Did you know the bar that invented the Buffalo wing has a location in Maryland? Anchor Bar, the originator of the iconic dish, opened its Frederick location at 5605 Spectrum Drive in 2019. It opened a second area location at 1610 Village Market Blvd. in Leesburg, Virginia in 2023. Today, Anchor Bar boasts over 50 franchises across the United States.
Curious about how Buffalo wings got their start? According to Anchor Bar, the story began on a Friday night in 1964 when Dominic Bellissimo was tending bar at the original Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York. Late that evening, a group of his friends came in hungry, and Dominic asked his mother, Teressa, to whip up something for them. She deep-fried a batch of chicken wings—typically reserved for soup stock—and tossed them in a flavorful, secret sauce. The result was an instant hit.
From that night forward, Buffalo wings became a permanent fixture on the menu and sparked a global phenomenon. While many have tried to replicate them, Anchor Bar credits its closely guarded recipe for earning the title of the “Best Wings in the World.”