LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the
invention of the Buffalo Wing by The Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to take note of and
publicly recognize those businesses within the State of New York which
have positively impacted their communities; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commem-
orate the 50th Anniversary of the invention of the Buffalo Wing by The
Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York; and
WHEREAS, The famous Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, was established
in 1935, by Frank and Teressa Bellissimo, skilled cooks who specialized
in Italian-American cuisine; they were soon joined in the business by
their son, Dominic and his wife, Edith; and
WHEREAS, On March 6, 1964, an American culinary tradition was born
when the Buffalo Wing was first invented by Teressa Bellissimo at her
family's popular restaurant; and
WHEREAS, That night, some friends of her son Dominic came into the
restaurant and requested some kind of finger food; Teressa Bellissimo
remembered a large shipment of chicken wings that were too large to be
used for soup, as was their main use at the time; she decided to deep
fry them, toss them in a spicy red sauce recipe and served them with
celery sticks and blue cheese dressing; and
WHEREAS, To the Bellissimo family's surprise the chicken wings were a
huge success; they soon became the restaurant's main attraction as word
spread across Buffalo and the whole State of New York; soon people from
across the nation and even the world, were flocking to The Anchor Bar to
experience this new sensation; and
WHEREAS, On July 29, 1977, Mayor Makowski of the city of Buffalo
proclaimed a "Chicken Wing Day"; the Anchor Bar had placed their home-
town on the culinary map; and
WHEREAS, By the mid-1980s, as the popularity of chicken wings contin-
ued to spread, The Anchor Bar started receiving national acclaim; many
restaurants across the country soon jumped on the chicken wing bandwag-
on; Buffalo wings became one of the most popular foods in America; and
WHEREAS, Today, The Anchor Bar uses the same recipe and serves up more
than 70,000 pounds of chicken per month; the restaurant now has multiple
locations and its bottled wing sauce retails in over 5,000 supermarkets
worldwide; and
WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize and
support the entrepreneurs of small businesses whose dedication and
accomplishments contribute to the economic health and vitality of the
communities they serve in the State of New York; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the invention of the Buffalo Wing by
The Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the Bellissimo family, The Anchor Bar, Buffalo, New York.