Buffalo Wild Wings Class Action: Restaurant Deceives Vegetarian Diners

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Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it deceives vegetarian customers about their dining options because the restaurant deceptively cooks vegetarian meals in beef tallow.

“A large and growing segment of our population are vegetarian,” plaintiff Alexa Borenkoff says in the Buffalo Wild Wings class action lawsuit. “BWW is deceiving these consumers because it does not list beef tallow as an ingredient, disclose using beef tallow on its menu, or reference using beef tallow. Vegetarians are choosing, consuming, and paying for items cooked in beef tallow they would not have purchased.”

According to the Buffalo Wild Wings class action lawsuit, five percent of the U.S. population is vegetarian. There are many reasons that consumers choose to be vegetarian, including better health, religious reasons and/or religious restrictions.

Borenkoff states in the class action lawsuit that she is a vegetarian and that she dined at two separate Buffalo Wild Wings locations in New York. During these visits, she ordered French fries and mozzarella sticks, which the restaurant did not disclose were cooked in beef tallow.

Buffalo Wild Wings uses beef tallow to fry all items in its restaurants but fails to disclose that it uses beef tallow as an ingredient, the class action lawsuit alleges. Borenkoff argues that the industry standard is to use non-beef cooking oil to fry items.

“Because BWW does not list beef tallow as an ingredient, disclose its use on the menu, or reference using beef tallow, vegetarians are purchasing items such as the garden crasher, Mediterranean salad, roasted garlic breaded mushrooms, cheese curds, corn tortilla chips and red salsa, potato wedges, French fries, ultimate cheese sampler, etc., that are cooked in beef tallow,” the Buffalo Wild Wings class action lawsuit states.

Borenkoff asserts that vegetarians would not purchase any of these menu items if the restaurant disclosed that they were cooked in beef tallow. She alleges that a reasonable vegetarian customer would be deceived by Buffalo Wild Wings’ material misrepresentations and omissions.

According to the BWW class action lawsuit, Borenkoff did not discover that the menu items she purchased and consumed contained beef tallow until after she made the purchase.

She asserts that many vegetarian consumers are unaware that Buffalo Wild Wings uses beef tallow in many of its menu items and that they will continue to purchase items that they would not otherwise purchase.

By filing the Buffalo Wild Wings class action lawsuit, Borenkoff seeks to represent herself and a Class of vegetarian Buffalo Wild Wings consumers who purchased items cooked in beef tallow.

The plaintiff asserts Buffalo Wild Wings violated New York law by using deceptive or misleading practices by failing to disclose that its fried foods were cooked in beef tallow. She also asserts a claim for unjust enrichment.

Borenkoff seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, attorneys’ fees and other costs deemed appropriate by the court.

Borenkoff is represented by Michael L. Braunstein of The Braunstein Law Firm PLLC.

The Buffalo Wild Wings Beef Tallow Class Action Lawsuit is Alexa Borenkoff v. Buffalo Wild Wings Inc., Case No. 7:16-cv-08532, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

UPDATE: On Jan. 19, 2018, a federal judge dismissed claims that Buffalo Wild Wings allegedly fails to notify customers that it fries non-meat food items in beef tallow.