Thursday, May 29, 2008
The skinny on Chubbies
Larry Bly
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The very first thing you notice when you walk into Chubbies is the cash register. Can't miss it. You'll be standing directly at the front counter as you come through the door. It's a tiny restaurant. But it's a tiny restaurant with a big heart -- not to mention the bear of a guy running it.
Ed "Poppa Bear" Paz and his wife, Shirley, (also known as Chubby) are the owner/operators. A recent visit found me talking with Big Ed himself. He's a muscular guy with a ton of real he-man tattoos, not those silly things people get printed on themselves today. He's a hog-riding, rough-and-tumble guy with a nice demeanor and an easy talker. His grill cook is a man of few words who worked up my Philly steak sub right before my eyes while I chatted it up with Ed.
Ed and Shirley, originally from Philly, brought back that city's claim to the sandwich world so that we dumb Southerners might experience the real deal of a Philly cheese steak sub. Theirs is made with fresh USDA grade beef, chopped on the grill and seasoned to taste -- though no one asked me how I wanted it seasoned, so I guess it's seasoned to their taste.
While I really enjoyed my cheese steak, it could have used a bit more spice. I can never get enough pepper on anything.
The menu limits itself to 17 items max in the winter (includes seasonal chili -- the only non-sandwich item on the menu, available Oct. 1-May 1) and 16 items in the summer
Forget sides. French fries, potato salad, chipotle sauce and all the rest -- every sandwich comes with a dill pickle spear and your choice of plain potato chips or barbecue potato chips.
That's it. Don't even ask. If you're not here to enjoy a meaty mighty steak or hoagie, you've come to the wrong place.
Turns out that I came to the right place. The grill cook chopped up my steak on the grill and added the extras that I ordered: mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers. Once finished, he mounded the cooked beef, placed big slices of provolone cheese on top of it, then took a fresh hoagie bun, split, and placed it on top of the mixture, like a tent, right on the hot grill.
This has the effect of melting the cheese into the rest of the meat mixture while steaming the bun. He then somehow scoops it up with his spatula, wraps it in tin foil, and slips it into the "to go" bag, along with the pickle and chips. You're on your way in no time. There are no tables, so it's grab and go; though a few chairs are provided in case there's a wait.
I ate my Philly in the parking lot, getting a bit of grease on my new shirt. But hey, it's a small price to pay for this delicious, authentic slice of Philadelphia. You gotta have a little grease ... can't grill cook without it. Fans of Philly steaks will tell you that the grease is a part of the fun.
Chubbies offers 12-inch hoagies: American, Italian, ham, turkey, meatball and tuna in half size. Plus something called the Chubbies Belly Buster, with its salami, ham, turkey, bologna, pepperoni, cheese, lettuce and tomato. Warning! It's enough for two. And both of you will be happy.
Philly steaks can be dressed with American, Provolone cheese or pizza sauce -- served toasted -- or the Southwest Cheese Steak to appease our Southern-oriented taste buds, apparently, with pepper jack cheese and salsa. Add peppers and onions for a few cents more.
Dressings include oil vinaigrette, Italian, mayo, mustard.
You can read all about the history of the Philly cheese sandwich on the back of the menu or read about Ed and Shirley. They'll have your hot sandwich ready in less time than it takes to verse yourself on these subjects.
However, the history is not quite so simple as their document would have you believe. There's been a raging war going for decades about who invented the Philly cheese steak, though I'm partial to their version.
The cheese steak was invented by Pat Olivieri in 1930, made with chopped beef and melted cheese. Others make the claim as well. Pat's on Passyunk Avenue in Philly makes theirs with gooey Cheez Wiz. And there seems to be some debate about how much chopping of beef makes the best Philly steak sub.
For instance, Dalessandro's in the Roxborough neighborhood prefers making theirs with thinly sliced and finely chopped beef on a light roll.
One thing's for sure, Philly has a ton of places making their own versions: Tony Luke's under I-95 near the ballparks, H&J McNally's Tavern, Jim's steaks, John's roast pork, Pat's King of Steaks, Rick's Steaks, Steak on South (as in "Where do all the hippest meet ..."), and Steve's Prince Of Steaks, just to name a few.
The City of Brotherly Love takes this subject very seriously. A Philly steak is a one of a kind, no matter how many versions exist, each with legions of fans.
One time Laban Johnson and I made Philly steak subs on our TV cooking show, "Cookin' Cheap," from recipes sent to us by people who actually lived in Philly. Of our 27 years' worth of shows (a record in TV cooking show history, according to Wikipedia) we never got a worse drubbing than our pathetic efforts on that show. Big in Philly, "Cookin' Cheap" was watched by hordes who found our little PBS show to be a fascinating bit of Southern yore -- or just something unexplainable, like warts.
But we truly failed to impress our fans there with our attempts at this deceivingly simple sandwich. At least we were laughable, which was always fine by us.
Despite my personal failings at making an authentic Philly steak sandwich, I can still appreciate the real thing when I taste it!
Chubbies takes it pretty seriously.
CHUBBIES
Lamplighter Mall
5524 Williamson Road
Roanoke, Va.
366-1253, 366-1254
Open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
Soft drinks available
