Taste of Buffalo turns up the heat with 'Hot Ones' collaboration for 2025 festival

Epic teaming brings exclusive hot sauce creations, celebrity ‘Heat & Greet’ pop-up, and behind-the-scenes content to Buffalo’s favorite food fest

Taste of Buffalo Press Release & Images

Calling all Western New York spicy food lovers! The Taste of Buffalo presented by Tops Friendly Markets announced a fiery new collaboration for the 2025 festival with popular internet TV show “Hot Ones” and its parent media company First We Feast.

For the first time ever, five Taste of Buffalo restaurants will team up with “Hot Ones” and First We Feast to create exclusive, heat-packed dishes utilizing the show’s legendary sauces. Attendees can put their taste buds to the test by experiencing these delicious creations from:

• D.A. Taste
• Avenue29 Foods
• Carruba’s Chicken Pit
• Babcia’s Pierogi
• Lime House Sushi and Ramen

That’s not all! Festivalgoers can visit “Hot Ones” and First We Feast’s “Heat & Greet” pop-up tent, where Buffalo’s own internet fan favorite Camera Guy Bill (Bill Drexler) will serve up spicy selfies and daring tastings of the show’s iconic “Last Dab” hot sauce from 2-3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Camera Guy Bill will also serve as a celebrity food judge, with the special honor of determining which of the “Hot Ones”-exclusive dishes will come out on top for the inaugural “Taste of Buffalo x Hot Ones Award”! Guests can catch First We Feast on the festival grounds all weekend as they’ll be filming content for its social media and website.

Camera Guy Bill (Image provided by the Taste of Buffalo)

“Hot Ones” (Image provided by the Taste of Buffalo)

••••••••

“Hot Ones” is a YouTube talk show where celebrity guests – including famous musicians, high-profile actors and actresses, professional athletes and more – join host Sean Evans for a 10-question interview where, prior to each question, the host and guest alike eat one chicken wing, with the spiciness of the wing increasing with each subsequent question.

The show, now in its 25th season, garners millions of views with each episode, and has been nominated for multiple Daytime Emmy Awards.

“I’m thrilled to bring the ‘Hot Ones’ heat to my hometown of Buffalo,” Camera Guy Bill said. “The people of Buffalo know spice, and the restaurants we’ve partnered with are cooking up some amazing dishes with authentic ‘Hot Ones’ flavors. Let’s go, Buffalo!” 

2025 Chair Matthew Reis said, “The Taste of Buffalo is thrilled to be spicing things up for this year’s festival through this exciting collaboration ‘Hot Ones’ and First We Feast. ‘Hot Ones’ and First We Feast have millions of fans from around the world, which makes it all the more exciting that we’re bringing them to Buffalo for the 2025 Taste. Western New Yorkers know a thing or two about spicy food, so we can’t wait for our attendees to put their taste buds to the test through the collaboration dishes and the ‘Heat & Greet’ pop-up. You won’t want to miss it!”

For more information on the nation’s largest two-day food festival, taking place July 12-13, head to www.tasteofbuffalo.com.