The grand opening of the Anchor Bar near the Eastern Hills Mall

By Ryan Esguerra

The Anchor Bar, an iconic chicken wing venue known not only to those local to Buffalo but to chicken wing lovers across the country, has opened its doors in a new location near the Eastern Hills Mall.

Open conveniently across the street from Duff’s chicken wings, the Anchor Bar has successful opened its second restaurant location in the Buffalo area to go along with its location in Ontario.

The new location features all of the classic chicken wing flavors of the Main Street location, but this Anchor Bar features four more chicken wing flavors and a new, sleek interior design.

“The buzzwords for the creation of this restaurant were modern and sleek,” said manager Taylor Schiappa, who helped plan the brand new interior. “We have had so much good feedback from our patrons and those coming in from out of town, I am proud of what we have created.”

Walking into this Anchor Bar is not at all like walking into the old one that has been around downtown Buffalo since 1935. The Main Street location is about half the size, walls draped in the iconic license plates, giving off the jumbled, look but in a controlled, graceful way. A look that has not changed in years.

This new age Anchor Bar features an expanded floor that seats 150, effectively double the size of the original, a large bar with televisions behind it, optimal for the football fan that comes in on Sundays and that modern 21^st century restaurant composition.

Walking into the Anchor Bar, you are immediately met by a hostess who directs you to either side of the V-shaped food floor lined with booth style seating.

The Booths surround the entirety of the restaurant, with what looks like pieces of booth sitting on their own lining the middle of the floor acting as tables and chairs.

“The new design is so much different than the old one,” said Eric Jacobs,a customer on his first visit to the new location. “The wings are just as good and the service was fast, but I like the more modern look and feel of this one.”

One of the biggest criticisms of the Main Street location was that it was so difficult to get Anchor Bar wings to the suburbs of Buffalo. It was a 20 minute drive for anyone who lived in the suburbs just to get to the Anchor Bar. In a world where everyone is busy, it could be difficult to drive 20 minutes for chicken wings.

“I live in the suburbs, so it is difficult for me to commute all the way to downtown Buffalo just for chicken wings,” said Jacobs. “Now I have more an excuse to come.”

The expansion is not the end of the story, the start of a trend that over the next few years, could have the creators of the chicken wing bringing their influence all over Buffalo and beyond.

“With a location already in Canada there are definitely going to be more Anchor Bars to come,” said Schiappa. “There are possibly two more that could pop up around the Buffalo and Canada area within the next few years, who knows where we could go after that.”