Taking BuffaLouie’s to more Hoosiers is what Evan Lieser and his twin brother Ethan hope to do — continuing the legacy their father, Jay Lieser, began in 1987 when he opened the restaurant while he was a junior at Indiana University.
Evan and Ethan graduated in 2024 from Indiana University and are now working with Ed Schwartzman, owner of the Bloomington restaurant, and Nick Williams, owner of the Carmel restaurant that opened in October 2024.
“We are in the process of franchising BuffaLouie’s,” Evan Lieser said, talking over the phone from his home in Munster.
He explained the franchising is still in process, with paperwork still needed before any other locations can be considered. But after seeing how people have enjoyed watching sports and enjoying wings in Bloomington and Carmel, the goal is to share both good food and the love of sports, shown on screens throughout the restaurants.
While the sons grew up helping in the Bloomington restaurant, absorbing the love of buffalo wings (BuffaLouie’s was the first Bloomington restaurant serving them) and watching IU sports, Evan says opening the Carmel location gave him new insights.
“There’s a ton of Bloomington alumni in the area,” he said, adding that sporting events draw big crowds for IU watch parties and “massive” groups for Pacers watch parties.
Unlike the counter service at the Bloomington restaurant, Carmel has servers and offers alcohol. The menu is the same at both locations.
While the Bloomington restaurant has offered fundraisers for many groups and nonprofits, this year the two restaurants are beginning a new way to help others — an ethos Evan Lieser said began with his father and will always be part of BuffaLouie’s.
National Wing Day Wednesday to help Riley Children’s Foundation
National Wing Day is Wednesday, July 29, and this year BuffaLouie’s restaurants in Bloomington and Carmel will be donating $1 for every bone-in wing sold at the two locations.
Schwartzman in Bloomington and Williams in Carmel are calling it Eat Wings. Give Back. Both understand that National Wing Day is one of the busiest for the restaurants. It was Williams who came up with the idea to partner with Riley Children’s Foundation to help provide children and their families with funds to help with the care Riley Hospital for Children provides.
“I wanted to do something to make a competitive atmosphere,” Williams said a week before National Wing Day. “We’re sports-oriented,” he said about BuffaLouie’s. “We’re trying to create a competition” that he hopes will become an annual event. The goal, Williams explained, isn’t just to have Eat Wings. Give Back. one year but hopefully for it to build a following.
“People can come and try and make a significant difference,” he said. “I don’t know it will raise a couple bucks or a couple thousand. I hope to see it grow in years to come.”
Williams said that BuffaLouie’s had fundraisers for MS with the Mendoza burger, as well as others.
“We’re always doing charity work. We’re a sports bar,” he said, adding that when people purchase 10 wings, with the donation, BuffaLouie’s will be “getting enough just to cover food costs. It’s a hefty donation.”
As the father of a infant son, Williams believes that’s just fine.
BuffaLouie’s in Bloomington is at 114 S. Indiana Ave., across the street from the IU Bloomington campus. The Carmel restaurant is at 43 W. Main St. in the city’s art district. For more, go online to buffalouies.com.
Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Taking BuffaLouie’s to the next level, and helping others along the way
Reporting by Carol Kugler, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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By Carol Kugler, The Herald-Times | USA TODAY Network
