Buffalo sauce boycott sweeps through city as Steelers gear up for Bills

Some Pittsburgh restaurants are taking the extreme measure of boycotting Buffalo sauce and other Buffalo-related products until the Steelers take on the Bills in Sunday’s AFC wild-card playoff game.

Buffalo dipping sauce will not be sold at select McDonald’s locations across the Pittsburgh region until after the game.

Meghan Sweeney, owner/operator of McDonald’s through Cranberry-based Tri County Management, made the call to yank the sauce.

“I’m shutting down the Buffalo sauce this week — just like the Black and Gold are going to stop the Bills on Sunday,” Sweeney said Tuesday.

Tri County Management owns and operates 22 McDonald’s restaurants in Allegheny, Butler, Beaver and Lawrence counties.

Bubba’s Gourmet Burghers & Beer in Southpointe started its boycott on Buffalo sauce and Buffalo chicken dip Monday. The ban will last until after the game.

“You can order ANY other flavor, but we will NOT be selling Buffalo Sauce all week long !!!! ” a Facebook post read.

Joe Farina, kitchen manager, said the decision was made by Bubba himself, and the products are usually two of the restaurant’s top-selling items. The owner’s true name is Mark Snider.

“He doesn’t want to give any support whatsoever,” Farina said of the Buffalo Bills.

Bubba’s has plenty of other options for sauces, he said, and any potential monetary loss would be inconsequential.

“[Snider] said he’s OK with it if it does lose money,” Farina said.

Not all Western Pennsylvania eateries plan to cancel Buffalo sauce. Big Shot Bobs House of Wings has chicken wings spots around the region. Buffalo sauce will remain on the menu, an employee told TribLive on Tuesday.

The concept of cooking chicken wings in hot sauce started in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, when co-owner Teressa Bellissimo cooked wings in hot sauce as a late-night snack for her son and his friends, according to the National Chicken Council.

The group liked them so much that they were put on the menu the next day as “Buffalo wings,” served with celery slices and blue cheese.