While the wings at Buffalo Wild Wings can be spicy,
so can the drama. We've recapped the biggest scandals in Buffalo Wild Wings history,
and weigh in on whether the country's most famous chicken wing chain will ever fully recover.
You can take away a lot from Americans, and they'll remain resilient, but remove Half
Price Wing Tuesday and you're asking for a severely wounded customer base. In 2017,
Buffalo Wild Wings retracted one of its most beloved deals — half-price
wings on Tuesdays. Instead, the chain started offering "buy one,
get one" boneless wings, which BWW claimed outsold bone-in wings in 2016.
Additionally, the cost of bone-in wings was so high at the time,
the company asserted that even though the deal brought in patrons in droves,
it was still expensive to maintain. The restaurant now offers a BOGO deal on certain
orders of bone-in wings on Tuesdays, but it doesn't have the following of the original.
In 2019, a former Buffalo Wild Wings cook sued the company for alleged discrimination based on race,
age, and disability. The cook, Gary Lovelace, a black man in his 50s, filed the suit after
being fired for reporting what he called a racially hostile work environment.
Lovelace claims he was mistreated by management, who frequently made derogatory comments about his
race and African Americans in general, as well as his age, all while insisting he perform tasks
outside his job description. Lovelace also claims that management essentially condoned
the behavior of servers who refused to wait on black patrons, saying they did not tip as well.
The lawsuit is still ongoing, but a lot of the details of mistreatment described by
the plaintiff are very unsettling and certainly not a good look for Buffalo Wild Wings at large.
"And that is just the start. KCTV 5's Amy Anderson details the list of accusations
stemming from our own backyard, new at 5."
Okay, if Buffalo Wild Wings can live this one down, they are truly a miracle worker
disguised as a chicken chain. In June of 2019, a woman was watching Women's World Cup soccer at a
Buffalo Wild Wings in Los Angeles, California when a surprise guest decided to sit down and join her.
A live rat fell from the ceiling and landed right in the middle of her table. Alisha Norman,
the customer who had to experience this trauma, was visiting from Texas and told several news
outlets that she knew the rat was hurt because of how hard it hit the table. She also reported
that a manager came over and used two plates to scoop the rat into a takeout bag to take it away.
Yep, that definitely tracks as to how we'd respond to an animal landing atop our table.
"Yeah, I knew the rat was gonna be injured because it hit like a Mack Truck. It was big."
A rep from Buffalo Wild Wings claimed the incident was due to construction happening
at this particular restaurant's location. To be fair, the Los Angeles County Department of
Public Health confirmed that BWW followed all the necessary protocols when it closed after
the rat made its appearance, to make sure there was not another imminent health hazard pending.
Even so, ordering a basket of wings and getting
a side of live rodent would be quite the traumatic experience.
A manager at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Burlington, Massachusetts met a very sad,
very untimely demise in the fall of 2019. The manager was simply trying to come to
the aid of an employee who had attempted to start cleaning procedures at the restaurant.
According to a report from TIME Magazine, the Buffalo Wild Wings employee spread Super 8,
a sodium hypochlorite cleaner, onto the floor, but was unaware that another chemical cleaning liquid,
an acid-based cleaner, had spilled there earlier that day. The two cleaners started a chemical
reaction that created a poisonous chlorine gas. The crew member immediately left the
scene due to reportedly experiencing burning eyes and an unbearable stench. The manager,
later identified as Ryan Baldera, stepped in to attempt to disperse the liquid with a squeegee
but the exposure made him, in turn, very sick. He was taken to the hospital and did not survive.
Two patrons and eleven other workers had to go to the hospital also after inhaling the toxic fumes.
The Buffalo Wild Wings corporate office stated that they were shocked and saddened by the report,
and they were working with local authorities and the franchise owner to do everything they
could to make things right. Even though the tragedy was tied to just this one location,
it's still a very tarnishing event in the annals of BWW history.
In the first week of March 2020, Buffalo Wild Wings announced what it was calling its BnB-Dubs,
a sleepover opportunity for two March Madness mega fans
at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Chicago's Lincoln Park.
"What's the best way to watch March Madness?"
"This is David's cave."
"WRONG! It's sleeping at the bar!"
BWW was trying to promote its new brisket menu items and pretzel knots,
as well as tout its status as a sporting event destination to watch the March Madness basketball
tournament. A press release touted this event as a chance for superfans to win the opportunity
to stay the night at the restaurant during the NCAA tournament so they could wake up to beers,
basketball, and food. The two winners could bring one friend each,
and all were to receive custom robes and sliders during their stay.
Well, as it turns out, the month that a highly contagious virus starts sending an entire country
into lockdown is not the best week to offer a spend-the-night party at your restaurant.
On March 17th, Buffalo Wild Wings had to retract its BnB offer. Its parent company,
Inspire Brands, had regulated all of its restaurants to take-out orders only,
due to restrictions going into place for COVID-19. While no one expected the higher-ups
at BWW to predict a global pandemic, it's a little cringeworthy to even consider sleeping
in a chain restaurant just for some extra flat screen TV and buffalo wing access now.
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