It's the most divisive dinner-table argument in Western New York — is Anchor Bar coasting on tourist fame while Duff's does the real work, or is the original always the original?
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Add your commentHot take: the real Buffalo wing debate isn't Anchor Bar vs. Duff's, it's blue cheese vs. ranch — and if you say ranch I need you to know you are wrong in a legal sense.
Duff's. Not even close. I've lived on the East Side my whole life and I genuinely cannot remember the last time someone from Buffalo actually chose Anchor Bar for a regular Tuesday night. That place is for people who fly in from Ohio and want to say they did it. Duff's is where we actually eat.
Can someone please correct the person above me saying Anchor Bar invented wings? It was Teressa Bellissimo in 1964, yes, but the RECIPE has changed multiple times since the family sold the brand. What you're eating at Anchor Bar today is not what Frank and Teressa made. So the "original" argument is basically a ship-of-Theseus situation at this point.
I took my parents to Anchor Bar when they visited from Phoenix and they thought it was great so I guess if your benchmark is impressing people from Phoenix then sure, Anchor Bar wins.
Born and raised in Cheektowaga, went to Anchor Bar for my birthday every single year until I was maybe 13 because my grandma insisted. When I finally had Duff's at 16 I felt like I had been lied to my entire childhood. Grandma and I have never fully discussed it.
I moved here from Portland two years ago specifically chasing a job at Roswell and the first thing my coworkers did was take me to Duff's on Sheridan. Medium sauce, blue cheese, celery. I nearly cried. I have been back 31 times. I counted. Anchor Bar was fine but it felt like eating at an airport version of itself.
Duff's medium is the single greatest food item produced in the state of New York. I will die on this hill. I have in fact already told my wife I want Duff's catered at my funeral and she did not seem surprised.
I challenge anyone in this thread to tell me they've eaten Anchor Bar medium in the last year and genuinely preferred it to Duff's medium without lying to themselves. Go ahead. I'll wait right here.
Unpopular opinion maybe but neither? Elmo's on Chippewa used to absolutely smoke both of them before it closed and I will never fully recover from that loss. These two places have been coasting off a 60-year argument while the real gems come and go.
the tourism argument is so tired. anchor bar brings millions of dollars into buffalo every year. you want to talk about what this city "deserves" — it deserves the recognition. maybe show a little appreciation for the thing that put us on the map before you go back to your duffs order
okay real talk — anchor bar INVENTED the wing. like literally invented it. you dont get to just dismiss that because the sauce isnt as spicy anymore or whatever. thats like saying the wright brothers werent real pilots. the original is the original, full stop
Duff's suace is way too greasy for me personally. I know that's heresy in this city but I said what I said. The ratio of butter to cayenne is just off and my stomach is not 22 years old anymore.
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