Having visited Buffalo, New York several times over the years for dance competitions (our kid, not me in case you weren’t sure), it occurred to us that we had never visiting the Anchor Bar. What is the Anchor Bar you ask? Well, for those of you not versed in the history of chicken wings, the Anchor Bar is storied to be the place where the Buffalo chicken wing was born. We recently saw the place on an episode of Bobby Flay’s Throwdown and thought for sure the place would be worth a visit.

Walking in the lobby, things were looking good. Not only does the place have a genuine ambiance, but it’s a gearhead’s dream, with hundreds of license plates lining the walls and a bunch of motorcycles on display. Beyond the decor however, I have to say the place was underwhelming.

First off, the host was an indifferent older guy who gave off the vibe that we had disturbed his afternoon by showing up for lunch and asking for a table of 5. Our waitress was beyond indifferent and had no concept of customer service, let alone the contents of the menu. First off, Mrs. G ordered a glass of Australian Shiraz and received a glass of white wine & then she argued with us that Shiraz was white. The density continues later in the story.

As the home of Buffalo chicken wings, I couldn’t order anything but wings. I’m sad to say that they were no more than just OK. Deep fried and tossed in a hot sauce that was really no different than straight Frank’s Red Hot. I was disappointed. The rest of the family felt their food was…just OK. Nothing special. Back to the service end of things, the young lady dropped the food off and boogied away from the table before I could order a new beer. Not only is that rude, it’s just plain old bad business. Plant a double order of hot wings in front of a guy with an empty beer and don’t offer a refill. Dumb. I waited, and waited and eventually went and got a pint from the bar myself.

The Anchor Bar is somewhat of an American icon, at least in the north east and we expected to be blown away by the food. Decent service would have been an added bonus. All we got was average bar food, below average service and a pretty cool spot. Will we go back? Unlikely.