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5 Major Reasons Buffalo Wild Wings Is Headed "Downhill," According to Customers

The chain's been busy innovating... but it sounds like some customers are still completely underwhelmed.

How would you feel about a robot preparing your food—specifically, making your chicken, which some experts have said is one of the biggest food poisoning threats. As Buffalo Wild Wings is testing robots to fry their chicken wings, some patrons suggest their efforts may not fly. Here's why one social media user said BW3's has been going "downhill."

Earlier this week, Restaurant Dive reported Buffalo Wild Wings is in the process of trying out a robotic chicken wing fryer at some of their highest-volume locations. The outlet explained that during a period of labor shortages, chains like White Castle have reportedly deployed similar devices in their kitchens. The national wing destination also recently debuted a Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili flavor of wings (which reportedly come served with crumbled chips sprinkled on top).

Technology and new menu intros can be exciting… but it sounds like leaders at some B-Dubs locations might have other issues to concentrate on. Keep reading to see why a few Buffalo Wild Wings-goers say they haven't been thrilled with their experiences lately.

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"I am not sure what happened to the franchise."

In recent weeks, u/Murky_Skin_2562, an individual who identifies as a Buffalo Wild Wings customer, shared some feelings about the chain on Reddit. "Buffalo Wild Wings has down downhill over the past 10 years. I grew up going to BW3 as a kid to an adult and always love it. I tried it today and the service now is so bad. The wings are trash now I am not sure what happened to the franchise."

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"Way Overrated"

Around the same time when u/Low-University-1037 posted, "Buffalo Wild Wings is way overrated," u/CanEatADozenEggs shared a similar comment to the previous user's take on service: "This is slowly becoming a more and more popular opinion," this user said. "Mediocre wings, horrible service. The only thing they've got going for them is the large amount of TVs when lots of sports are going on, but that's not often."

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Concerns About the Value

U/bwave1 recently said their biggest issue is what they consider a low-quality experience. "Buffalo Wild Wings – where it takes 25+ minutes to finally get the wings you ordered, and you pay $75 for a family of 3 to eat and still are hungry when you leave."

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Meanwhile, They're Reportedly Short of Wings

Another user said they recently went to Buffalo Wild Wings… but the location was out of its namesake item. "Buffalo Wild Wings … out of wings," reported u/MakePlays last month.

U/Mustaine had a little fun with this: "It is now Buffalo Wild Chicken Nuggets."

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Except, There Are Bones to Pick With the Boneless, Too…

"How does this even happen?" asked a Pennsylvania Buffalo Wild Wings patron, u/iwaspoisoned-com, on October 12. "The person bit into it , was and cut them open and all were raw inside."

Maybe Wingy the robot is not such a bad idea after all?

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The Bones vs. Flats Fight

There are two kinds of wings eaters in the world: Those who aren't picky about which type of wing they pick up, and those who are. Apparently, u/NinthOman fits in the latter of these categories. "Word is Buffalo Wild Wings is no longer allowing customers to choose all flats or all drums on BOGO days. Every other day, they'll up charge you now."

This, of course, had Reddit up in arms, with more than 68 votes at press time. U/flyingisfearfulofme put it simply: "the chicken wing shortage is real, my dudes."

Has a restaurant you used to love been letting you down lately? Email us at [email protected] to tell us what's up.

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Editor's note: Technical choices in user comments were kept to preserve the original quotation.

Krissy Gasbarre
Krissy is a senior news editor at Eat This, Not That!, managing morning and weekend news related to nutrition, wellness, restaurants and groceries (with a focus on beverages), and more. Read more about Krissy