Big Shot Bob's dubs new wing flavor 'The Roof is On Fire' in tribute to lost location

Stanley Machulsky of Plum, part of an ownership group for several Big Shot Bob’s House of Wings locations, described the company’s workers as “pretty quirky and a little goofy.”

That would explain how, just a few days after a devastating fire Sunday that destroyed the Churchill Center shopping plaza in Penn Hills — including the Big Shot Bob’s franchise located there — the company is selling chicken wings with a brand-new, off-menu flavor, “The Roof is On Fire,” in tribute to the destroyed store.

“It was created by a gentleman at the Morgantown store,” Machulsky said. “It’s honey mustard, our Arizona Heat sauce and cayenne pepper.”

Machulsky’s first concern was not upsetting anyone.

“They didn’t want to do it in bad taste, so they did some research,” he said. “I was there (in Penn Hills) when our building actually exploded, and I was pretty concerned for those firefighters. But we asked after them, and found out they were all OK and had left the hospital.”

Once Will Grundy from the Morgantown store began selling the new flavor, the recipe quickly spread to other Big Shot Bob’s locations.

“It’s been a huge success,” Machulsky said. “Everyone is calling me from the different stores, saying they had a bunch of people coming in and wanting that flavor.”

The TribLive Taste Test team couldn’t resist the lure of an off-menu item, and decided to sample a half dozen.

Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.