HispanicBusiness

Duff's Famous Wings is taking its chicken wings to Texas.

The local restaurant chain, known for its chicken wings, has signed a deal to open its first franchise in Texas, in the affluent Dallas suburb of Southlake, said Jeffrey Feather, the president of Duff's Franchise Group.

The Texas restaurant will be the first out-of-state franchise for Duff's since it gained approval from the state about a year ago to begin franchising its restaurant concept. Duff's has three restaurants in Toronto and four in the Buffalo Niagara region, including its first local franchise that opened this past summer in the Eastern Hills Mall.

The Texas group, Famous Wings Texas, has signed its franchise agreement, which includes the option to open multiple Duff's locations, and hopes to have the Southlake restaurant open by early next year. "They're hoping to get up to 10," Feather said.

Feather said one of the partners in the Texas restaurant group was familiar with Duff's because he has other business dealings in Toronto. "He would go to the Duff's in Toronto and loved it and saw how busy it was," Feather said.

Feather said Duff's still hopes to add franchises in other areas. "Our initial thought was that we'd go more locally -- Syracuse, Rochester -- that kind of thing," he said. "We still would love someone in the Syracuse and Rochester area, a little closer."

Duff's main restaurant is located on Sheridan Drive in Amherst, with two other locations in Orchard Park and Depew and the Eastern Hills franchise in Clarence.