Since 1986, Papa Bees has been a go-to destination for fans of chicken wings and, just as importantly, fans of the Buffalo Bills. Now the perennial Best of Orlando® challenger founded by the Burke brothers — Joe, Mike, Jerry and Kevin — and named in honor of their father, Bernard Burke, is moving out of its longtime home at 480 S. Ronald Reagan Blvd.
The 40-year-old institution will take over the larger space recently vacated by Holy City Zoo BBQ, a 40-day-old burnt end, just up the road at 190 S. Ronald Reagan Blvd.
The flappers paradise started off as a humble wing joint on Curry Ford Road before settling into the northern fringes of suburbia. Some of the Burke boys worked at the legendary Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY, and used the watering hole’s recipe as inspiration to develop the sauce for Papa Bees, which was then called Papa B’s.
Indeed, the Longwood wing house’s well-guarded recipe is now under the protection of current owner Lorie Hamm, whose ex-husband, the late Jim Hamm, a chef from Buffalo, took over Papa Bees in 2009.
The menu now boasts 22 house-made sauces, of which the “Nuke” is almost as painful and impossible to forget as Scott Norwood’s missed field goal. Sorry for the reminder, Bills fans.
Another reminder: Papa Bees opens at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, in their new location, after which their current location will cease service.
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