[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 3971-3972]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




HONORING FRANK AND TERESSA'S ANCHOR BAR ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
                              CHICKEN WING

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BRIAN HIGGINS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 6, 2014

  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Frank & 
Teressa's Anchor Bar and the 50th anniversary of their signature dish, 
the chicken wing. The Anchor Bar is an establishment that is deeply 
ingrained in the fabric of Buffalo, New York; its story exhibits 
resilience and ambition that define the city in which it stands as well 
as the people who live in it. This Thursday, March 6, is a date which 
signifies the 50th anniversary of the chicken wing and its legacy, 
which transformed the landscape of American cuisine, and made Buffalo, 
New York synonymous with a finger food that has left its lasting 
impression on the culinary industry.
  Frank Bellissimo was born in Montemaggiore Belsito, a little town in 
the province of Sicily, Italy. His parents immigrated to the U.S. when 
he was just four years old. At the age of 14 during a night out in 
downtown Buffalo, Frank fell in love with the ambiance and persona of 
the city. He vowed to one day be a part of it.
  Frank met his wife Teressa while he was a butcher. Teressa, the 
daughter of Sicilian immigrants as well, was born in Buffalo. The two 
became married in 1934 and discovered their shared love of cooking.
  After accumulating a few hundred dollars, the two decided to open a 
restaurant and in 1935, rented a place on Canal Street at the foot of 
Main Street in downtown Buffalo. Teressa noticed how the sailors 
docking their boats in the adjacent Buffalo River would drop their 
anchors into the water. Henceforth, the Anchor Bar was given its 
emblematic name.
  The bar quickly grew in popularity, forcing Frank and Teressa to move 
to 1047 Main Street--the address at which the bar is located to this 
day. Not long after that, the dish that would revolutionize pub food 
was created.
  Frank and Teressa's son Dominic was tending bar at his family's 
restaurant on a late Friday night in March 1964. Some friends stopped 
by to pay him a visit and have a few drinks. Before long, they asked 
Dominic for something to eat, though they yearned for something out of 
the ordinary--something they could eat with their fingers while 
retaining the ability to drink and converse. Dominic went to his mother 
Teressa for help. She had recently received a large shipment of wings 
that were ``too meaty'' to be used in the stockpot for soup. 
Remembering those wings, she decided to deep fry them, toss them in a 
spicy red sauce recipe and serve them with celery sticks and blue 
cheese dressing. At 12:10 a.m. on Saturday, March 6, 1964, the chicken 
wing was invented in Buffalo, New York.
  Though Dominic and his friends were skeptical, the chicken wings 
became an instant hit, and the rest is history. Before long, word 
spread across the city, state, and the country. Today, Anchor Bar 
serves up more than 70,000 pounds of chicken per month, and its bottled 
wing sauce retails in over 5,000 supermarkets worldwide. Consumers can 
even purchase Anchor Bar's famous wings online and have them shipped 
anywhere in America. Countless celebrities have graced the bar's Main 
Street location to experience the sensation for themselves.
  In 2003, Anchor Bar was presented with the prestigious James Beard 
Foundation award, given to restaurants ``that have timeless appeal, 
beloved for their quality food that reflect the history and character 
of their community.'' In 2014, the Anchor Bar has franchised that 
timeless appeal and is proudly serving their famed wings at locations 
in the Buffalo International Airport, Darien Lake Amusement Park, 
Hamilton, Ontario, and will soon be serving them on the West Coast at a 
location in Temecula, California.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise today to honor the 
50th anniversary of the chicken wing. In doing so, I recognize a 
restaurant that stands as a testament to the

[[Page 3972]]

American Dream. The children of Italian immigrants, Frank and Teressa 
Bellissimo took the creativity and resourcefulness of Italian cuisine 
and combined it with American values of innovation and ingenuity. What 
was produced was not only a business that has profited for over 65 
years and remains a family owned and operated enterprise, but also a 
symbol that the American Dream, still stands proud today.

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