In Buffalo Wild Wings’ original nickname BW3, the third W stood for Weck. The restaurant began as Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck, so the initials produced “BW3”: Buffalo, Wild, and Weck.
Weck refers to beef on weck, a regional sandwich associated especially with western New York. It consists of roast beef served on a kummelweck roll, whose coarse salt and caraway topping give the sandwich its distinctive flavor. The founders originally included it because they wanted to serve both Buffalo-style chicken wings and this sandwich.
The chain was founded in 1982 in Columbus, Ohio, after James Disbrow and Scott Lowery had trouble finding Buffalo-style wings. The company later shortened its name to Buffalo Wild Wings as wings became its signature product. “BW3” therefore preserves a piece of the chain’s early menu history, while “Wings” is a later assumption rather than the original third word.