We had to go past Buffalo to return to NJ anyway, which was reason enough to stop off for lunch in Buffalo. With Elvin & his Food Network obsession, he convinced me it was a good idea to go into Buffalo for buffalo wings. And what a brilliant idea this was.

I love buffalo wings, but had no idea it actually meant chicken wings that were invented in Buffalo, NY. I had always thought it was just some random name. Don’t know why, as Yorkshire puddings were invented in Yorkshire and Bakewell Tart were invented in Bakewell ect ect. I guess the name buffalo just seemed so – generic.

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And Anchor Bar was where it all began. One night back in the 60s, Teressa Bellissimmo went into her kitchen at the bar to cook something up for her son and his friends who had popped over after closing time. She fried up some chicken wings (which at that time was only kept to make stock) , and slathered them with a sweet, sticky and spicy sauce and a bleu cheese dip – and the rest is history.

The Anchor Bar is located at a generic-looking suburban strip. Considering it was a weekday, it was pretty packed inside.

We ordered the 50 wings platter between the both of us much to the amusement of the waitress. We had a half-and-half of the original and spicy bbq wings. No, we didn’t finish it all, I had the foresight to take the rest away for Elvin . It is not cheap, and obviously the more you order the cheaper it becomes, but even at a platter of 50 wings this cost us $37 for the platter, making it just under $1 per wing.

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No fuss presentation, a metal platter with chicken wings, bleu cheese sauce and celery sticks.

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It was crispy, sweet, sticky and tender all at the same time.

My verdict? Absolutely delicious. The tender chicken meat contrasts beautifully with the crispy coated skin and the sticky-sweet sauce. Every bite crunched into the thick crispy batter before sinking into tender juicy chicken meat. Bacon was annoyed, as he would not be able to enjoy buffalo wings in the same way again after having been to the original one. I cannot decide between the original medium version or the spicy bbq version. They are both equally good in their own way, dipped in a pot of bleu cheese. Yums.

Bacon sucking on his chicken bones.

I know we were hungry, but seriously, it looks like we’ve eaten more than 1/2 of the 50 wings!

As with most things, its better eaten fresh. Elvin wasn’t very impressed with the takeaway – by that time the crunch had already been lost and the whirl in the microwave did not help the tenderness of the chicken meat. However, we continued to have it for breakfast for the next few days, so obsessed we were.

I would most definately recommend a visit to Anchor Bar if you were ever in the area. Truly an experience for the tastebuds – and this is what travelling is to me. Some people travel to shop, some people travel to relax, I travel to eat. Well, I do other stuff as well, but I believe that when you travel, you need to go native and not settle for the obvious cacaphony of fast food outlets. And Anchor Bar is truly something special. Probably as good as my experience in the hotel in Mexico where Caesar Salad was invented; but thats another story for another time .

(yes, I love visitng places where famous dishes are invented )

The Anchor Bar
1047 Main St
Buffalo, NY 14209

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