Exclusive: Buffalo Wild Wings is adding pizza to its menu
By Jordan Valinsky, CNN Business
With football season approaching, Buffalo Wild Wings is adding a new menu item that’s all but synonymous with the sport: pizza.
For the first time, the sports bar chain is adding pizza to its menu -— with a unique spin. Buffalo Wild Wings pizzas, available beginning Wednesday for $9.99, feature a thin crust topped with boneless wings and smothered in one of the the brand’s wing sauces.
The pizza comes in two varieties: Buffalo Boneless Bar Pizza, which will be covered with ranch dressing, bleu cheese crumbles, mozzarella cheese and a medium-spiced buffalo sauce drizzle. There’s also a Honey BBQ Boneless Bar Pizza with boneless wings in honey-flavored sauce, bacon crumbles, pickled hot peppers and two cheeses.
The new menu items bolster the brand’s reputation as a destination for watching football and other sports, Rita Patel, Buffalo Wild Wing’s chief marketing officer, told CNN Business. “This an exciting new territory for us to enter as we continue to bring new and innovative ways to enjoy classic game day favorites at our sports bars,” she said.
Buffalo Wild Wings previously sold flatbreads, but pizza is “exciting new territory for us to enter as we continue to bring new and innovative ways to enjoy classic game day favorites at our sports bars,” Patel said.
The $9.99 price point could attract budget-conscious customers, as well as some wealthier consumers who are eating more frequently at lower priced chains such as Applebee’s. Pizza also will help Buffalo Wild Wings differentiate itself from the onslaught of wing restaurants encroaching on its territory, including Wingstop and Cosmic Wings.
The chain, known for its wall-to-wall TVs, regularly changes its menu options to remain competitive in the fast-casual space. It most recently added Bird Dawgs, chicken tenders served in a hot dog-like bun and served with an array of sauces and toppings.
Buffalo Wild Wings is owned by privately held Inspire Brands, a Georgia-based company that also owns Arby’s, Dunkin’ and Jimmy John’s. The wing chain has more than 1,200 locations in the United States.
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