Buffalo Wings

Buffalo wings are chicken wings deep-fried until crisp, then tossed in a butter-and-cayenne hot sauce and served with celery sticks and a blue cheese dip. They were invented at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, in 1964, and the name refers to the city, not the animal — a distinction worth making, since the dish has traveled far enough that some guests genuinely wonder.

What it really is

Whole wings, split at the joint into flats and drumettes, fry until the skin turns crisp and deeply browned, sometimes dusted lightly in flour first for extra crunch. Straight from the fryer they go into a bowl with melted butter whisked into a vinegar-based cayenne pepper sauce, tossed until every piece is coated glossy and red-orange. Celery sticks and a cold blue cheese dip come alongside — not as garnish, but as the built-in counterpoint to the heat.

The blue cheese and celery are not optional extras. They were part of the dish from its first serving at the Anchor Bar, there specifically to cool the mouth between bites, and a plate of wings without them is missing a structural piece of the dish, not just a side.

How it's served

• Piled on a plate or in a basket, sauce glossy and still clinging.
• With celery sticks and blue cheese dip served alongside, never mixed in.
• As a shared starter or bar snack, eaten by hand.

How to write it on the menu

• Say how hot the sauce is — mild, medium and hot versions of the same recipe are common, and guests want to know before ordering.
• Flag the dairy in the blue cheese dip and the wheat if the wings are flour-dusted before frying.
• Offer ranch as an alternative to blue cheese; it's a common substitution, not a betrayal of the original.

The ingredients, allergens and dietary notes listed here describe a typical recipe. They are not a binding declaration for any particular restaurant: recipes, portion sizes and the products used can differ.