History
The Anchor Bar created The Original Buffalo Wing in 1964 and now 50 plus years later is still a landmark in Buffalo and destination for visitors from around the globe. Our bottled wing sauce now retails in over 3,000 supermarkets. Beginning with a core group of locations in the Buffalo and Toronto areas, we have grown in new markets such as Detroit, San Antonio, Frederick (MD), Atlanta and Los Angeles. New units are in the works in Chicago area, Florida, Austin (TX) as Anchor Bar paves the way towards becoming a truly national brand. Our franchise base is very diverse including individuals and groups with various backgrounds from restaurant management to IT.
About the Franchise
The Anchor Bar, though known best for its wings and sauces, has a diverse menu consisting of pizza, burgers, Buffalo favorite beef on weck, great appetizers, salads and desserts. Our sports bar area features traditional and craft beer popular in the area along with specialty drinks and wine. The locations are a blend of family friendly casual dining, sports bar atmosphere and great food and drink.
Franchisees opening a traditional location will need 5,000 to 6,000 square feet of space, will receive a protected area and can open multiple locations if qualified. While restaurant experience is helpful it is certainly not required. The training, support and coaching the franchisees receive is exceptional and ongoing in all phases from site selections to operations. Our operations team regularly visits franchisees on site long after they have launched. We are a brand with deep history and culinary achievement, great atmosphere and growth potential for franchisees to build entire markets.
Key Highlights
- Anchor Bar has been serving “the original wing” since 1964.
- While other brands feature Buffalo wings, none of them can lay claim to inventing the wing
- Anchor Bar express ships thousands of pounds of their special wings around the world.
- Diverse location possibilities…traditional, outdoor mall, airport, QSR, etc.
- Comprehensive training program takes franchisee through all phases of operations.
- Marketing and real estate team in place to assist franchisees.
- Exposure through supermarket sales of wing sauce.
- Anchor Bar has been featured on Food Network, Travel Channel and numerous others
- Site selection support through national commercial broker network
- Lease negotiation support
- Detailed operations manual and recipe manuals
- Liquid capital required $350K; Third Party Financing and SBA Eligible
Anchor Bar Recognition and Awards
- Of the many distinctive Awards earned by the Anchor Bar, perhaps the most prestigious would be our two “James Beard Foundation Awards”.
- In April 2003, the Anchor Bar was given the “James Beard Foundation Award.” This is given to restaurants “that have timeless appeal, beloved for quality food that reflect the history and character of the community. It is for an American classic.”
- In May 2003, the Anchor Bar received it’s second “James Beard Foundation Award”, the “Quality International Award” for its sauces. Presented with the prestigious gold medal, the Anchor Bar was judged the “Best of the Best” in a contest in which more than 1,000 sauces were entered. The judges were from the American Culinary and Tasting Institute.
- In mid-2018 Anchor Bar San Antonio received a Yelp award for “Best Sports Bar in San Antonio”.
- Numerous Awards for Best Sauce at festivals and food shows across the country – “Best Dry Rub at the 2019 National Buffalo Wing Festival; “Best In Show” for its Habanero Ranch Dry Rub at the 2018 Festival; “Festival Favorite” at the 2016 Festival