Secrets of the City

More irrational chain hate, or a valid point? I don’t often go into a BWW, but when I did last Tuesday (Northdale Mall location), the joint was packed. So obviously, some folks like it.

People don’t go to majors cause the douche quotient is too high….at least the ones I’ve been to.

It’s not irrational in the least and it’s a valid question. Yeah, people like the place but why? It’s more expensive, offers worse service, and doesn’t have the same amount of meat on its wings as its competitors yet it’s more popular and more profitable (presumably).

The post poses the question to the reader as to why this is and, as you can see from many of the comments on my site, that people have given the reasons why they feel that this is the case. They range from “lower perceived cost” to advertising.

Honestly, I still don’t think anyone has really answered the question however.

Advertising is a big reason.

Another reason, I think, is chain consistency. You can walk into a Buffalo Wild Wings in the Twin Cities, Chicago, Duluth, or where ever, and know what to expect. A lot of people like familiar things.

Frankly, I don’t even know why I stopped there last week, Bill. Perhaps its because there are not many good bars in the immediate area to choose from. In this case, it was proably placement. I didn’t want to drive miles out of my way for one beer and some cheese sticks.

Bee-dubs runs does this every quarter… with Madoffian consistency. And the press is pretty much the same every time.

* Bee-dubs does this every quarter

As I stated on my site, consistency is not something BW3s offers. The Blazin’ sauce at the Apple Valley location (again, their “training facility”) goes from spicy (as I’d expect) to nearly mild. It’s really disappointing and forces me to ask for more on the side just so I can dip it in (like others would with ranch or bleu cheese).

I don’t know. Arguing about who offers the best wings is akin to debating the relative qualities of a McD burger vs. a Burger King burger, or Coke vs. Pepsi.

I can only speak of the one BWW I’ve patronized more than once: the one in West St. Paul. The difference between it and a Majors or Champps is that BWW appears to be more family- and kid-friendly. The noise level isn’t set at “din” so you can carry on reasonably intelligent conversations … if you aren’t already busy playing nationwide trivia or checking out any of the several sports games on the displays. On one recent Weds. visit, this particular BWW had a face painter on hand, and a line of kids waiting to get their faces painted. The douche level is definitely low.

While it’s probably not the most important criteria when choosing what to put into your body, I’ve had good luck with the WiFi at most BWW locations (Har Mar being the exception).

It’s just the chain and brand mentality. It’s familiar. Yeah, it may be worse, it may not be consistent, in fact, it may be more expensive and worse than everywhere else… but people think it’s decent and familiar and that’s all the counts.

More information out there and people posting showing why this is bad, is good.

We’ll go to the one in Maplewood about once a month. It does seem to be more kid friendly than the other places listed, the beer selection is superior to many “wings” places, and we’ve never experienced poor service or inconsistancy with food quality.

Maybe you shouldn’t go the the training facility or at the very least don’t judge the entire chain based on it’s training facility.

I’ve gotten some bad haircuts from the Aveda school, but always had good experiences at an actual Aveda.

Don’t you want the business to succeed?

Maybe you shouldn’t go the the training facility or at the very least don’t judge the entire chain based on it’s training facility.

I think you are confused as to the meaning of a training facility in this sense. They use this as their flagship store. It’s meant to be the place where everything is so good that the rest of their stores should emulate it.

“Arguing about who offers the best wings is akin to debating the relative qualities of a McD burger vs. a Burger King burger, or Coke vs. Pepsi.”

Exactly. It’s chicken wings. It’s grunt food. One’s better than another? So people like it. How come Lazy Lightening has to launch into some vulgarity laced rant over a joint that serves chicken wings. He’s got too much time on his hands.

Why is it that people are not flocking to Major’s or Rascal’s instead?

I grew up in AV, and we spent a lot of time at BWW … for the trivia. Now, I see on the Facebooks that lots of old high school alumni who never moved away go to Majors … but this is because as ryanl noted, it attracts the douches (I think they may only play Bon Jovi on repeat)…

A friend of mine and I tried to have a few drinks @ Rascals one night because their beer selection is slightly better… but the only other person there was one old women drinking whiskey. Not the best place to hang out on a regular night, but I’ve heard it’s pretty awesome when they got bands there…

an old lady drinking whiskey…where is this rascals? Sounds like my kind of place.

Some days a can of Coke can taste different from a can of Coke consumed any other day. Maybe it’s the bottler’s fault; maybe my taste buds are responsible for the difference in taste from one day to the next?

No, Nood’ you’re going insane. One Coke is like every other Coke.

Basically, sure, but a can of Coke tastes different than a bottle of Coke. And then there’s the folks who go on and on about Coke bottled in Mexico… I admit I find Mexican-bottled Coke to be extra tasty, but in a blind taste test, could I tell the difference between any of them? Not likely.

No, Nood’ you’re going insane. One Coke is like every other Coke.

Then it must be my taste buds. Maybe the same thing happens to Bill with the BWW sauces?

Try as one might, it really is difficult to maintain the Exact. Same. Flavor. from one day to the next with some restaurant foods. I find that the chicken curry from Lotus to Go-Go can vary depending upon who is in the kitchen on any particular day. The differences, however, do not detract from my overall enjoyment. Maybe I’m just no picky?

Due to a dearth of late-ish night eating places near my hotel, I found myself in a BWW in Wausau, WI a few months ago. I did not sample the wings, which may have been a mistake in retrospect. I got the mini-burgers and pretty much had to gag down as much as I could, just so I wouldn’t be hungry in the middle of the night. The meat was spongy and the flavor was, uh, spongy too. Kind of makes me gag thinking about them right now.

Fortunately, Day’s Bowl-a-Dome a few doors down (where I tried to get a spot to eat earlier) served me enough draught Blatz that I pretty much forgot about the crapola burgers…

Seems that there is quite a lot of things that make you gag, cj.

Eww…BWW sucks, their wings are just bad. Why do people go when there are better options elsewhere? Same reasons people go to any shitty chain when there’s a better local place, they think it’s cheaper (often it is), more consistent, etc.

When I was in college at Mankato, B-dub’s was very popular b/c you didn’t have to be 21 to get in. I’m not a big fan of the wing, so I didn’t go there much, but when I did I found it okay, which is a big compliment given my general feeling toward bars. It seemed to just be a nice place to have fun with friends. No more, no less.

And I swear to god there is a difference between Mountain Dew in southern Iowa and Mountain Dew in northern Iowa and Minnesota.

Same reasons people go to any shitty chain when there’s a better local place

Isn’t BWW a chain that got its start locally? If so, then it belongs in that same neitherherenorthere category like Target and Best Buy, both of which were local until they began to aggressively expand.

Noodleman, no it got its start in Ohio.

Rat, trolling as usual. Nothing has changed.

From Bill’s site:
In fact, when I was in college (BW3 was actually BW3 then and not the “Applebee’s for Wings” that it is now) I ate there nearly every Tuesday night. But back then the wings were meatier, the sauces tastier, and the consistency was a lot better.

Maybe they’re trading on reputation.

Or that tastes change with age?

There are a lot of things that were “meatier,” “tastier” and “better” back when I was in college. And cheaper, too.

I guess one thing I’ve learned in the many years since college is that if I don’t like the way a place serves its food, I just don’t go back. I know how to make my own chicken wings, so the only reasons why I go to someplace like BWW are convenience and community.

@kwatt up until recently, you couldn’t get Mountain Dew with caffeine in Canada. I think you still can’t get it in straight up Mountain Dew, just an energy brand. It’s weird.

where’s apple valley, again?

South of the river I think…I get there about as often half as often as I get east of the river….that translates to: Once.

A little history lesson. Originally it was BW3. The 3 stood for Wild Wings and Weck. Started in Ohio and spread to mostly college towns through the 90’s. The owners like many not-so-savvy businessmen tried to massively expand and failed. BWW. Buffalo Wild Wings was founded by a local businessman that picked up the pieces of some of the local failed BW3’s.

I think it was touched on a little. BWW is not exclusively a bar and underage people hang out there in droves at least considering the one in Harmar and they don’t get kicked out at 8 pm.

For those who don’t know, a “weck” is a type of roast beef sandwich, served on a unique, European-style roll. Very popular out East.

Thanks for making me hungry today, Bob:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_on_weck_sandwich

I went to the original BW3 on High Street in Columbus, OH c.1989 with a bunch of college buddies during a weekend road-trip. We were drunk, we were stoned and we thought 20 different flavors of chicken wings was the most brilliant menu ever concocted. the end.

I think g_rote has finnaly answered Bill’s question on why this place is so successful:

“We were drunk, we were stoned and we thought 20 different flavors of chicken wings was the most brilliant menu ever concocted.”

Buffalo Wild Wings was founded by a local businessman that picked up the pieces of some of the local failed BW3’s.

This was probably the source of my confusion.

For the record, I also consider Famous Dave’s to be “local” even if the original rib shack is in Wisconsin.

I think g_rote has finnaly answered Bill’s question on why this place is so successful

That might also explain why BWW tastes different now compared to ye olde college days. Unless one still gets drunk and stoned well into middle-age.

It’s not. I went to the location in Bowling Green, OH and it’s just as good (and meaty) as it ever was. I suppose it depends on who owns the place (whether it’s a franchisee or corporate owned) and how much money they want to rake in from their unsuspecting customers.

A weck looks like something a guy could buy at Maverick’s.

… how much money they want to rake in from their unsuspecting customers.

How many “unsuspecting customers” just don’t care if the hot sauce won’t bring tears to their eyes and oceans of sweat down their faces? If you want to write a thorough review of a restaurant’s food quality, go right ahead. But please don’t treat the general public like a bunch of idiots. McDonalds may not make the best burger in the world but their menu offers satisfaction to a lot of people. Same goes for BWW, no matter what you, personally, may think of their product.