KANSAS CITY, M.O. — Al's Bar and Grill is about 30 minutes away from Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. It's roughly a 15-hour drive from Buffalo.

Still, folks in K.C. say Al's has the best wings in town. That's not surprising considering their owner is a Buffalo native.

What You Need To Know

  • Al's Bar & Grill is the home of the Northland Kansas City Bills Backers

  • Owner Al Burns opened the bar 11 years ago, featuring Buffalo-style chicken wings and Labatt Blue and Genny Light beer

  • They have more than 15,000 wings ready for this weekend in anticipation of Bills Mafia in Kansas City

"It's a deep-fried wing with no breading on it and a sauce that's based with Frank's hot sauce. I mean, how can you screw that up?" said the bar's owner, Al Burns.

He knows what a good wing should be.  He grew up in Hamburg and graduated from Bishop Timon High School.

And he's always been a big Bills fan.

"I am still very much emotionally attached to the Buffalo Bills," he said.

And watching them go to four Super Bowls and come up short? 

"I cried after the first one. I cried after the second. I cried after the third one. I had no tears left after number four," he said. 

Not long after that, Al took a job in pharmaceutical sales and moved his family to Kansas City. 

But his dream was always to own a bar, and he made that happen 11 years ago.

"We've become known as go to place for wings in Kansas City," he said.

And they're also known as the home of the Kansas City Bills Backers. In past seasons before COVID-19, a rowdy bunch of 35-40 Bills fans packed into the bar to watch games on Sundays.

"We really have a very uh....what should I call it? They're crazy," he said. 

The place is decked out with Bills memorabilia Al's collected over the years, from helmets signed by Jim Kelly and Tremaine Edmunds, to a football autographed by Thurman Thomas. There are Bills signs adorning the walls (with a few Chiefs items to keep the locals happy).

And with the Bills in Kansas City to face the Chiefs on Sunday, you can imagine  for Al and his crew are pretty busy.

Fans have been stopping in all week, and they're expecting a rush from Bills Mafia this weekend.

With COVID-19 restrictions they can only fit so many inside, so Burns rented a tent to squeeze in a few more outside.

"We are the go-to place generally whenever the Bills come to town," he said.

And about those wings: they're planning to go through about 15,000 this weekend. Labatt Blue is already running low, and they weren't able to get in their normal order of Genny Light, another longtime favorite Western New York beer.

And he is doing something special for one lucky fan. He'll have a raffle on Sunday and give away a ticket to the AFC championship game at Arrowhead Stadium.

With all the hype, Burns is cautiously optimistic we'll see a Bills victory on Sunday, and just maybe,  this is year he'll finally cry tears of joy. 

"I want to win a Super Bowl. Buffalo wants to win a Super Bowl. Buffalo needs to win a Super Bowl and we're all excited, very excited," he said. "Kansas City, it's my home now but Buffalo, it's my heart."