Posted at: 08/27/2009 3:10 PM | WHEC.com
Updated at: 08/27/2009 8:27 PM
By: Brett Stagnitti

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Anchor Bar getting ready to open in Rochester

The famous Anchor Bar, that claims to have invented Buffalo Chicken Wings, is ready to open a franchise in Rochester. The new location on East Avenue is in the heart of the East End entertainment district and will open September 3.

“When I saw the Anchor Bar, I just knew it was a perfect fit.” Michael Collichio has owned other bars in the Rochester area, but once he met Ivano Toscani, the man who's been running buffalo's Anchor Bar for years, the idea of bringing the anchor to Rochester came into focus. “I told him I wanted to follow exactly what he was doing, I didn't want to change anything and he liked that and we made a deal fairly quickly.”

That means the Rochester location, near the corner of East and Alexander, will be making those world famous wings the same exact way they do it in Buffalo. “That's what we geared toward, we trained everybody right down there, so it's going to be the same process here as down there.”

Starting in June, Collichio gutted the former Karma nightclub and now the restaurant and bar is getting set to open next Thursday. “We wanted to do something where people can come seven days a week, watch some sports and have a great meal.”

They're getting ready to install more than 30 TVs for sports and display 4 custom Harley motorcycles. “That's why I wanted to go with this concept, because it's not like anything that's been down here.”

The East End entertainment district is dominated by nightclubs and a shortage of parking but the Anchor will have parking behind the restaurant and hopes the wings will attract crowds, no matter what. “We're hoping to get people in here every day.”

There are plans in the works to add another Anchor Bar, in an undisclosed spot in Henrietta. Mike Collichio is trying to finalize a lease and hopes to have that location up and running in about six to eight months.

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