Memorable | One of the Best
Anchor Bar: Tasty Tangy Wings
Review by: Stephen Rushmore Jr.
According to the Anchor Bar owners, they accidentally invented the Buffalo chicken wing while making chicken stock in 1964. The rest is history.
What to eat at Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY
The key to the tastiest chicken wings you can find anywhere is the cooking process and the sauce. Contrary to how most restaurants prepare the wings-– at the Anchor Bar they are fried– NOT baked. This makes the skin have a crunchy outer shell and the meat on the bone moist and tender. The sauce is tangy with a slight hint of vinegar and spice. I prefer to order the wings medium-hot to hot, but other levels of heat include mild, medium, BBQ and if you are feeling brave–“Suicidal.”
It’s easy to pinpoint the locals dining by what’s on their table. They order beef on weck or a wings portion three times the size of a casual wing eater. During my last visit I encountered a couple splitting a portion of 50 wings and a pitcher of beer for lunch!
If you are not planning a trip to Buffalo anytime soon, the Anchor Bar’s website offers wings shipped to your home. With proper preparation (read: deep fry and Anchor Bar sauce) they are nearly as good as eating them at the restaurant.
Don’t these look GOOOOOD???
Directions & Hours
Information
| Price | $$ |
| Seasons | All |
| Meals Served | Lunch |
| Credit Cards Accepted | Yes |
| Alcohol Served | Yes |
| Outdoor Seating | No |
What To Eat
Anchor Bar: Tasty Tangy Wings Recipes
Discuss
What do you think of Anchor Bar: Tasty Tangy Wings?
4 Responses to “Anchor Bar: Tasty Tangy Wings”
Bill Altreuter
December 4th, 2023
Although The Anchor is iconic it is not the place where anyone from Buffalo would recommend for wings.
Kaarina
December 5th, 2023
Hey Bill- Where would you go for wings in Buffalo?
byron coley
April 14th, 2014
Although many people seem to have decried its fare over the last few years, our experience with wings at the Anchor Bar continues to be first rate. The place is about a six hour drive west from our house, so when we’re driving in that direction, we often get an early start and make it our lunch stop. We’ve tried (and will continue to sample) other commended Buffalo-area eateries for wings, but Anchor Bar’s remain the standard. There’s nothing quite like getting there around 11:30 AM and sitting down at the mostly-still-empty bar with and order of hot wings, a dinner salad (uninspired, but it’s more a balm for the conscience than anything else) and a cool beverage. Some of the other spots we’ve hit have more meaty wings, but the crunchy skin of the Anchor Bar’s offerings remains king, and the blue cheese dressing they serve with the celery is chewy and chunky — just right. The place is touristy as all get-out, but if you avoid the busy hours it is definitely worth a visit. The wings are truly fine.
Bill Altreuter
November 12th, 2011
There was a time, not long ago, when the Anchor Bar’s wings were the nonpareil. That time has come and gone. First off, it is necessary to state that you cannot get the real chicken wing experience more than thirty miles out of Buffalo. Sorry Rochester, too bad Batavia. Other places serve wings, but they are never quite right.
They aren’t quite right at the Anchor these days either. Sometimes they are burned, sometimes underdone, nearly always indifferently prepared. More than once lately I’ve taken someone from out of town there and found that the wings had the slightly off taste associated with cooking oil that had been over-heated.
There are lots of places with a superior chicken wing in a radius of a couple of miles: try Gabriel’s Gate, or Coles (best taps in town). Most people in these parts will tell you Duffs is the best, and I can’t say it isn’t. That’s where President Obama stopped off last time he was in town, so it has it’s own piece of history.