This Hubba's? Tell me more...

[doug_e 0]

Is this the small place on the left side of Boston Post Rd. in PC? Formerly known as Texas?

The reason I ask is that my Uncle used own that place in the late 50's, early 60's. Back then he used to make a chili for hotdogs that was different than anything around. It was a haz-mat on a bun, but out of this world.

I have the recipe buried in one of my cook books. I'll dig it out.

[LCFD994 8]

I know of Pats Hubba Hubba on Main Street in Port Chester. I dont know if this is the same place your talking about. But there was some serious chilli served there, havent been there in years.

[Shantz02 0]

Yes, this is most likely the same place. I dont know many of the old names, so "Texas" doesnt ring a bell. There is a bar the runs the entire length of the restuarant. There is a single aisle right behind the seats that is wide enough for travel in one direction. (Its a squeeze to get past others coming towards you or just standing there). The grill is kind of hidden right at the front window with the cash register a few feet inside the door. The chili is a must have.

[CHIEFPHIL 90]

Thats the place. I remember my old man taking me there when I was a kid. You cant find food like that here in Ct. When ever I'm down the PC way visiting relatives I stop in there or at Franks .

[wcr20 17]

i knew it as Texas Quick Lunch... haven't been there since it changed to Pat's Hubba Hubba some 10 years ago or so...

The Chilli when it was "Texas" was definitely haz mat material but unbelievably good...rumor had it that the pot was never cleaned out - just kept adding stuff to it.

If thats the recipe you have - by all means dig it out and post it!!

There were actually 2 chillis - one was seasoned, ground meat only that would be put on burgers, fries, dogs, etc. the other was the 'stew type' that was definitely 4 alarm- served in the blue greek style coffee-to-go cups. They had no soda - just fruit punch and (was it orange punch) from those old classic style bubbler machines.

In fact - at the time thats where PCPD went for their prisoner meals! (a burger - not the chilli)

[BFD669 3]

Hubba's could possibly have the best chili in the county(my opinion). If you like VERY HOT chili,there is a hot dog truck on willet ave in Port Chester just up from the steak house that has SERIOUS chili.

[doug_e 0]

Thanks guys, that's the place. I have the recipe for the chili put on burgers and hotdogs. I'll give my mother a call to see if we still have the other recipes from there.

In the meantime, I'm takin' a ride to PC real soon....

[wcr20 17]

wanna ship me a dose to chicago?

[Guest]

Hubbas is good eatin, but you gotta get the chilli; whether its smothered on your cheeseburger or cheese dog or fries, its a must. The chilli creates this thermo-nuclear reaction in your stomach that (coincidentally they dont have a bathroom there) makes the drive home more like a race to the nearest crapper with the devil). BUT TRUST ME ITS WORTH IT, HUBBAS IS "DAS SHEIZER"!! Getting there is simple; it is just north of the Rt 1 / Westchester Ave. intersection in Port Chester. you should see a fork in the road; go all the way to the left (if youre coming up from Rt 1, stay to the left of the fork, if youre comin from WC Ave take a sharp left). Parking in the rear entrance is plentiful, and Hubba's will be on the left hand side about 1/3 the way doen the block.

Also, try Teri's Tavern, about a mile north on rt 1 near PC/Grenwich border. Their chilli is great too.

[JBE 328]

Hubbas was introduced to me back in my Coast Guard days by a fella I knew from Greenwich. I used to go there occasionally when I worked in Port Chester 96/97. Haven't been there since. The chili was like major nuclear blast hot.

What was the name of that burger joint at the corner of Boston Rd and Westchester Ave that was open just about 24 hours a day?? It's not there anymore, and they used to have some seriously hot chili. Just a few notches below Hubbas.

[llm60 0]

Hubbas is the best for late night dinning if you catch my drift, Chilli cheeseburger wedge chilli cheese fries. And dont forget a hubba water. I also get 3 chilli dogs to go for breakfast!!!

[PCFD-2393 0]

The Restaurant at WestChester/ US 1 was Coneyz,not as good as Hubbas.

A Little history,Texas was sold to "Pat" back in the 90's,he also owns a place in Stamford,Ct (I believe in the Cove area).

Pat has since sold again,hence the name Hubbas,minus the "PAT".

Nothing beat Millie, back in the Texas,with cigarette hanging out of mouth,cooking your food. That's what it was all about!

Chili was much better back in the Texas days.

And we still get prisoner meals at Hubbas........................

[JBE 328]

Yeah, that was the name of the place. Coneyz. It had good burgers, the chili wasn't as good as Hubbas though.

[unleashedff248 3]

I just ate from Hubba's for the first time the other day. I work in Greenwich, CT and some people recommended it. The place looks like a dump from the outside, but damn their chili is good! Not too hot if you ask me though. You have to get the chili on everything though, they're not known for their hamburgers! Definitely a great place to get some good eats (and no negative GI effects!)

[wcr20 17]

completely coincidently - my buddy who turned me on the Texas just sent me this by email - (sorry for not properly quoting this)

Everybody Comes to Hubba's. O.K., Maybe Not the Health Food Crowd.

By PETER APPLEBOME

Published: July 10, 2005

Port Chester, N.Y.

YES, David Mobarek and Randy DiPietro, 17-year-old rising seniors at Port Chester High School, had been to Pat's or Hubba's or whatever it's called, every day for the last week. Yes, they had already had a proper dinner - tacos - at David's house. But there it was, almost midnight Thursday, and the two were digging away once again at their chicken platter, an enormous mound of fried chicken, smothered in a giddy, greasy glop of fries, melted cheese and chili.

A Port Chester Gathering Spot

"We weren't going to come here tonight," David says, only slightly sheepishly. "But we got hungry."

As all suburban teenagers know, there's nothing to do wherever it is they live, but there's usually one place that's a particularly inviting place to do nothing, to unwind after doing nothing, to take a break from doing nothing, or to hang out while trying to find that elusive something. Anywhere near Interstate 95 in southern Westchester and in Connecticut towns like Greenwich and Stamford - particularly this time of year - that place is often the ancient chili joint on North Main Street in Port Chester with the hundreds and hundreds of dollar bills taped to the walls and ceiling. It's where the yin and yang of suburbia north, with addictive regularity, get to face down both ennui and intestinal distress.

Long ago it was Texas Chili, presided over by a tough white-haired bird named Millie, who tended the chili, a cigarette dangling from her mouth over the chili pot, like the queen of Port Chester. Then it was Pat's Hubba Hubba, a name too good to retire, so most people still call it that. (Pat Carta still runs a Pat's Hubba Hubba in Stamford with more of a nostalgic 50's hubba hubba feel.) Now, run by Carlos Magan and his daughter, Karin Slough, it is now officially Hubba. The constant is the do-it-yourself décor and the industrial-strength chili, about 200 pounds' worth each day on weekends, that is prepared in a huge pot that looms over North Main like a water tower.

"If you're looking for the greasiest food with the best atmosphere, this place is a classic - it's just got that vibe," says Brendan Cahill, a 27-year-old musician and cook, who got the Pat's bug when he was a student at Purchase College. "You just feel inspired coming here. Tomorrow you may not feel so good, but while you're eating it, you feel great."

Hubba, which has the feel of an abandoned railroad car that's been hijacked by pro-cholesterol insurgents, is about 35 feet long and so narrow that there's less than five feet from the customers' side of the counter to the baby blue side wall. The walls and ceiling are plastered with a small fortune in dollar bills, and currency from places like Paraguay, Russia and Iraq - almost all emblazoned with thoughtful messages like, "Jill and Al's fourth trip to Pat's this week!"

The menu, mostly endless combinations of chili, cheese, hamburgers, hot dogs, cheeseburgers and fries, is scrawled on maybe 70 blue paper plates in a language - "California burger wedge with chili and cheese," "Meatball full house" - fully understood only by the regulars. You'll never go wrong ordering chili cheese fries or a chili dog with cheese.

The music is cumbia, Mexican rap, reggaeton and salsa; the chatter is in Spanish and English, and the clientele covers the waterfront in terms of income and ethnicity - as likely to include high school and college students from Greenwich, Rye and Larchmont, as waiters, bouncers and yardmen from Port Chester, Eastchester and Stamford. It's busiest from about 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and stays open until 4 a.m. (5 on Fridays and Saturdays) and then reopens at 9 a.m. Lots of truckers apparently want chili dogs for breakfast.

CHRIS DIBIASO got the Pat's habit while in high school and now comes when he's home from college at SUNY Stony Brook. On Thursday afternoon, he arrives in his Yankee cap, T-shirt, black shorts. "Chili cheeseburger Texas wedge," he says. "Chili cheese dog Texas and chili cheese fries Texas and a Hubba water to wash it down." Texas means chili and onions, so he's being only half redundant. Hubba water is water with a splash of Hawaiian Punch that the restaurant gives out free. Enough food arrives to feed a small village. "You get that craving; you have to go to Pat's," Mr. DiBiaso says. "I could eat this every day," he adds. "I might die sooner, but I'd die happy."

So on and on they come. Miguel Angel, newly arrived from Puebla, Mexico, but with those iPod wires already coming out of his ears. Pierre Brillant, the 6-foot-8, 320-pound bouncer from a nearby club, who usually orders four or five chili dogs after work.

A cellphone rings and Randy, one of the Port Chester High seniors, snatches his from his right pocket.

"Yo," he says. "I'm at Hubba's."

E-mail: peappl@nytimes.com