PrintWhere can I find a "fat sandwich" in Manhattan?
I just came back from Rutgers and my friends introduced me to the grease trucks. Delicious. Is there any equivalent here in Manhattan?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
12 Comments:
The Fat Sandwich institution is pretty uniquely Rutgers.
You probably won't find anything quite like it, since they're the answer to the drunken and pot-addled machinations of college students.
Maybe you could get some diner or greasy spoon to whip you up an approximation by combining everything on the menu into a sandwich.
fuuchan at 2:00AM on 04/07/08
Of course, you could do this on your own, since the grease trucks work with pretty basic ingredients. Get your roll, fry some chicken strips, french fries, mozzarella sticks, top with a fried egg, ketchup and the obligatory piece of lettuce...
hamngatan at 8:53PM on 04/07/08
Sorry to be a novice, but what is a "grease truck?" As a student at The University Of Tennessee, we had "deli trucks" that came by the dorm for our 10PM study fix. I beleive this is where the Freshmen 15 came from! Grease trucks sound better than a 3AM trip to Krystal.
alpurv at 9:37PM on 04/07/08
Or order a burger and fries at your favorite diner and stuff it all into a bun.
The grease trucks are a Rutgers institution, a series of once mobile food trucks, not unlike the ones you'd see in major cities, only they've taken up permanent residence in a parking lot in the middle of campus. They're run by a gregarious, ball-busting Middle-Eastern proprietor who knows many of the kids that eat at his trucks by name.
They have grab and go snacks like bagels, chips, coffee, muffins, etc. They even carry cigarettes, but their claim to fame is these mammoth sandwiches dreamed up in the fevered brains of frat boys at 3AM.
Pretty much anything goes with one of these sandwiches. In one you might have all the trappings of a burger - the patty, the lettuce, the cheese, but throw in the fries and the ketchup straight into the sandwich, too. That's a traditional Fat Cat sandwich.
Other fat sandwiches might contain any combination of mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, just to name a few of the options.
Each combo gets a colorful name, often an homage to its creator, there is the Fat Darrel (immortalized as Maxim's #1 Sandwich pick in the entire nation), the Fat KoKo, the Fat Beach (once the fat B*tch, but that was recently deemed too offensive), etcetc...
Each sandwich is a calorie bomb, a meal in itself, and perfect after a night's drinking and/or studying
fuuchan at 12:48AM on 04/08/08
Sounds devastating. I must have one.
RYNRGSDL at 4:14AM on 04/08/08
Sounds suspiciously similar to the famous Garbage Plate but served on a bun.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Tahou_Hots[/url]
phaelon56 at 8:59AM on 04/08/08
mmmm Garbage Plate!
bobbob at 9:38AM on 04/08/08
Now that I've moved to Miami from New Jersey, I often find myself craving a fatcat. I've tried making my own - raiding the frozen food aisle, buying up mozzarella sticks, steakums, and chicken fingers, but alas, homemade fatcats just don't come close to the real thing. Sigh.
mistabelle at 9:51AM on 04/08/08
FUUCHAN! You rock! Thanks for the wonderful description of the Fat sandwiches. I'd first read about them a few years ago -- maybe when someone linked to the Maxim piece, I don't know. But your mini essay on them here strikes a great balance between making them sound appealing and subtly cautioning the reader as to their gut-bombing danger. w00t! Did you eat them? If so, what's your favorite?
Adam Kuban at 11:09AM on 04/08/08
@Adam
I'm a Rutgers New Brunswick alum, hahah!
Yes, I did challenge the Fat Sandwich in my time. There was a semester where I was on the College Avenue campus all day in an endless block of back-to-back classes. Sometimes, the only thing to do was come out between classes and grab one of these behemoths to get through the day.
My favorite was the chicken Fat Cat - grilled chicken, American cheese, lettuce, french fries and ketchup. Hold the mayo.
I just did a little Googling on the Fat Darrell out of curiosity, apparently the sandwich has also cropped up in other media since its Maxim appearance. Its appeared on Paula's Party, Good Morning America and in numerous print rags. Its creator and namesake also made a website for it:
http://www.fatdarrell.com/home.htm
fuuchan at 12:57PM on 04/08/08
As a loyal Scarlet Knight who's lived in NYC for the past 7 years, I can say with certainty that the fat sandwiches are unique to the Rutgers New Brunswick campus....I haven't found any place that makes them here, and yet they're unparalleled in terms of late night drunk food. The grease trucks on College Avenue sell them, but they can also be found at any one of a number of pizza joints on nearby Easton Avenue (RU Hungry...quality).
My personal fave was always the Fat Knight, which I recall being cheesesteak, mozz. sticks, french fries, and chicken fingers with ketchup and lettuce on a grinder roll.
Then I recall celebrating the completion of my senior thesis with a 6 pack and a Fat Elvis....essentially a gyro with french fries and mozz sticks.
The Fat Cat is the standard....double cheeseburger w/ fries on a grinder roll.
Such memories!
dmg924 at 8:19PM on 04/08/08
@dmg924
You know, to this day, I never got RU Grill to deliver a fresh Fat Sandwich to my door. Not like a special trip out to the grease trucks isn't great and all, but the idea of a Fat Sandwich transported to you, instead is tempting.
You're making me hungry, I haven't had a Fat Sandwich in ages.
fuuchan at 1:54AM on 04/09/08