


The pub, set several feet below ground and clad in dark wood – bears a striking resemblance to the set of Cheers, the kind of place “where everybody knows your name” or will soon enough. Upon entering the Lenox Grill, you might expect to see Ted Danson tending bar. Original recipe from all those years ago. While the Main Street location serves several varieties of wings, it’s the medium that are the closest interpretation to Teressa’s With roots dating back to 1935, the Anchor Bar has grown to a dozen locations and sells its signature sauce in almost 3,000 supermarkets and as far away as Kyoto, Japan.

The Anchor Bar subsequently became a mecca for wing lovers, evidenced by over 500 license plates hanging on the barroom walls from every state, Canadian provinces and most of Western Europe. Dominic’s mother – owner Teressa Bellissimo – took the chicken wings originally intended for a soup, fried them, tossed them in hot sauce and served them. This very spot changed the course of American food history in 1964, when the hungry friends of Dominic Bellissimo, who was tending bar at the time, arrived looking for a late-night snack. Making a pilgrimage to the birthplace of the chicken wing? Do yourself a favor: Instead of entering the Anchor Bar from the parking lot, walk around the corner to the Main Street entrance, stop at the original wooden bar, and pause. The simple interior of the bar features late 1990s Sabres jerseys, a tribute to the days when the team used to chow down here after practice. Over a half-dozen double-dip options are available the “BBQ hot” is a fusion of tang and heat, while the “Cajun honey mustard” is both sweet and spicy, with the char-grilled smokiness rounding out the flavor profile. The result is a wing bursting with a combination of flavors unlike anywhere else on the trail. Now, most wing orders are grilled, and nearly half are “double-dipped:” fried, tossed in sauce, grilled, doused in a different sauce, and served. Elmo’s has been honing its wing game since owner Adrian Meredith took over in the early 1990s, developing a from-scratch Cajun sauce that was unprecedented in Buffalo and heavily incorporating grilling into its process. Elmo’s Bar & Restaurant is a no-frills bar located in a strip mall off a four-lane highway that serves up some of the most unique – and tasty – wings in Buffalo.
