Judge says lawsuit over Buffalo Wild Wings boneless wings has “no meat on its bones”

An Illinois judge ruled that a Buffalo Wild Wings customer’s lawsuit over the restaurant chain’s boneless chicken has “no meat on its bones.”

Aimen Halim sued Buffalo Wild Wings in 2023, alleging that its use of the term “boneless wings” is deceptive because the menu item contains chicken breast meat. According to court documents, Halim ordered the “boneless wings” at an Illinois location in January 2023, expecting to receive “wings that were deboned.” 

Had he known he was eating breast meat, Halim would have refused to buy the product or paid less, the documents say. Halim sought monetary damages.

On Tuesday, Judge John Tharp Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois rejected Halim’s claims, riffing in his opinion that the plaintiff did not “drum” up enough facts to support his claim. 

Tharp said the term “boneless wings” is not deceptive but rather a “fanciful name.” He wrote that words can have multiple meanings, using the example of “buffalo wing,” which he said “refers to the type of sauce on the wing, rather than indicating it is made of buffalo meat.”

“A reasonable consumer would not think that BWW’s boneless wings were truly deboned chicken wings, reconstituted into some sort of Franken-wing,” Tharp said. 

Tharp also compared the item to cauliflower wings, another product sold at Buffalo Wild Wings, noting that a reasonable customer would not believe the dish is made from wing meat.

Later in his opinion, Tharp stated that “boneless wings” is a common term that has been in use for over two decades and is familiar to customers.

Buffalo Wild Wings likewise said that a reasonable consumer would not be misled by the term “boneless wings” and that “context clues make it clear that the product cannot be made of wing meat,” the opinion says.

The restaurant chain and the plaintiff’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tharp said Tuesday that Halim has until March 20 to file an amended complaint.