DUNN TIRE PARK
Fans flock to Buffalo Wing Festival
Since he started the National Buffalo Wing Festival in 2002, Drew Cerza has been working out the kinks.
Early on, he realized the need for more deep fryers to keep the wings coming and the lines at the booths moving.
Last year, he ran out of chicken wings after the first day and scrambled to get another 12 tons trucked in.
This year, he opened up the parking lot at Dunn Tire Park to expand the festival grounds for the ever-growing crowds.
But on Sunday — the second and final day of the seventh annual wing festival in the downtown ballpark — Cerza looked out at all the saucy faces, smiled and knew this time he had it right.
“This year is the first year I realized what I’ve got,” Cerza said. “I have one of the best food festivals in the country. That’s what the Food Network told me, and that’s what the Travel Channel told me.”
Organizers estimated that a record 78,000 people turned out on a beautiful Buffalo weekend to consume tens of thousands of chicken wings during the two-day festival.
They came eager to taste all the unusual flavors and sauces, served up by more than 30 local and out-of- town establishments.
“This is the first time I’ve been here,” said Stacey Graham of Wheatfield. “I couldn’t believe the long lines, but they moved fast.”
As the wing festival grows, so does its national reputation.
The Food Network and the Travel Channel were in Buffalo over the weekend filming.
In recent months, Cerza has appeared on cooking shows with renowned chefs Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagassi.
He’s chatted it up with the women of the “The View.”
The wing festival has even made the comic books.
A recent edition of “Archie’s Pal Jughead Comics” sends the gluttonous comic book character to Buffalo, his “new favorite city,” for the National Buffalo Wing Festival.
“It’s a great event,” said Larry Schaefer, owner of Legend Larry’s Wings & Things in Sheboygan, Wis.
It’s the fourth year Schaefer has had a booth at the festival, where his chicken wings have been recognized with awards.
In fact, Schaefer said, the validation his wings have gotten in Buffalo — the chicken wing capital of the U. S. — has helped his business in Wisconsin.
“It means a lot,” Schaefer said, “Being from the Midwest, you don’t have a huge wing industry, so to come here and compete in something like this and win awards is just huge for us. It’s like the Super Bowl of our year for us.”
Cerza — now known as the “Wing King” — has become somewhat of a celebrity himself.
“I had 100 different people come up to me and say, ‘Hey, I saw you on TV,’ ” Cerza said.
Festival results from Sunday:
Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas — winner of Saturday’s Wing Eating Championship — also won the Buffet Bowl, downing 7 pounds of wings, chicken fingers, chili dogs and chicken pasta salad the fastest.
Teresa Tarasek of Franklinville and Linda Harrington of Boston won the amateur creative sauce competition with their “Thelma and Louise Over the Cliff Maple Garlic Wings.”
