Buffalo Boss Exits Sherman Phoenix
Hot wings restaurant will prioritize its standalone location on Near West Side.
Guests at the grand opening of Buffalo Boss. Photo taken September 2023 by Sophie Bolich.
Another Sherman Phoenix Marketplace business has left the nest.
Buffalo Boss announced the closure of its location at the business hub on Tuesday. The transition will allow owner Taj Pearsall to prioritize his brick-and-mortar location, which opened in September at 540 N. 27th St.
“We are thrilled to announce that we are fully focusing on our standalone location,” Pearsall said in a statement. “We are grateful for the incredible support we have received from Sherman Phoenix since opening in 2018.”
Sherman Phoenix helped launch Buffalo Boss to Milwaukee diners nearly six years ago, but the chain restaurant actually got its start much earlier in New York — bringing a nugget of truth to its tagline, “Brooklyn’s Finest Wings.”
Jamar White founded Buffalo Boss in the New York City borough back in 2010. The chain is backed by White’s cousin, Shawn Carter (better known by his stage name Jay-Z), and has locations in Brooklyn and Orlando. Pearsall brought the business to Milwaukee in 2018.
At its Near West Side location, Buffalo Boss emphasizes gluten-free and non-GMO products, offering a lineup of Buffalo-style chicken wings, plant-based wings, hand-breaded chicken tenders, shrimp, wraps, sandwiches and bowls, as well as sides including fries, cheese fries, sweet potato fries and yellow rice.
The restaurant marinates its wings — traditional or boneless — for 24 hours to infuse plenty of flavor. The wings are then coated with dry rub or sauce, with options ranging from mild to blazin’ BBQ and topping out at the fiery N-Sinerator.
Guests can further customize their order by mixing sauces and requesting an additional char on their wings — an extra two minutes for crispy or up to six minutes to “burn ’em.”
The restaurant is also known for its house-made bleu cheese dressing, which is available to purchase by the two-ounce cup or 16-ounce jar.
Efficiency reigns at the brick-and-mortar restaurant, which offers kiosks in place of face-to-face ordering — a growing trend across the city where front-of-house staff continues to dwindle in the wake of the pandemic. And though orders are packaged to-go, guests are welcome to dine on-site. A small, indoor dining room offers a handful of tables, with additional seating on the patio for warm-weather days.
Orders can also be placed online or by phone, at 414-779-2677. Delivery is available via third-party delivery services including Grubhub, Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Buffalo Boss is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
