Wings ‘N Things has the taste of Buffalo

hbi-restaurant02TextF328T8M3RESTAURANT REVIEW

The last major sports championship the city of Buffalo, N.Y. won was, well, never. Eligible, yes; champions, sadly, no.

The Buffalo Bills went to the Super Bowl four times and never won. The Buffalo Sabres have made it to the finals of the NHL’s Stanley Cup twice, but went home without hockey’s most coveted trophy.

It is a town of misery, both in sports and climate. Remember, before they were the Clippers, they were the Buffalo Braves.

The winters there are brutal. My father once told me how he had to sleep over at work because the snow was too bad to drive home.

Though he was born in Buffalo and lived 28 years there, he could be the town’s worst critic. The cake wasn’t even cut at my parents’ wedding and he was packing the car.

If he has a fond memory of his birthplace, it is of the food — two items in particular. One was chicken wings, the other less famous was roast beef on a kummelweck roll.

Wings used to be an afterthought. The dish’s legend is credited to a restaurant owner, who came up with the idea to deep fry the wings and coat them with hot sauce as a way to not waste the usually discarded part of the chicken.

The origins of beef on weck are foggier. The bread was devised by a German baker and is a Kaiser roll with pretzel salt and caraway seeds on top. At some point, someone added roast beef served au jus with horseradish.

Because I have been trained to avoid adverse climate, I don’t go back to western New York. I can, however, commiserate with other Buffalo sports fans at Buffalo Wings ‘N Things.

For 18 years this restaurant on Beach Boulevard has allowed Bills and Sabres fans a place to cry in their beer and watch heartbreak after heartbreak on either the gridiron or the rink.

The food, though, is both authentic and outstanding, and provides victory while watching defeat. Owner Don Hayes has created a menu that you could find in any joint on Elmwood Avenue.

The restaurant started as a chain, but Hayes broke away from the Florida-based operation after philosophical differences.

“When we started, no one [had] really heard of wings,” Hayes said. “My customers were transplants from Buffalo and we existed on word of mouth.”

My parents have eaten there and both vouch for its authenticity, which is no easy feat when you consider how difficult it is to spell kummelweck, much less find someone who knows how to make it.

Hayes did, however, and it is one of the staples of his menu. The other is the Sahlen hot dogs and sausages, which have been feeding western New Yorkers since 1869.

It is the wings that make up around 80% of the orders here, according to Hayes.

They are a must. Prepared just like they are supposed to be, deep-fried and slathered with hot sauce, they have burned many lips. There are five degrees, mild, medium, hot, extra hot and beyond hot. I have only reached hot.

With the big-screen television in the front of the restaurant, and multiple televisions positioned around the rest of the dining area, it is the perfect place for Sunday football watching. The crowds come in force during that time and Hayes makes no effort to shoo them out after they have eaten.

If you are not from Buffalo, come to the restaurant any other time. While Buffalo Wings ‘N Things shouldn’t be missed, I wouldn’t wish the suffering that comes with being a Buffalo sports fan on anyone.