Buffalo Wild Wings announced Wednesday that it’s entering the pizza space, just ahead of the busier collegiate and professional football seasons.
The innovation, called Boneless Bar Pizza, comes with a thin-crust base, topped with boneless wings.
The Buffalo Boneless Bar Pizza, includes ranch dressing, bleu cheese crumbles, picked hot peppers, chopped green onions, and sauce, along with boneless wings handspun with medium buffalo sauce. The Honey BBQ Boneless Bar features mozzarella and cheddar-jack cheeses, bacon crumbles, pickled hot peppers, chopped green onion, sauce, and boneless wings covered in honey barbecue sauce.
“Buffalo Wild Wings is the ultimate football destination for a legendary gameday experience,” CMO Rita Patel said in a statement. “With wings tossed in any of our 26 sauces and seasoning, 30-plus beer taps, wall-to-wall TVs, and now Boneless Bar Pizza, why would fans choose to go anywhere else?”
The 1,200-unit casual chain is tapping into a comfort food that soared during the pandemic because of its affordability and portability. In the first four months of 2021, U.S. pizza concepts saw a 27 percent increase in foot traffic, according to Zenreach. The impact stretched nationwide—New York experienced a 41 percent rise, Illinois witnessed a 42 percent lift, and California skyrocketed 77 percent.
The Boneless Bar Pizza is priced at $9.99, appealing to value conscious consumers during a historic inflationary period. In July, restaurant menu prices increased 7.6 percent year-over-year. At full-service brands, there was an 8.9 percent rise, while quick-service menu prices grew 7.2 percent.
It’s the latest of multiple menu innovations Buffalo Wild Wings has released this summer. The first was Bird Dawgs, or hand-breaded chicken tenders on a brioche bun covered with sauces and toppings. In July, the brand rolled out its Saucy Chicken Sandwich, which can be made with any of the chain’s 26 sauces and seasonings.
