Buffalo Wild Wings Is Being Sued Because Someone Thinks Its Boneless Wings Are Chicken Nuggets

Buffalo Wild Wings started in 1982 as a joint venture between two men who had recently moved to Ohio and couldn't find the perfect wing. The two decided to create a new version of the Buffalo-based classic chicken wing, and it eventually led to a massive restaurant chain with more wing sauces and styles than anyone could have imagined.

These days, Buffalo Wild Wings serves wings two ways: classic and boneless. The classic wings are a mix of drums and flats, otherwise known as what we think of when we think of a chicken wing. The boneless version, on the other hand, is a small piece of white meat chicken breast that's breaded and fried, then tossed in the sauce of choice. It was essentially the first of its kind (or, the first of its kind to catch on, at least), and the National Chicken Council credits the chain for inventing boneless wings.

Despite the fact that boneless wings are now a popular item on most bar menus and have always been referred to as such, someone is trying to stop the name in its tracks. Buffalo Wild Wings is being sued because one man claims boneless wings actually aren't wings at all.

At least one person thinks Buffalo Wild Wings is deceiving its customers by calling its breaded pieces of chicken "boneless wings." A man named Aimen Halim filed a class-action lawsuit in Illinois on March 10, claiming the chicken wing chain has been creating "false and deceptive marketing and advertising" around the wings by not calling them what they should be: chicken nuggets.

Halim's argument is simple. He says boneless wings suggest that the meat is from a regular, "deboned" chicken wing, rather than what it actually is: deep-fried meat from a chicken breast. As a result, he says, it's misleading, and he thinks the wings need a better name. Halim goes on to compare other brands' names for boneless wings, with Papa John's (apparently appropriately) calling them "Chicken Poppers."

The result of the lawsuit is to be determined, but Halim isn't the only person who's made a fuss about the chain's boneless wings. A Lincoln, Nebraska man passionately brought the name up at a city council meeting back in 2020, saying it should be removed from all of the city's menus (via YouTube). Reddit users have also debated the age-old question, though it hasn't stopped "boneless wings" from becoming a household phrase.