BWW Go’s footprint grew by 60% in 2025. | Photograph by Joe Guszkowski
Buffalo Wild Wings was a story of two ideas in 2025.
There may be the restaurant firm’s core sports activities bar enterprise, specializing in hen wings, beer and televised sports activities, after which there’s its scaled-down offshoot, Buffalo Wild Wings Go, with its small storefronts centered on takeout and supply.
The newer, smaller model grew a lot quicker than the bigger one final 12 months, not less than when it comes to new retailer openings, as the corporate works to succeed in shoppers who wish to eat their wings at dwelling.
Atlanta-based Buffalo Wild Wings completed 2025 with 1,178 sports activities bars, 5 fewer than the 12 months earlier than, based on a franchise disclosure doc (FDD) filed final month. The decline got here from company shops: The corporate closed 16 of them, whereas franchisees opened 11 areas.
Buffalo Wild Wings Go, in the meantime, exploded by almost 60%, to 219 areas, from 140, per its FDD. Franchisees opened 104 new shops, whereas the corporate closed 11 company shops and offered 14 to franchisees. BWW Go grew notably quick in Illinois, Texas and New York.
The 2 manufacturers mixed for complete gross sales of $4.1 billion final 12 months, based on information from Technomic, which doesn’t escape every idea individually. That was a rise of simply 1.2% from the 12 months earlier than, regardless of the numerous unit development for Buffalo Wild Wings Go.
And on a per-unit foundation, gross sales at each manufacturers had been sluggish, FDD information reveals.
The common franchised Buffalo Wild Wings sports activities bar generated about $3.6 million in 2025, up simply 0.18% from the prior 12 months.
And the common franchised BWW Go generated about $928,700. That was an roughly 5% decline from 2024, when the common location did $978,700, expressed in FDD information as about $19,000 per week.
The decrease AUVs may very well be a pure results of the idea’s fast enlargement lately, although the figures don’t mirror the 92 franchised areas that opened in 2025 and weren’t working for the complete 12 months.
Buffalo Wild Wings Go debuted in 2020 amid the pandemic-fueled takeout growth. It provides hen wings and tenders with a alternative of 26 sauces, in addition to burgers, wraps, fried sides and desserts. A excessive proportion of its gross sales come by way of digital channels.
For franchisees, its smaller shops imply decrease growth prices and easier operations, however with a widely known model title on the signal. BWW Go additionally permits them to faucet into the rising marketplace for takeout wings led by the enormous Wingstop. However Wingstop, too, noticed AUVs decline final 12 months, by 6.5%, based on Technomic.
BWW Go is among the few full-service-to-quick-service spinoff ideas to achieve traction. Quite a lot of casual-dining chains have launched comparable offshoots over time, together with Pink Robin, Outback Steakhouse and Hooters, however few had been in a position to attain any form of scale.
And regardless of the gross sales points, Buffalo Wild Wings is shifting full velocity forward with Go: It expects so as to add one other 75 franchised areas this 12 months, together with 16 franchised sports activities bars, per its FDD.
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