Three or four times every week, McAllen’s Buffalo Wings & Rings restaurant welcomes Jacob Rodriguez and his family for a special meal. Jacob, who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, also happens to be a Buffalo Wings & Rings superfan.

“We’re always so happy to see Jacob whenever he and his family come in the restaurant,” said Dora Valdez, the manager of the location. “He always puts a smile on our faces, so we thought maybe we could try and put a smile on his this time.”

Jacob knows everything about Buffalo Wings & Rings, from its history and founding, to its entire menu. Recently, Valdez and the franchisee of the McAllen restaurant, Raul Munoz, coordinated a meeting between Buffalo Wings & Rings CEO Nader Masadeh and Jacob. Masadeh was going to be in the Rio Grande Valley to present Munoz and his team with an award for their prosperous 2016 having entered the company’s esteemed $3 million club. Valdez and Munoz contacted Masadeh to see if he’d also be able to make time to meet Jacob, too.

“I was so excited to learn of the enthusiasm that Jacob has for Buffalo Wings & Rings. I just had to meet him myself,” Masadeh said. “When Raul informed me how big of an impact Jacob and his wonderful family had on our staff in McAllen, I thought it would be an honor for me to share lunch with him.”

Jacob specifically expressed an interest in meeting Masadeh after learning about the CEO’s journey by watching Masadeh’s episode of Undercover Boss. So, on August 3, Masadeh made a grand entrance into the McAllen Buffalo Wings & Rings, ushered in by a mariachi band before he surprised Jacob and shook his hand and sat down to eat. 

The two split lunch and chatted about his love of Buffalo Wings & Rings and Masadeh promised Jacob a gift headed his way in the future – tickets to a Dallas Cowboys football game. The meeting was even captured from a local news crew from CBS affiliate KGBT: http://valleycentral.com/news/local/brownsville-restaurants-biggest-fan-gets-surprise-visit-from-ceo.

“I’m just glad that we could come together and make this happen,” Valdez said. “Jacob always comes in to the restaurant and puts smiles on our faces, so I’m glad we could help put a smile on his this time.”