Taryn Varricchio: At New Jersey's biggest university,
these sandwiches are king of the food scene.
Long plush rolls are filled with entire meals.
From cheeseburgers and ketchup to chicken fingers and fries.
If you're a student at Rutgers
or just lucky to be in the area,
there's one spot that's famous for serving them.
For many,
it feels like Rutgers was never without the fat sandwich.
But it wasn't until a collection of on-campus food trucks
called the Grease Trucks started serving it in the 70s,
that the fat sandwich truly became a rite of passage.
RU Hungry? was one of those trucks.
And today it's the only one left,
selling up to 700 fat sandwiches on a busy day,
at its brick-and-mortar location.
Fat sandwiches are famously overstuffed with fried foods.
Liran Kapoana: You're a college student
and you're in the mood for chicken fingers
and French fries and mozzarella sticks.
You could get all of those things separately at a restaurant
for like 15 bucks,
or you can just get them all packed into a 6-inch sub.
Taryn: Take the first fat sandwich ever made, for example.
It's dubbed the Fat Cat and it goes like this,
a long roll top with two cheeseburgers, ketchup
and mayo, fries, and lettuce.
It may look like a random assembly of toppings,
but there's a method to the madness.
Ayman Elnaggar: We put the main entrée, then the appetizer,
then the French fries, then the salad.
Taryn: You can order over 10 different fat sandwiches
at RU Hungry?.
Liran: I remember there was a Fat Elvis and a Fat Moon
and obviously the Fat Darrell, which like everybody had.
Cause it was just like the most logical combination
of things.
- The Fat Darrell is packed with chicken fingers,
mozzarella sticks, and fries
and slathered in marinara sauce.
And like many of the other subs named after Rutgers' own,
this one got its spot on the menu,
thanks to a former student named Darrell.
In 1997, Darrell convinced RU Hungry?
to swap in different ingredients for the Fat Cat.
And thus the most famous fat sandwich was born.
Darrell Butler: And the girl behind me,
she was with her boyfriend.
She was like, Hey, that looks really good.
Can I try that?
So they made her one, then her boyfriend wanted one,
then the next person wanted one,
the next person wanted one
and I'd standing with my friends, just watching this like,
50 people in a row ordered my same sandwich.
So we realized it was a big deal.
Taryn: In 2004, the Fat Darrell was voted
the number one sandwich
in the country by Maxim Magazine.
Darrell: Yeah, I guess all of a sudden like
kids are in their dorm.
They're like playing with cold cuts and they're like in the
cafeteria trying to Frankenstein these new sandwiches.
So then all of a sudden it's like they start popping up
like everywhere.
And by the end of that same year,
there were at least probably 30 or 40 sandwiches.
Taryn: But nowadays you'll have to earn the right to make it
on the menu, by eating five whole fat sandwiches
in 45 minutes.
Ayman: If they win the challenge,
then they can create their own sandwich.
They can create a poster for their sandwich,
with the name that they want.
Taryn: It's no easy feat, as seen by a failed attempt
from the king of food challenges himself.
(crowd chants)
Adam Richmond: Time runs out.
I didn't beat the Grease Truck gauntlet.
Taryn: So many students stick to indulging as they please,
often between classes or following a late night out.
Liran: If you really want to fill up on some
really, you know,
greasy, but delicious food
that you might pay for the next day
after a night of irresponsibility,
well, you might as well finish off
the night being as irresponsible
as you are at the beginning of it.
Ayman: 12 AM to 4 AM.
You can't get in the door.
Taryn: That's good.
Your fries covered in ketchup and mayo,
to me that's just delicious and then stick it between carbs,
and I love it.
What this is all about is just like this mishmash of
ingredients that all kind of ended up just working.
And I can see why on a college campus late at night,
this is like, this is like what you want.
Ayman: It's a food that is good for your soul.
It's a food that will make you happy.
If you're under a lot of pressure and stress
and eat that sandwich, with the first bite say,
yeah, I feel better, I feel good.
Taryn: Thank you guys for watching.
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