bar's spaghetti sauce. Faced with this unexpected resource, Frank Bellisimo says he asked Teressa to do something with them.
The fourth version has nothing to do with the Bellisimo's or the Anchor Bar. Calvin Trillin stated in his 1980 "New Yorker" article that a man named John Young also claimed credit for serving chicken wings in a special "mambo sauce." Chicken wings in mambo sauce became the specialty at his Buffalo restaurant in the mid-sixties. Young had registered the name of his restaurant, John Young's Wings 'n Things, at the county courthouse before leaving Buffalo in 1970.
Buffalo wings are also used in competitive eating events, such as our annual Franks For The Memories Wing Sling.
