Which university was near the first Buffalo Wild Wings location?

The first Buffalo Wild Wings location was near Ohio State University.

Founders James Disbrow and Scott Lowery opened the restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, in 1982 after struggling to find Buffalo-style chicken wings in Kent, Ohio. Disbrow had been visiting Kent to judge an amateur figure-skating competition, and the pair’s search for wings became the business idea behind the chain.

The original restaurant was called Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck. “Weck” referred to beef on weck, a roast-beef sandwich served on a kummelweck roll and associated with Buffalo, New York. The name was later shortened to Buffalo Wild Wings, although the nickname BW3 still preserves the old three-part identity.

Ohio State University is the key landmark in the origin story because the founders deliberately chose a Columbus location near the campus. The college setting helped shape the chain’s early sports-bar identity, combining wings, beer and televised games. Within six months, Mark Lutz joined as an additional partner, and the company gradually expanded before beginning franchising in 1992.