'Wingin' it' for the Super Bowl could clip your wallet

WASHINGTON - "A wing and a prayer" may be taking on a new meaning at some Super Bowl parties across the country this year.

Across the country, there have been reported shortages of Buffalo wings.

That includes, of all places, Buffalo, N.Y., the city that gave birth to the spicy, greasy finger food.

The reason is two-fold: Demand for wings typically goes up around the Super Bowl, and a major supplier of fresh chicken, Pilgrim's Pride, filled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. The Washington area, however, may be insulated from this potential tailgate travesty - at least, for now.

"We haven't been affected as far as a shortage, just by a dramatic price increase," says Dan Tufts, director of operations at Buffalo Wing Factory & Pub.

Fresh chicken wings are sold in commodities markets, so price fluctuations are not unusual. Tufts says the price of a pound of wings usually rises three to four cents in the week leading up to the Super Bowl. This year, however, the weekly increase has been on the order of ten cents a pound.

Tufts says it's "probably the highest we've paid for wings, I'd say, in the last six to 10 years." But he says those increases aren't being passed to consumers yet.

"Usually you see a decrease after the Super Bowl, so we're waiting until after the Super Bowl to see if things don't level out again."

If they don't, Tufts says a price hike could come to the menu at Buffalo Wing Factory as soon as next month.

For the big game, however, Tufts says the chain's four restaurants will sell 16,000 to 18,000 pounds of Buffalo wings on Sunday alone -- a far cry from the 10,000 to 15,000 they sell on the average week.

"We've already got our 16,000 to 18,000 pounds allocated for us, so we'll be good," Tufts says. "So if you need wings, come in."

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