Buffalo Wild Wings tempts fate with all-you-can-eat wings deal

The offer will be available to restaurant customers on Mondays and Wednesdays for a limited time. | Photo: Shutterstock

Red Lobster probably isn’t the best place to turn for marketing inspiration right now. But Buffalo Wild Wings does it anyway.

Starting this week, the 1,264-unit casual dining chain began offering unlimited boneless wings and fries for $19.99 to customers who dine in on Mondays and Wednesdays.

The limited-time offer is similar to the $20 Endless Shrimp promotion that has become shorthand for Red Lobster’s recent problems. The deal proved effective in attracting customers to the seafood chain’s restaurants last summer, but the price was too low and it lost money, worsening the company’s already precarious financial situation. Red Lobster. The chain closed dozens of stores this week and is now reportedly heading toward Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Buffalo Wild Wings is aware of the risk it’s taking and is having fun with it. “Please don’t bankrupt us” » B-Dubs wrote on X (formerly Twitter) while promoting Monday’s meal.

The channel’s generosity has already gotten it into trouble. In 2017, he ended a popular half-price wing deal that ran on Tuesdays, saying that while it boosted traffic, the high price of bone-in wings made the special too expensive.

Since then, it has entered into other wing deals, usually involving boneless wings, which are less subject to price fluctuations than the bone-in variety.

But the introduction of an all-you-can-eat offering is bold and shows how important value has become in casual dining and the industry in general.

Applebee’s, for example, is in the middle of a $1 margarita promotion, while Chili’s is trying to compete with fast food with a burger that mimics the Big Mac.

Not to be outdone, McDonald’s is planning its own $5 meal deal after losing traffic earlier this year.

Today, Buffalo Wild Wings is also trying to appeal to price-conscious consumers.

The all-you-can-eat wing offering has some limitations to keep customers from overdoing it. It’s for dinner only, cannot be shared with multiple people and leftovers cannot be taken away.

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