Quick Answer
Where did buffalo sauce come from and how did it become so popular?Buffalo sauce was created in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York by Teressa Bellissimo. The origin story: she deep-fried chicken wing sections (usually used for stock) and tossed them in a mixture of Frank's RedHot and butter, serving them as a late-night snack. The sauce's key ingredient, Frank's RedHot, had existed since 1920. What was new was the pairing with fried wings and the specific hot sauce + butter emulsion. Buffalo sauce spread nationally through chain restaurants (Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters) in the 1980s, became a Super Bowl staple in the 1990s, and is now one of the most recognized flavor profiles in American food.
The 1964 Origin at the Anchor Bar
The story of buffalo sauce begins on a Friday night in 1964 at the Anchor Bar at 1047 Main Street in Buffalo, New York. The establishment, owned by Frank and Teressa Bellissimo, received a mistaken delivery of chicken wings — parts normally reserved for making stock and not typically served as a main course item.
Multiple versions of the origin story exist, and the Bellissimo family has told slightly different accounts over the years:
- The delivery accident version: A large shipment of chicken wings arrived instead of a different cut. Teressa, looking for something to do with them, deep-fried the wings and developed the sauce.
- The late-night snack version: Her son Dominic and his friends arrived late asking for food; Teressa fried the wings and developed the sauce for them on the spot.
- The Catholic Friday version: Frank Bellissimo has described the motivation as a Friday meatless option — though wing sections do contain meat, they were considered a lesser cut.
All versions agree on the core facts: Teressa Bellissimo created the dish in 1964, the sauce was Frank's RedHot plus butter (or margarine in some early accounts), and the wings were served with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.
💡 Frank's RedHot Was Already Established
Frank's RedHot was not invented for buffalo wings — it had been manufactured since 1920 by the Adams Extract Company in Louisiana. The sauce was a regional Louisiana-style hot sauce well before 1964. Teressa Bellissimo's innovation was the specific application: emulsifying Frank's with butter and applying it to fried chicken wings. This is the culinary concept that created buffalo sauce; Frank's was the raw ingredient.
Early Years: Regional Phenomenon (1964–1980)
For its first 15 years, the buffalo wing remained a largely local phenomenon. Buffalo, New York had a unique combination of factors that allowed it to thrive:
- Strong bar culture: Buffalo in the 1960s–1970s had a robust neighborhood bar culture, amplified by the steel and manufacturing industries that filled the city with shift workers who patronized bars. Wings were inexpensive, filling, and perfect bar food.
- Multiple establishments developing their own versions: The Anchor Bar's success inspired other Buffalo bars and restaurants to develop their own wings. Duff's Famous Wings, founded in 1969, became the primary competition and remains a Buffalo institution. This local competition refined the dish.
- Word of mouth from visitors and sports coverage: Buffalo Bills football games brought visitors to the city; regional media coverage of the Bills' seasons also covered local food culture. Wings appeared in regional newspaper food sections throughout the 1970s.
The sauce formula itself was proprietary but openly known in structure — Frank's plus butter. The magic was in the specific ratio and technique, which establishments guarded as trade secrets.
National Expansion: The 1980s–1990s
Two events in the early 1980s began the national spread of buffalo wings and buffalo sauce:
- 1980: New York Times feature: The paper of record published a feature on buffalo wings, introducing the concept to a national audience of food-conscious readers. This was the first major national media coverage and generated significant curiosity about the dish outside Western New York.
- 1982: Buffalo Wild Wings founded: James Disbrow and Scott Lowery open the first Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck (later shortened to B-Dubs, then officially Buffalo Wild Wings) in Columbus, Ohio. The chain grew rapidly through the 1980s and began systematizing the buffalo wing experience for national audiences.
- 1983: Hooters founded: Opened in Clearwater, Florida, with buffalo wings as a menu cornerstone. Grew rapidly to dozens of locations by 1990, each introducing buffalo wings to markets that hadn't encountered them.
By 1990, buffalo wings were available in all 50 states through chain restaurants. The sauce formula had evolved from a proprietary restaurant recipe to a commercial retail product: Frank's RedHot was available in supermarkets nationwide with recipes for buffalo sauce on the label.
| Year | Milestone | Impact on Buffalo Sauce |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Frank's RedHot created by Adams Extract Co. | The key ingredient exists |
| 1964 | Anchor Bar origin — Teressa Bellissimo | Buffalo sauce invented |
| 1969 | Duff's Famous Wings opens | Buffalo wing culture deepens in the city |
| 1980 | New York Times national feature | First national media awareness |
| 1982 | Buffalo Wild Wings founded | National chain distribution begins |
| 1992 | Frank's RedHot becomes US's best-selling hot sauce | Market validation |
| 1994 | Super Bowl wing consumption data first published | Cultural ritual established |
| 2015 | Frank's RedHot sold to McCormick for $4.2 billion | Market scale achievement |
Super Bowl and Cultural Institution: 1990s–2000s
The 1990s transformed buffalo wings from a popular food into an American cultural institution through their association with football:
- The National Chicken Council began tracking Super Bowl wing consumption in the early 1990s and began publishing annual consumption statistics
- Hundreds of millions of wings consumed each Super Bowl Sunday became an annual media story, reinforcing the association
- Super Bowl party planning guides inevitably included buffalo wings; the association became self-reinforcing
- Buffalo Wild Wings built its entire brand around the sports-watching-with-wings experience, growing to over 1,000 locations by the mid-2000s
This period also saw buffalo sauce expand beyond wings. Buffalo chicken pizza, buffalo chicken dip, buffalo chicken wraps — the sauce became an application-independent flavor profile. The concept of "buffalo flavor" transcended the specific dish that created it.
Buffalo Sauce Today
As of 2026, buffalo sauce's market position is firmly established:
- Frank's RedHot: Owned by McCormick & Company (acquired 2017 from Reckitt Benckiser, which had acquired it from Specialty Foods Group). Annual revenues in the hundreds of millions. The best-selling hot sauce brand in the United States by dollar volume.
- Buffalo Wild Wings: Now owned by Inspire Brands (parent company of Arby's, Sonic, and others). Over 1,700 locations globally as of 2024.
- Craft buffalo sauce market: A significant artisan/craft buffalo sauce segment has developed alongside the major brands, with premium options using brown butter, aged hot sauces, and regional pepper varieties.
- International recognition: "Buffalo flavor" is now understood in most developed markets, and buffalo-flavored snacks, fast food items, and restaurant dishes appear in the UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, and South Korea.
- Home cooking penetration: Buffalo sauce is one of the top home-cooked American condiment recipes searched online, with millions of home cooks making it from scratch or from Frank's RedHot.