The Anchor Bar’s chicken wings are a tourism magnet, a source of Buffalo’s identity and pride. Now, they’re no longer just Buffalo’s—a franchising group will open another Anchor Bar in Hamilton, Ontario, this winter, according to the Financial Post.

Citing both the quality of the Anchor Bar’s Buffalo wings and the familiarity between Buffalo and Hamilton—you just have to attend a Sabres vs. Leafs game to figure that out—franchisors Gary Reed and David Copperthwaite have chosen Lloyd Jackson Square for the first international Anchor Bar.

“This is a good thing because we have a lot of Canadian patrons [at our Buffalo restaurant],” Ivano Toscani, owner of the Anchor Bar said over the telephone this morning. “There will probably be even more [franchises],” Toscani continued after being asked if he was reluctant to extend his restaurant’s name beyond Buffalo.

“We have total control, of course,” Toscani added in terms of how much freedom he’s lending the new franchise in Canada. “We’ll have a say in the design, what they offer. They’re coming over soon to train, and then we’ll go from there.”

Humorously, Copperthwaite—the franchisor—notes that Canada’s Anchor Bar will have healthier options than those offered in Buffalo, suggesting that Canadians are a little more wary of smart eating than Americans.

“Everything’s going to be fresh. We’re not even putting in a freezer,” Copperthwaite said in the Financial Post piece. It’s funny, to me at least, that restaurants like Five Guys Burgers and Fries and now the Anchor Bar—those that vend some of the world’s top comfort foods—even both marketing themselves as “healthy.”

In addition, there will be an Olympic Burger (below)—an eight-inch long hot-dog-style burger—and an authentic Italian wood-fired pizza oven that will be exclusive to the Canadian location.

(above photo courtesy of thehamblogger.com).