Pittsburgh-Area Restaurant Bans Buffalo Sauce for Steelers Game

A Pittsburgh-area restaurant has gone to great lengths to show their support for the Steelers ahead of Sunday’s Wild Card Round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park. The city of Buffalo is well-known for their chicken wings, so Bubba’s Burghers at Southpointe in Canonsburg is banning the sale of Buffalo sauce until after Sunday’s game. Buffalo chicken dip is also prohibited.

Owner Bubba Snider, who is also the co-host of the “Bubba Show” on KDKA Radio sister station 100.7 Star, just doesn’t want anything associated with Buffalo at his restaurant this week.

“I will show my commitment to the Steelers cause by any means necessary,” Bubba wrote on X.

The first plate of wings was served in 1964 at a family-owned establishment in Buffalo called the Anchor Bar. The wings were the brainchild of Teressa Bellissimo, who covered them in her own special sauce and served them with a side of blue cheese and celery because that’s what she had available, according to Time Magazine.

“We have amazing Buffalo sauce and it is our #1 selling sauce, but going into the game on Sunday, I don’t want to do ANYTHING to show any kind of support for Buffalo,” Bubba told WPXI.

Patrons can still flavor their wings in any other of Bubba’s more than 20 sauces.

Hey @PatMcAfeeShow . My restaurant is Banning Buffalo Sauce from our menu until after the @steelers game on Sunday!!! #HereWeGo @MarkKaboly pic.twitter.com/9J9aqzgrDr

— Bubba (@bubbasugly) January 8, 2024

Bubba told KDKA that he’s sacrificing financially for the Steelers by banning Buffalo sauce and Buffalo chicken dip. Both are best sellers.

“It’s going to take a good little financial toll on us, but we’ll survive the week. But we will not do anything to support Buffalo because the Steelers need as much support as they can,” Bubba said.

The Steelers have the worst odds of any playoff team to win the Super Bowl at +15,000. The oddsmakers don’t like their chances against Buffalo, either. Pittsburgh opened as 7.5-point underdogs when the lines were first posted on Sunday evening, and things have gotten bleaker than that for the Black and Gold since the betting has started. The Steelers are now considered 10-point underdogs to the Bills.

The Steelers and Bills faced each other this preseason in Pittsburgh, with the Steelers winning, 27-15 at Acrisure Stadium. They have played one another in four consecutive regular seasons. The Bills rolled to a huge 38-3 victory in Buffalo last season. The Steelers upset the Bills 23-16 to open the 2021 season. In 2020, the Bills beat the Steelers, 26-15 in Buffalo. Buffalo also won 27-20 in Pittsburgh in 2019.

The teams last met in the postseason in 1996, when the Steelers beat the Bills, 40-21 in the AFC Divisional Playoff at Three Rivers Stadium on Jan. 6, 1996. The teams have never played a postseason game in Buffalo.

The Steelers have played the Bills three times, all in Pittsburgh. This will be the first time the Steelers will travel to Buffalo for a playoff game.