Quick Answer
Why is it called buffalo sauce — is it named after the animal?Buffalo sauce is named after Buffalo, New York — the city where the dish was created in 1964 at the Anchor Bar, not after the American bison (commonly called 'buffalo'). The dish was originally called 'Buffalo wings' — chicken wings prepared in the style of Buffalo, NY. The sauce became 'buffalo sauce' as a shorthand reference to the flavor profile from that dish. This follows a well-established American food naming tradition where dishes are named after their origin city: Nashville hot chicken, Kansas City BBQ, New York-style pizza, Chicago deep dish. Buffalo's wings are to the city what hot chicken is to Nashville.
The Simple Answer
The name has nothing to do with the American bison. Buffalo sauce is named after Buffalo, New York — a city of approximately 250,000 people at the eastern end of Lake Erie, in Western New York State.
When Teressa Bellissimo created the dish at the Anchor Bar in 1964, she created a local specialty. When media coverage and travelers began spreading word of the dish, they called it what Buffalonians called it: "Buffalo wings" — chicken wings from Buffalo. As the concept became understood nationally, "Buffalo wings" referred to any chicken wing prepared in the hot sauce + butter style of the original dish, not just wings served in Buffalo.
"Buffalo sauce" emerged as a derivative term — the sauce that makes Buffalo wings what they are. It's simpler than "hot sauce and butter emulsion in the style of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York."
Geographic Food Naming in American Cuisine
Buffalo sauce follows a deeply established tradition in American regional food:
- Nashville hot chicken: Fried chicken with a cayenne paste crust, named after Nashville, Tennessee. The dish was created at Prince's Hot Chicken Shack and spread from there.
- Kansas City BBQ: The sweet, tomato-molasses style of barbecue sauce specific to Kansas City, Missouri — distinct from Memphis-style, Texas-style, or Carolina-style. Named for its geographic origin.
- New York-style pizza: Large, foldable, crispy-edged slice from New York City's pizza culture. "New York-style" tells you the style regardless of where the pizza is made.
- Chicago deep dish: The thick-crust, high-sided pizza invented in Chicago. Named for its city, understood globally as a style rather than requiring Chicago origin.
- Louisiana hot sauce: The style of cayenne-vinegar hot sauce from Louisiana (Crystal, Tabasco, etc.) — "Louisiana style" is now a recognized category.
- Philly cheesesteak: Named after Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The sandwich's origin city is part of its identity.
In each case, a dish created in a specific city became so associated with that city's name that the geographic modifier became part of the dish's permanent name, even when the dish is made thousands of miles from its origin city.
Why the Bison Confusion Exists
The American bison is commonly called "buffalo" in American English, even though technically "buffalo" refers to African Cape buffalo or Asian water buffalo — neither of which is native to North America. "Buffalo" as a name for the American bison entered English through early European settlers who confused the animal with Asian water buffalo. Despite being zoologically incorrect, "buffalo" for the American bison is firmly established in American English usage.
This creates genuine confusion for international audiences encountering "buffalo sauce" for the first time — particularly in countries where "buffalo" primarily suggests the large bovine animal. The confusion is understandable: "buffalo sauce" could plausibly mean a sauce made from bison, a sauce with a bison-themed brand, or a sauce associated with the American West and frontier culture.
None of these are correct. Buffalo sauce contains no bison. The only connection to the animal is that the city of Buffalo, New York is itself named after a misspelling or misinterpretation of a French word — "beau fleuve" (beautiful river) or possibly from a native Seneca place name — that became "Buffalo" through linguistic drift. The city name's own etymology doesn't involve the animal either.
💡 How to Explain Buffalo Sauce to International Guests
If you're serving buffalo wings to guests unfamiliar with the American food tradition: the simplest explanation is "It's a sauce from Buffalo, New York — a city. The sauce is hot sauce and butter, named after the city where it was created." For further context: "Like how Nashville hot chicken is named after Nashville, Tennessee. American regional foods often take the name of their origin city." This avoids the animal confusion and gives the dish its accurate cultural context.
How the Name Spread and Became the Standard
The name "buffalo wings" and "buffalo sauce" became nationally established through a specific sequence:
- 1964–1980: The dish is known locally as "Buffalo wings" — a specific regional dish from Buffalo. People who have eaten them in Buffalo call them by that name when they describe them elsewhere.
- 1980: New York Times feature uses "Buffalo wings" consistently throughout the article, establishing the name in a publication with national reach and journalistic authority.
- 1982: Buffalo Wild Wings opens — the chain's name literally contains "Buffalo" twice, cementing the geographic identity of the dish nationally through thousands of restaurants.
- 1990s: Recipe books, cooking shows, and food media nationwide adopt "buffalo wings" and "buffalo sauce" as the standard terminology. The name is now too embedded to change.
- 2000s–present: "Buffalo" as a flavor descriptor enters food product marketing — "buffalo flavor" chips, "buffalo style" sandwiches, "buffalo chicken pizza." The term is now used as a flavor category rather than just a dish name.