Buffalo's Cafe

What Buffalo's Cafe does

Buffalo's Cafe is a U.S. casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1985 in Roswell, Georgia, specializing in fresh, never-frozen buffalo-style chicken wings, salads, wraps, and ribs. The company's core product is its 13 proprietary house-made wing sauces, which it positions as a category-defining differentiator. It operates 15 full-service Buffalo's Cafe restaurants and 75+ Buffalo's Express co-branded fast-casual units (the latter shared with sister brand Fatburger) worldwide under a franchise model, with corporate headquarters in Beverly Hills, California (legal entity: Buffalo's Franchise Concepts Inc.). Buffalo's Cafe is a subsidiary of FAT Brands Inc., a multi-brand restaurant franchisor.

The business operates on three revenue streams: restaurant food sales from dine-in, takeout, and delivery (transaction-fee model); franchise fees and royalties from franchisees and co-branded Express operators (licensing/royalty model); and ancillary program revenue from community fundraising initiatives (Dine and Donate) and gift card/sweepstakes promotions. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; the company sells $100 gift cards as promotional prizes and runs periodic survey-based sweepstakes.

Distribution is multi-channel: an owned online ordering site (order.buffalos.com), a mobile app, and integrations with five major third-party delivery platforms (Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates, Chow Now) plus enterprise delivery layers (Uber Drive, DoorDash Drive). Marketing is a mix of organic Instagram content, email (Constant Contact), and SMS (Attentiv Mobile), with messaging centered on game day culture, family dining, and community fundraising. The technology stack is standard restaurant operations with no disclosed AI, proprietary models, or API; no patents, certifications, regulatory actions, M&A, or leadership-change events were recorded in the available data.

Name

Buffalo's Cafe

Legal name

Buffalo's Franchise Concepts Inc.

Website

https://buffalos.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Buffalo's Cafe is a U.S. casual dining franchise chain founded in 1985, specializing in fresh buffalo-style chicken wings with 13 proprietary house-made sauces across 15 full-service restaurants and 75+ co-branded Buffalo's Express units with Fatburger.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Limited-Service Restaurants (722513)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Casual Dining Restaurants (THAFACAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Family-Style Restaurants (THAFACAC), Burger Fast Casual (THAFABAA)

Keywords

• Casual dining restaurants
• Buffalo chicken wings
• Fast casual franchise
• Sports bar dining
• Restaurant franchise chain

Headquarters

HQ city

Beverly Hills

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Restaurant Food Sales: One-time transaction revenue from dine-in, takeout, and delivery orders at restaurant locations. Revenue generated from sale of buffalo wings, burgers, and other menu items.
2. Franchise Fees: Revenue from franchise partnerships including Buffalo's Express co-branded locations with Fatburger. Franchisees pay initial fees and ongoing royalties.
3. Fundraising Program: Community fundraising program where organizations receive a portion of sales during hosted events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Buffalo's Cafe operates a casual dining restaurant chain specializing in fresh, never-frozen buffalo-style chicken wings served with 13 proprietary house-made sauces, alongside tenders, salads, wraps, ribs, and burgers. The company runs full-service Buffalo's Cafe restaurants and co-branded Buffalo's Express fast-casual locations operated in partnership with sister brand Fatburger, with dine-in, takeout, and delivery available across the system.

Product overview

Buffalo's Cafe operates a restaurant portfolio centered on buffalo-style chicken wings. The core offering is Buffalo's Cafe, a full-service restaurant chain with 15 locations worldwide, offering fresh never-frozen wings with 13 house-made sauces in a family-friendly atmosphere. The company also operates Buffalo's Express, a co-branded fast-casual concept with Fatburger, and maintains a Dine and Donate fundraising program for community organizations. Online ordering is available through the website and integrates with multiple third-party delivery platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Buffalo's Express: Co-branded fast-casual restaurant concept operated alongside Fatburger, serving both burgers and wings in a combined restaurant footprint

Products and services

• Buffalo's Cafe (full-service restaurant) Full-service casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1985 in Roswell, Georgia, specializing in fresh, never-frozen buffalo-style chicken wings served with 13 house-made sauces, alongside tenders, salads, wraps, ribs, and burgers in a family-friendly, sports-viewing environment.
• Buffalo's Express (co-branded fast-casual) Co-branded fast-casual restaurant concept operated in the same footprint as sister brand Fatburger, offering the same buffalo wing and sauce menu as Buffalo's Cafe in a quick-service format that combines burgers and wings.
• Buffalo's Cafe Dine and Donate Fundraising Program Community fundraising program enabling K-12 schools, university groups, youth sports teams, and non-profit organizations to raise funds by hosting events at participating Buffalo's Cafe locations, with organizations receiving a portion of sales generated during scheduled fundraisers.
• Buffalo's Cafe Online Ordering Direct online ordering service through order.buffalos.com and the Buffalo's Cafe mobile app for dine-in, pickup, and delivery, integrated with third-party delivery platforms including Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates, and Chow Now.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration13 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Uber EatsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party food delivery platform partner for order fulfillment and delivery services to customers.
• DoorDashminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party delivery platform partner enabling delivery of Buffalo's Cafe menu items to customers.
• GrubhubminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOnline food ordering and delivery platform partner for order fulfillment services.
• PostmatesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelivery platform partner for fulfilling online orders and delivering to customers.
• Chow NowminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOnline ordering platform partner for restaurant order management.
• FAT BrandscoreOthersParent company of Buffalo's Cafe. FAT Brands is a global franchising company operating multiple restaurant brands including Fatburger.
• FatburgercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister brand and co-branding partner for Buffalo's Express concept. Co-branded restaurants operate in same footprint, combining gourmet hamburgers and buffalo wings menus.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Wingstop: Wing-focused fast-casual chain with a strong off-premise and delivery model. Competes with Buffalo's Cafe for wing-occasion share but operates a smaller-box, limited-service format.
• Fatburger: Sister brand under FAT Brands and co-branding partner for Buffalo's Express. Operates a comparable franchise-driven casual dining model, sharing back-of-house and customer traffic with Buffalo's Cafe in co-branded units.
• Hooters: Casual dining chain with a wings-heavy menu and a sports bar atmosphere. Competes with Buffalo's Cafe for game day and group dining occasions among sports fans.
• Buffalo Wild Wings: National casual dining and sports bar chain specializing in buffalo wings. Closest direct competitor to Buffalo's Cafe in concept, menu focus, and game day positioning, but at materially larger scale.
• Twin Peaks: Sports-bar casual dining concept with a wings and American fare menu. Directly comparable in sports viewing, game day, and group dining positioning to Buffalo's Cafe.
• Zaxby's: Chicken-focused fast-casual chain with a similar Southeastern U.S. heritage and franchise-driven expansion model. Competes for chicken-occasion share and franchisee capital in overlapping regional markets.

Broad incumbents

• TGI Fridays: Established casual dining chain with bar-and-grill positioning and wings as a menu category. Competes with Buffalo's Cafe for casual dining occasions, though it is significantly larger and broader in scope.
• Chili's Grill & Bar: Large national casual dining chain with wings on menu and strong off-premise operations. Overlaps with Buffalo's Cafe on casual dining and wing occasions at materially greater scale.
• Applebee's: National casual dining incumbent with a broad menu including wings. Competes with Buffalo's Cafe on casual dining occasions but does not specialize in wings or co-branded formats.

Emerging players

• Raising Cane's: Fast-growing chicken-focused QSR chain. Adjacent competitor in the chicken-only segment that increasingly overlaps with wing-focused concepts for off-premise and group occasions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/buffalos
• Xx.com/buffalos_cafe
• Facebookfacebook.com/BuffalosCafe

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Buffalo's Cafe