The Dirty Buffalo, a staple of South Hampton Roads’ chicken wings scene, announced the abrupt closure of the chain’s first and only franchise location.

Ryan Lynn, the restaurant’s senior vice president of brand development and marketing director, confirmed the Chesapeake franchise at 612 Grassfield Parkway was shutting down after more than four years. The building was being vacated on Thursday, he said.

“It pains us to have to do this,” Lynn said. “The way this happened wasn’t ideal in any way shape or form for anybody involved. We just want to make sure that people know we do appreciate all that they have done for our brand and with our brand.”

The company said on social media on Friday that it tried to address issues that emerged over the last few years but they could not be resolved.

The relationship between the restaurant’s corporate management and its sole franchisee, Kevin Wagner, broke down, Lynn said, over several factors, including the franchise’s bookkeeping practices. He added he wasn’t in a position to elaborate further.

“We exhausted all efforts to keep it open,” he added. “This doesn’t sit well with us.”

The Dirty Buffalo’s Virginia Beach location. (The Virginian-Pilot file)

The Chesapeake location launched in 2021, and Lynn said its shuttering marks one of the saddest chapters in the brand’s 14-year history. He said it’s not been since the COVID-19 pandemic that such a hard call has had to be made.

Between 60 and 70 employees of the now-closed location have been transferred to other corporate locations, Lynn said.

There’s hope that The Dirty Buffalo will make a return to Chesapeake in the near future, Lynn said. He said he and the restaurant’s management also wanted to leave an open door to the possibility of franchising in the future, though noted it’s unlikely the next Dirty Buffalo restaurant would be a franchise.

“We want to thank the community that we have built relationships and friendships with,” Lynn said.

The Dirty Buffalo, now with three locations, was founded in 2012 by Western New York native and Old Dominion University alumnus Russell Gilbert, who wanted an establishment that reminded him of the comforts of his Bills-loving home. It grew from the original Colley Avenue location near ODU to spots in Norfolk off East Little Creek Road and in Virginia Beach, off South Independence Boulevard.

Attempts to contact Wagner were unsuccessful.

John Buzbee, 757-879-7421, john.buzbee@virginiamedia.com

https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/09/25/dirty-buff-chesapeake-closing/