This popular Lakewood Ranch pizzeria recently opened another Manatee location
Kenny and Caitlin Buchanan discovered Wolveshead Pizza & Wings after relocating to Lakewood Ranch.
“That was one of the only Mom and Pops (restaurant) back then,” Kenny Buchanan said.
Eight years after moving to the area, the Buchanans bought the restaurant from John Breiner, who also previously owned Ed’s Tavern and the Peculiar Pub, in 2022.
Now they’ve expanded the popular Lakewood Ranch restaurant with a second location.
Located at 5348 34th Street W., Bradenton, the restaurant is roughly 2,700 square feet with 120 seats between inside and outside dining.
“When were looking to do another Wolveshead, I tapped (John Breiner) on the shoulder,” Kenny Buchanan said. “I said, ‘Whatever the next space is, I want you to make me another Wolveshead,’ because he’s a contractor by trade. So I hired him to be the general contractor for this job.”
Wolveshead expands with new location
The restaurant features the same customer favorites, such as the white chicken chili, cheese steaks and burgers, found at the Lakewood Ranch location. However, pizza and wings are Wolveshead’s bread and butter.
Most food costs between $11.99 and $15.49, with wings priced at $16.49 for 10 and large hand-tossed pizzas running between $18.49 to $24.29. A bar-sized pizza costs $11.99-$14.49.
“We consistently get voted best wings in Lakewood Ranch,” Kenny Buchanan said. “Those are independent polls on Facebook foodies, and when people say who has the best wings, time and time again it’s Wolveshead. It’s great notoriety for us.”
The seasoning for the wings is a dry rub that is a hit with customers.
Buchanan said the pizza is a New York recipe, and the ingredients are fresh due to having a small kitchen.
“We don’t have the space to actually freeze items,” he said. “So that results in, one would say, maybe a higher quality product than a frozen piece of chicken.”
Bradenton Wolveshead Pizza now open
The new Wolveshead location appealed to the Buchanans as an expansion location due to its proximity to IMG Academy, Bayshore High School, State College of Florida and in a plaza anchored by Detwiler’s Farm Market.
“You’ve got the little league team doing the end of the year party, the golfers that just finished their round and you have the sanitation worker and doctor sitting at the bar,” Kenny Buchanan said about the demographics at the Lakewood Ranch location. “So we really believed in that type of business model.”
A few other popular menu items include the Howl At the Moon fries, which includes the house seasoning; the Wolves Nachos, which are pub chips with white bean chicken chili, tomatoes, jalapenos, shredded cheddar jack cheese, sour cream and extra chicken; the California burger with sliced avocado, bacon and melted pepper jack cheese; and the Mother Clucker chicken sandwich with a house sauce, pickled jalapenos, bacon and pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles.
Wolveshead has 17 televisions, a full pub menu, full bar and 22 beers on tap.
A temporary move became permanent
The Buchanans, who met in college in Vermont, moved to Florida after a career opportunity presented itself. But there was a caveat from Caitlin.
“She said, ‘All right, let’s rent our house, just promise me we’ll come back,’” Kenny Buchanan said.
Roughly 18 months later, Caitlin told Kenny she wanted to stay and sell their house in the northeast.
“Fast forward eight years later, we ended up buying it not thinking that would ever be a thing,” Kenny Buchanan said.
The Buchanans owned, and still own, a few restaurants up north. And Wolveshead fit what they were looking for.
“It was similar to what we were doing up north,” Caitlin Buchanan said. “We knew what this was going to entail compared to something completely different.”
Hours of operation
The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. during weekdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the weekend, but those are subject to change depending on if there are large crowds for Monday Night Football or other events.
For more information, visit WolvesheadPizza.com.
