Restaurants prepping for the big game

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - For many, watching the big game means eating pizza and chickens wings. Shops across western New York are gearing up to feed fans on Sunday.

At one storied Buffalo franchise, it's already gametime. Just Pizza is cranking out orders for this Sunday, despite a big increase in the cost of doing business.

The wholesale price of chicken wings has jumped from about $1.11 a pound one year ago, to $2.05, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Just Pizza General Manager Joe Luzio said, "Prices always go up. We usually eat the cost, because then the [price of] wings will come back down [when] springtime comes, and we'll get that money back. But in the meantime, Buffalo still eats the same amount of wings."

"Our store will probably move about a ton-and-a-half, two tons. Altogether, between all of our locations, anywhere between five and seven tons of wings," Luzio said.

In container terms...

"Phew! That's a lot. I can tell you... maybe about 8,000, 8,500 buckets of wings?" Luzio estimated.

Not to mention the 400 or 500 pizzas the flagship store will serve up; over 2,000 pies when you add all the Just Pizza stores together. Getting all that food hot and ready is no small task.

"Preparation starts about a week ahead. Once you get the schedule made and get all your people lined up, then you start doing your prep work little by little, each day. You have to get ahead. You can't start the Friday of," Luzio explained.

Word to the wise, you also shouldn't wait until Friday to order.

"Buffalo's well-educated. They know. They know to call in advance," Luzio said. "Half of the orders come in two, three days in advance."

That's not to say that it's too late to order, the folks at Just Pizza want us to be very clear about that.

Luzio says they've never had to turn anyone away, but if you wait until Sunday, you can probably plan on waiting a couple hours longer.