by Snowflake

Created on: February 15, 2007   Last Updated: March 13, 2009

The internationally famous Buffalo Chicken Wings, referred to simply as "wings" or "chicken wings" by true Buffalonians, originated in Buffalo, NY at the Anchor Bar in 1964. Buffalo is an American city in Western New York State, located at the eastern end of Lake Erie. Buffalo is the second largest city in New York State, after New York City.

The Anchor Bar is a favorite stop for many celebrities and visitors to the city. Hillary Clinton had wings from the Anchor Bar delivered to her while she was in Buffalo; sports figures from opposing athletic teams visiting Buffalo and celebrities such as actor John Candy, Kenny Rogers, Bob Seger, members of Glen Miller's Band, and countless other musicians, band members and political figures visit the Anchor Bar whenever they are in town.

The walls of the Anchor Bar are decorated with license plates of visitors from all over the world who have visited, along with many awards, celebrity photos, articles, and comic strips about "Buffalo Wings" that have been published in various national newspapers.

The Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY is the undisputed "home" of the Buffalo Chicken Wing, where the now famous appetizer was first created on October 30, 1964 by the restaurant co-owner Teressa Bellisimo. Up until that date, chicken wings, which are the wing sections referred to as flats and drums, were considered to be scraps; they were only used to make soup stock.

On that night, Teressa Bellisimo and her husband Frank were working in the kitchen at their restaurant and their son Dominic was tending bar. A group of Dominic's friends came into the bar after the kitchen had closed, and Dominic asked his mother to prepare something for his friends to eat.

Teressa decided to fry up the excess of chicken wings that she had on hand. She smothered them in a buttery hot sauce which she created, and served them with the bar's house dressing, which happened to be bleu cheese dressing, to cut the spice of the hot sauce. She added celery sticks to the platters of fried wings as a garnish and to dip into the dressing.

Although the crowd was a bit hesitant when they saw the wings, the aroma was captivating and the new creation was an instant hit. From that point on, Chicken Wings were a regular menu item at the Anchor Bar. Wings became a new eating sensation in no time at all, and people flocked to the Anchor Bar to experience them. Today, the Anchor Bar serves over 70 thousand pounds of wings every month.

The original chicken wings created at the Anchor

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