The 'Weck' in Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck referred to what sandwich?

The “Weck” in Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck referred to a beef on weck sandwich.

Buffalo Wild Wings began in 1982 as Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck, a name that reflected the founders’ Western New York connection. Beef on weck is made with roast beef served on a kummelweck roll, whose top is traditionally covered with coarse salt and caraway seeds.

The sandwich is associated especially with Buffalo and Western New York. It is commonly served with thinly sliced roast beef, au jus, and horseradish. The name “weck” comes from a regional German word for a bread roll, while “kummelweck” refers to the caraway-topped roll.

A common mix-up is treating “weck” as another style of chicken wing or as shorthand for a French dip. Buffalo Wild Wings eventually dropped “& Weck” from its name, but the original reference remains the reason some people still called the chain “BW3.”