From Buffalo to Pacific Beach: A Very Saucy Victory

A very good call, a very long time ago

On July 1, 1857, the Clarendon Hotel in Buffalo had fried chicken wings on its menu. They sat among the entrées, more than a century before Buffalo sauce became a household name. The Buffalo History Museum still holds that menu. Somewhere in the long history of deciding what to have for dinner, somebody was already making a very good call.

Fast-forward to August 2026, and San Diego has its own addition to the wing story: Dirty Birds Pacific Beach was named champion of The64’s America’s Best Wings tournament. A little San Diego pride, on a national stage.

That calls for a celebration. It also raises a question worth asking before the next basket arrives: how did a city in western New York become a sauce?

A late-night snack with a long afterlife

Anchor Bar tells the story this way: one evening in 1964, Dominic Bellissimo was tending bar when his hungry friends came in. He asked his mother, Teressa, to make them something to eat. She deep-fried chicken wings, dressed them in her sauce, and served them up. They caught on quickly enough to become a regular menu item.

It’s an excellent origin story. Hungry friends, a resourceful cook, and dinner that gets talked about for decades. The details have been debated, though. Different accounts describe different circumstances, including an unexpected wing delivery. Treat the late-night story as Anchor Bar’s account, with other versions part of the dish’s history.

The sauce did some heavy lifting

The familiar Buffalo combination is wonderfully direct: cayenne-pepper hot sauce and melted butter. Frank’s RedHot’s published wing recipe brings those two ingredients together before tossing the cooked wings in the mixture.

That little bit of richness gives the heat somewhere comfortable to sit. You get the peppery kick, a smooth coating, and a strong incentive to find another napkin. Recipes vary. Preferences vary even more. Someone at the table wants maximum heat. Someone else is here for the flavor, with a little less fire. A good sauce conversation can keep a group occupied through an entire basket.

Leave room for John Young

Any honest history of Buffalo wings needs John Young in it. The Buffalo History Museum identifies Young as the first restaurateur to advertise wings in the city’s telephone book. His Wings & Things restaurant opened in 1966, serving whole, breaded, deep-fried wings with a tomato-based Mambo Sauce. Ten wings cost a dollar.

Young’s wings were a different preparation from the style associated with Anchor Bar. Remembering both gives Buffalo’s food history the space it deserves. A city’s signature dish rarely arrives with a perfectly tidy family tree.

Even the celery has a backstory. Museum researchers found blue-cheese-stuffed celery on a mid-1960s Anchor Bar menu. They suggest that existing appetizer may help explain the famous pairing, although it doesn’t settle the question for good.

Now, a little Pacific Beach history

Dirty Birds opened in 2008, and Pacific Beach is the original location. The restaurant sits one block from the boardwalk, with local surf culture all over its walls. That’s a pretty good setting for a wing obsession.

The64’s 2026 win is another reason to raise a basket. Want to celebrate with your people? Bring Dirty Birds to your next San Diego event.

Buffalo gave the sauce its name. San Diego has a new wing title to celebrate. Get your people together, pick your sauce, and bring enough napkins.

Explore the truck menu or start planning your Dirty Birds event.