Re: Libby's Lunch Sauce & Gravy
From: Diamond
Date: 3/7/2022, 8:39 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
On 3/6/2022 7:44 PM, Diamond wrote:
Hi!
I’m originally from Paterson, NJ. The biggest thing I miss is the food,
more specifically Libby’s Lunch & Hot Grill. Libby’s sadly just closed
down so I won’t be able to go back on my next visit. I loved their fries
with gravy and cheese and the hot dog sauce. I know these companies are
rivals, found this out as a child when I mentioned hot grill at the diner
lol. I’d greatly appreciate a recipe for the sauce and for the gravy so
I can make it for my huge family who are now all in Michigan. We’d love a
reminder of home!
I found your recipe for hot grill, hoping to try it out with good results.
I’ll also try out Jonny & Hanges, a place I don’t remember trying but most
of my family have.
Awesome website, you’re doing great work. I appreciate it either way!
Diamond
Hello Diamond,
Sorry, when Libby's closed, they took both the gravy and the sauce recipes with them. The family holds them tightly,
and it does not appear that anyone has ever published the recipes or even copycat recipes for them on the Internet.
These sauces for Texas hot wieners were developed in the early years of the 20th century by Greek and Macedonian
immigrants from old family recipes for spaghetti sauce that they brought from their homelands. Their descendants
hold these recipe very tightly and don't give them out. Recipes for such chilies and sauces are usually quite complex,
with multiple ingredients, so they are difficult to duplicate without the recipes.
That "Hot Grill" sauce recipe on my site that you refer to may or may not be from the "Hot Grill" in Clifton, NJ.
The person who posted it said it was from a popular Texas hot wiener shop in Clifton, but they didn't say which shop.
I found a Libby's menu here: Libby's Lunch Menu
Note that the menu lists both "French fries with sauce and cheese" and "French fries with gravy and cheese", and they
list three different kinds of cheese: Provolone, Swiss, and simply "cheese."
I'll post this for reader input.
Phaed
