A judge has ruled Buffalo Wild Wings is allowed to continue calling their boneless wings “boneless,” even though they are “essentially chicken nuggets.”
The ruling comes after a Chicago man, identified as Aimen Halim, filed a lawsuit in March of 2023 arguing that BWW’s boneless wings are not actually wings.
The complaint sought to challenge what it called “the false and deceptive marketing and advertising of Buffalo Wild Wings’ Boneless Wings,” claiming that “the name and description of the Products (i.e., as ‘Boneless Wings’) leads reasonable consumers to believe the Products are actually chicken wings.”
Halim added that the chain’s description of their boneless wings leads customers to believe they are deboned chicken wings, made up completely of chicken wing meat. But the product is actually slices of chicken breast deep-fried, and compositionally more like chicken nuggets, the lawsuit stated.
Chick-fil-A giving away free chicken biscuits: How to get yours
In January of 2023, Halim bought boneless wings from a Buffalo Wild Wings in Mount Prospect, Illinois, and claims that he thought just that: The boneless wings he purchased were exclusively made from chicken wing meat. He said that, after realizing what they were, he would not have bought them or would have paid significantly less for the item.
As a result, Halim claims he suffered a financial injury due to the restaurant’s “false and deceptive conduct.”
Despite his efforts, Illinois Judge John Tharp Jr. ruled on Tuesday that Halim’s argument did not have enough meat on the bone.
“Boneless wings are not a niche product for which a consumer would need to do extensive research to figure out the truth. Instead, ‘boneless wings’ is a common term that has existed for over two decades,” Tharp wrote.
The judge went on to say that Halim “did not ‘drum’ up enough factual allegations to state a claim.”
“Though he has standing to bring the claim because he plausibly alleged economic injury, he does not plausibly allege that reasonable consumers are fooled by BWW’s use of the term ‘boneless wings,’” Tharp said.
When the lawsuit was first filed in 2023, Buffalo Wild Wings provided a tweet in response to a request for comment from Nexstar’s WGN, which said, “It’s true. Our boneless wings are all white meat chicken. Our hamburgers contain no ham. Our buffalo wings are 0% buffalo.”
Tharp, however, said he will let Halim edit his initial complaint, although Tharp admitted a different ruling is a long shot.
“Accordingly, although it is difficult to imagine that Halim can provide additional facts about his experience that would demonstrate that BWW is committing a deceptive act by calling its nuggets ‘boneless wings,’ but the Court will give him leave to try. Any amended
complaint is due by March 20, 2026,” Tharp wrote.
