This Nationwide Chicken Chain Is Launching Its First Pizza
Bone-in chicken wing prices have soared, so what's a chicken wing chain to do? Offer pizza.
Bone-in wings were up 84% year-over-year in 2021, according to Restaurant Business Online, hitting a high of $3.22 a pound in 2021. Chicken prices overall jumped nearly 18% in July, while food costs overall increased 11%, which is the highest increased in May 1979, according to The Bureau of Labor Statistics' July Consumer Price Index.
RELATED: 10 Secrets Buffalo Wild Wings Doesn't Want You to Know
So Buffalo Wild Wings, long known for its signature bone-in chicken wings, is taking a truly cheesy approach to the problem. On Wednesday, the chain introduced its first pizza which was added to the happy hour menu (though it still looks more like a flatbread, and is listed as an appetizer).
It's topped with boneless wings, because this is Buffalo Wild Wings after all—but the boneless wings are from the breast meat, which is less expensive than chicken wings.
Customers can order the Buffalo Boneless Bar Pizza (boneless wings with the traditional medium Buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, blue cheese crumbles, pickled hot peppers and green onions); or the Honey BBQ Boneless Bar Pizza (honey bbq sauce, mozzarella, cheddar jack cheese, pickled hot peppers, green onions and boneless wings). The pizza starts at $9.99.
"Buffalo Wild Wings is always looking for unique ways to surprise guests," says Rita Patel, CMO at Buffalo Wild Wings in a statement.
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It's just in time for peak pizza-eating, aka football season. According to the American Pizza Community, hungry game watchers ordered about 12.5 million pizzas during last year's Super Bowl, while 1.42 billion wings were eaten.
The pizzas are available nationwide at BWW's more than 1,200 locations, as the chain continues expanding the menu. In June, it launched the Bird Dawgs, which are hot dog-shaped appetizers filled with chicken tenders rather than an actual hot dog.
