Duff’s Famous Wings opens in Seminole Heights this week

Tampa’s about to get even more like New York this week when Duff’s Famous Wings opens in Seminole Heights.

Nicki McKiernan, a local Realtor attended a friends and family night, and wrote on social media that Duff’s—located at 5119 N Nebraska Ave. at the old Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe—will tentatively open on Tuesday.

On its own social media, the Buffalo-based sports bar said it plans on starting out with just dinner service and reservations “until we can completely get our bearings underneath us.”

Adrien Angelvy, whose Pomegranate Hospitality Group is the franchisee for Duff’s in Florida, confirmed to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that his team will open to the public on Tuesday, May 20, and said that seating will only be available by reservation so that staff can control volume while dialing in the quality.

Reservations for opening day sold-out by 9 p.m. on Monday night. A social media post says anyone without reservations can still stop by and have a cocktail or drink in the upstairs “speakeasy” lounge.

“People want these wings to be crispy and saucy just like they are in Buffalo,” Angelvy told CL. “So we will continue with reservations until we are entirely confident that the quality meets the high bar his team has set for itself.”

When the team is ready, Duff’s Famous Wings will start taking walk-ins. Angelvy added that Duff’s will eventually open for lunch, maybe as soon as Memorial Day weekend. “Slowly but surely,” he said.

Angelvy could also close on the property for a previously-announced Sarasota Duff’s location, he told CL, and thinks they could possibly open down there this fall.

Founded in 1946, Duff’s offers bar fare with a focus on both boneless or bone-in wings with a variety of Buffalo-style sauces, dry rubs, barbecue sauces and other flavors like parmesan garlic, teriyaki, mango habanero and hot honey.

Tampeños without Bills jerseys got their first taste of Duff’s last summer when the concept popped up at downtown’s Gen X Tavern.

Non-wing options include sandwiches, wraps, salads, quesadillas, burgers, sliders and beer-friendly starters like fried pickles, fried jalapeños, mozzarella sticks, mac and cheese bites and a Buffalo favorite, pizza logs.

A range of beer, wine and margaritas occupy the the drink menu.

McKiernan, a member of the Southeast Seminole Heights Civic Association, wrote that Duff’s Tampa outpost is very inviting with the feel of a northern bar.

“And still has a little Ella’s feel to it,” McKiernan added. “Most importantly, the staff was incredibly friendly and welcoming.”

Tampa’s new Duff’s location, announced in March, marks the Buffalo-based chain’s seventh location in the U.S., with the only other non-New York restaurant residing in Texas.

The restaurant got its start in the 1940s when Louise Duffney opened a small tavern in Amherst, New York, and by the 1980s the bar and restaurant earned its “famous” status for its beloved chicken wings. Duff’s Famous Wings still operates its flagship restaurant in that original location, just outside Buffalo.

Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café, which built and occupied the restaurant for 15 years, closed last fall. When the restaurant hit the market eight months before closing, co-founder and owner Melissa Deming told CL it was time for her to move on and start a new chapter in her life. “Hospitality is a fast-paced business. I am ready for life to slow down a bit and to move on to other ventures,” Deming added.

Duff’s renovation in Seminole Heights includes the preservation of the back mural “as an homage to Ella’s.”

UPDATED 05/19/25 10:38 p.m. Updated with comment from Adrien Angelvy, whose Pomegranate Hospitality Group is the franchisee for Duff’s in Florida.

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This article appears in May 15-21, 2025.