The Dirty Buffalo
Just Winging It Since 2012.
The story behind The Dirty Buffalo.
The Dirty Buffalo started with two Buffalo transplants missing a little piece of home.
Steph and Russ Gilbert moved from Buffalo to Hampton Roads in 2005 when Steph came to Virginia to attend William & Mary Law School. Russ later enrolled at Old Dominion University, and somewhere along the way, Hampton Roads became home.
But for seven years, they kept looking for something they couldn't quite find: a casual neighborhood spot with authentic Buffalo-style wings, cold beer, Bills football and the kind of atmosphere where you actually got to know the people around you.
Eventually, they decided to build it themselves.
After Russ graduated from ODU, they took the leap. The original vision was bigger than the budget, so they started small—a tiny quick-service wing joint near campus with a handful of tables, some 26-inch TVs and ridiculously late hours.
In 2012, The Dirty Buffalo opened its doors.
Two Guys. Zero Restaurant Experience.
Opening a restaurant was one thing. Figuring out how to run one was another.
In those early days, Russ was there from open to close—which explains how he ended up working close to 90 hours a week.
About six months in, Steph had seen enough and Russ called in reinforcements: Ryan Lynn, his best friend since preschool. A Navy veteran, Ryan had previously been stationed in Norfolk and returned to Hampton Roads ready for a career change.
There was just one small problem.
Ryan didn't have any restaurant experience either.
So there they were: two lifelong friends, zero restaurant experience, figuring it out as they went and quite literally just winging it.
They listened to their guests. They learned from their mistakes. And with the help of some incredibly dedicated employees—some of whom are still part of TDB today—they built the kind of laid-back neighborhood place Steph and Russ had been looking for all along.
Turns out, Hampton Roads had been looking for it too.
Our Story, Unfiltered.
Hear how it all started in our own words.
Then We Had Kids.
By 2016, the little wing joint was ready to grow—and our lives had changed too.
We were parents.
And we had discovered a problem familiar to a lot of parents: the places that were really fun for our kids weren't necessarily places we wanted to hang out, and the places where we wanted to eat great food, drink a beer and watch the Bills weren't always particularly excited to see our kids walk through the door.
So when we finally had the chance to build the bigger, full-service TDB we'd imagined from the beginning, we built the restaurant we wanted for our own family.
We moved just down the street into a building four times the size. We added a full bar with rotating craft beer, TVs everywhere and a game room where the kids could actually have fun while their parents stayed awhile. And because apparently subtlety isn't our thing, we painted the whole building bright blue.
That family-friendly part of TDB wasn't dreamed up in a marketing meeting.
It's part of our DNA.
The Dirty Buffalo Grew Up. Sort Of.
That tiny wing joint near ODU eventually became three full-service restaurants across Hampton Roads.
The menu got bigger. The sauce list got a little ridiculous. The TVs got considerably larger than 26 inches.
Along the way, we've cooked wings with Guy Fieri on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, brought home eight awards from the National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, been named the 2019 Hampton Roads Small Business of the Year by the Hampton Roads Chamber, and built a community of Bills fans, regulars, families and team members who have made TDB part of their own traditions.
But the basic idea hasn't changed much.
Make great food. Listen to our guests. Take wings seriously. Don't take ourselves too seriously. And give people a place where they actually want to hang out.
A Few Things We're Pretty Proud Of
Featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Guy Fieri came to The Dirty Buffalo on Colley Avenue in Norfolk to cook with our crew, and our Buffalo Soldier Wings made the show.
Travel Channel — Food Paradise
Our Little Creek location on the national wing tour.
National Buffalo Wing Festival — Award Winners
Multiple trips home from Buffalo, New York with hardware:
2018 Award Winners
- Sweet Sriracha
- Cajun Buffalo
- Rookie of the Year (most wings sold by a 1st time restaurant)
2023
- Strawbenero BBQ
- Sweet Heat Mesquite
2024
- Traditional Medium
- Big Blue Q & Big Blue Belly Rub (Tag Team)
- Maple Bacon Crunch
Inside Business — Entrepreneurial Excellence Award
Russell Gilbert, president of The Dirty Buffalo, named an Entrepreneurial Excellence Award winner by Inside Business in 2017.
Coastal Virginia Magazine — Best Wings (Gold)
Since 2022, Coastal Virginia Magazine readers have repeatedly picked The Dirty Buffalo as the Overall Gold winner for Best Wings in Hampton Roads — plus Gold for Best Sports Bar, Southside.
Still Local. Still Dirty.
More than a decade later, we're still locally owned and operated right here in Hampton Roads.
We're still making our sauces. Still watching the Bills. Still trying new things. Still learning as we go.
And we're still incredibly grateful that something that started because a couple of Buffalo transplants missed the food and neighborhood hangouts back home became a place where so many other people have made memories of their own.
More than just a wing joint?
Yeah. We think so too.
Locally Owned. Community Focused.
Proudly Hampton Roads.
- LocalSince Day One
- Supporting OurCommunities
- Bills BackersWelcome Here
