Boneless wings are still wings, judge rules

In an opinion heavy on chicken puns, a district court judge ruled Tuesday that the boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings could indeed be called wings.

The order, in a lawsuit filed by a Chicago man in 2023, was dripping with skepticism at the claims that the chain was misleading consumers about its boneless wings.

Judge John J. Tharp Jr., of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, dismissed the claim by Aimen Halim, saying it “has no meat on its bones.”

“Despite his best efforts, Halim did not ‘drum’ up enough factual allegations to state a claim,” Tharp said in his ruling.

Buffalo Wild Wings did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for Halim also did not respond to a request for comment.

According to the complaint, Halim bought boneless wings from Buffalo Wild Wings in Mount Prospect, Ill., in January 2023. Halim thought he was buying chicken wings that had been deboned, but he soon discovered they were not.

Halim sued Buffalo Wild Wings, saying the chain deceives its customers by labeling its products as “boneless wings,” when the chain instead uses breast meat, which is cheaper. According to the judge’s order, Halim claimed that had he known the product was not actually deboned chicken wings, he would have paid less or not bought it at all.

Buffalo Wild Wings disputed Halim’s claims, saying that context clues make clear the nuggets cannot be made of wing meat, and that “wing” refers to the style of cooking, not a chicken’s body part.

In his order, the judge sided with Buffalo Wild Wings, saying a reasonable consumer would not think that boneless wings were made of wing meat.

Tharp noted that cauliflower wings are also sold under the wing section of the restaurant’s menu and as an alternative to traditional wings.

“If Halim is right, reasonable consumers should think that cauliflower wings are made (at least in part) from wing meat,” he said. “They don’t, though.”

Tharp also said that the menu offered boneless wings at a lower price than traditional wings — an indication that the item is not, in fact, deboned.

Halim can amend his claim to try to prove he suffered “economic injury,” but it’s unlikely to be persuasive, Tharp said. He has until March 20 to file an amended complaint.

This is not the first time that boneless chicken wings have caused legal action and other drama.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in July 2024 that a man who ordered boneless wings should have expected the possibility of bones, denying him a jury trial after he suffered serious medical complications from a bone fragment.

In 2020, a man in Lincoln, Neb., delivered a passionate plea to his City Council to remove the name boneless wings from menus in the city.

And on Reddit, there are hundreds of comments debating the legitimacy of “boneless wings” as a true product, with some carefully explaining how they are different from chicken nuggets. Recipes explaining how to make boneless wings call for a variety of ingredients, but typically begin with a boneless chicken breast.