No Meat on Its Bones: Illinois Man Loses Boneless Wings Lawsuit

There's a lawsuit waiting for everything, it seems.

When an Illinois man walked into the Buffalo Wild Wings in Mount Prospect a few years ago, he probably thought he was just ordering some dinner. Instead, he accidentally got rolling with one of the most eyebrow-raising lawsuits in recent memory.

His beef? That the restaurant’s boneless chicken wings were actually just chicken nuggets in disguise. That's right, like any normal person, he filed a federal lawsuit over "what counts as a wing.”

Aimen Halim argued that the breaded, fried chunks of chicken breast he purchased in January 2023 weren’t technically wings. According to him, he reasonably expected actual deboned chicken wings, not chicken pieces masquerading as wings rolling around in sauce. Halim claimed he either wouldn’t have bought them, or would have paid less if he had known the truth.

Here's What The Court Thought Of This Lawsuit

US District Judge John Tharp Jr. dismissed the lawsuit faster than you can say “extra ranch.” In a line destined to become a meme, Judge Tharp noted the case had “no meat on its bones.”

The ruling boiled down to the simple idea that reasonable consumers don’t actually expect boneless wings to come from real chicken wings. After all, menu items like cauliflower wings, chicken tenders, or even tofu wings have been playing that same game for years.

Back in 2023, Buffalo Wild Wings responded to the filing of the lawsuit by saying:

It’s true. Our boneless wings are all white meat chicken. Our hamburgers contain no ham. Our buffalo wings are 0% buffalo.

There's no mountains in Mountain Dew, either.

Which Sells Better, Bone-In Or Boneless Wings?

Here's what the numbers say about bone-in versus boneless.

Bone‑in wings dominate menus and sales. According to industry research by The NPD Group, about 60‑64 percent of chicken wings served in restaurants are bone‑in, with boneless making up the rest. Bone‑in wing servings actually increased in recent years while boneless declined.

Consumer preference also leans toward bone‑in. A YouGov.com survey of US adults found that 36 percent prefer bone‑in wings while 29 percent prefer boneless, and another 22% say they enjoy both equally.

According to foodservice research mentioned by Good Housekeeping, both bone‑in and boneless wings have grown on menus, but bone‑in wing sales grew about three‑to‑one faster than boneless in recent years, indicating sustained interest in traditional wings.