A Buffalo Wild Wings GO may be headed for the former Tigi Salon storefront inside Cleveland Park's historic Sam's Park and Shop, according to a source who says the fast-growing takeout chain has its eye on the vacant space. No opening date has been announced, and the tip has not been independently confirmed by Buffalo Wild Wings or the property's ownership.
The rumor surfaced in a report from PoPville, whose writer said, “I hear from a very good source that a is coming to the former Tigi Salon in the the HISTORIC Sam's Park and Shop.” The same report notes that landing a Buffalo Wild Wings GO in that spot would not be simple, since “this will require a major buildout/kitchen instillation” before any wings could be fried there.
Tigi Salon had already shuttered by last fall, around the same time the Target anchoring Sam's Park and Shop was set to close on November 1, as PoPville reported at the time. That closure left a hole in one of the neighborhood's most recognizable retail buildings, one that has drawn plenty of speculation from locals about what might move in next.
A Smaller, Delivery-Focused Format
Buffalo Wild Wings GO is not the sprawling sports-bar concept most diners know. The format features small storefronts focused on takeout and delivery, according to a report from Restaurant Business. The concept debuted in 2020 and has since become the company's primary growth engine, expanding from 140 to 219 locations in 2025 alone, a jump of nearly 60 percent, while the brand's traditional sports bars actually shrank slightly, finishing the year with 1,178 locations, five fewer than the year before. The company expects to add another 75 franchised GO locations in 2026, the outlet's reporting shows.
DC already has one example of the format in operation. PoPville notes there is currently a Buffalo Wild Wings GO at Rhode Island Place, just off the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metro stop. The concept has also been spreading through the Maryland suburbs; a GO location recently opened at 3231 Spartan Road in Olney, which Hoodline reported marked the fourth Buffalo Wild Wings GO in Montgomery County, following earlier debuts in Gaithersburg, Kensington and Burtonsville. That Olney location pulled a $185,000 construction permit before its buildout began, per the same report, and planned a grand-opening celebration for Saturday with a ribbon-cutting, prize wheel spins and half off every walk-in order.
The chain's expansion push has not been limited to the DC area. Buffalo Wild Wings announced plans in March to open six new restaurants in New Jersey, five of which feature the GO format, according to nj.com. Those five smaller-format locations are planned for West Caldwell, Midland Park, Bayonne, Warren and Hainesport, while a traditional Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bar is slated for Piscataway.
The History Behind Sam's Park and Shop
Whatever eventually fills the Tigi Salon space would be moving into one of the city's more storied retail addresses. Sam's Park and Shop opened on Connecticut Avenue NW in 1930 and is recognized as the first shopping center in Washington, D.C., and one of the first in the region, according to DC Historic Sites. Architect Arthur B. Heaton designed the Colonial Revival building with residential shoppers in mind, aiming to match the surrounding neighborhood's aesthetic.
The original configuration housed ten separate storefronts arranged in an L-shaped building, a layout that became the blueprint for other shopping centers across the city and region, the historic preservation record states. The center was later expanded, receiving additional extensions on its southern end in 1991. Cleveland Park's broader historic district was designated in 1987, and the Cleveland Park Historical Society produced design guidelines for the neighborhood's commercial corridor in 2023, a document reviewed at an October 2023 Historic Preservation Review Board meeting, per the DC Office of Planning.
For now, the Buffalo Wild Wings GO report remains a rumor sourced to a single tipster, with no confirmed timeline, lease details, or franchisee identified. Given the scale of buildout a commercial kitchen would require in a nearly century-old retail space, Cleveland Park residents watching the empty storefront may be waiting a while to find out if the wings are really coming.
