Buffalo Wild Wings circling Old Mill

A popular restaurant/sports bar may be winging it to South Strabane.
Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. has applied for a restaurant liquor license transfer for a location in the Old Mill project, which is being developed off Route 19. Township supervisors will have a hearing on the intermunicipal transfer at 6:30 p.m. March 25 in the municipal building, 550 Washington Road.
A legal notice for the application appeared in the Tuesday edition of the Observer-Reporter.
The company’s plans for Old Mill could not be confirmed Tuesday or Wednesday. Corporate representatives did not respond to requests for additional information.
The license transfer application for 50 Old Mill Boulevard, however, indicates the Minneapolis-based firm’s intent to be the fourth tenant since Christmas to commit to the revived retail endeavor.
Hobby Lobby, a national arts and crafts chain, signed a lease in late December, and Field & Stream, an outdoors store launched by Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2013, did so two weeks ago. LongHorn Steakhouse was approved for a liquor license transfer in January but hasn’t yet agreed to a lease.
Considered a casual dining restaurant as well as a sports bar, Buffalo Wild Wings is reputed to be more of the latter. Its much-hyped slogan is “Beer, Sports, Wings” – sauce and suds, with sports on an abundance of large-screen TVs.
The chain debuted in 1982 in Columbus, Ohio, and has expanded to more than 950 locations in 49 states and Canada. (It isn’t in Rhode Island.)
Only three Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants are within 30 miles of Washington, the nearest being at The Pointe in North Fayette. The others are in West Mifflin and Wilkins Township.
Two dining spots, Max & Erma’s and Olive Garden, are the only businesses operating in Old Mill, a project revived and renamed over the past year or so. It was The Foundry in its previous – and ill-fated – incarnation.
J.C. Penney was the first store to open in The Foundry in March 2007, and three others followed, but subsidence issues caused damage to the buildings, forcing three to leave by mid-2008. Penney returned to Washington Mall, and Bed Bath & Beyond and Ross Dress for Less fled.
The Max & Erma’s property was unaffected, and it was the only tenant to remain. Olive Garden opened next door in December 2012.