The Grease Trucks

It's no surprise to anyone that there is a food truck craze going on in America.  From NY to LA, Chicago to Austin, food trucks are popping up everywhere.  You can now find gourmet meals offered to you right on the sidewalk, offered at a fraction of the price of a restaurant, with the same amount of quality and friendly service.

Chefs and other professionals that want to get into the food industry are realizing it is easier than ever to start your own mobile food truck business.  And with the impact of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, food trucks are getting as much media attention and followers as the latest restaurant establishments.  Call it the newest trend.  Call it a fad.  Yet, The Grease Trucks of Rutgers University are some of the originals.  Started in 1979, the R U Hungry? food truck was the first, and the original Fat Cat was born. 

If you've never heard of the Fat Sandwiches, here's a rundown.  Imagine taking fried, greasy food, mixing it with lettuce, tomato, and onions, topping it with French fries, and stuffing it into a roll.  The orginal Fat Cat took every college kid's favorite meal, the double cheeseburger and French fries, and stuffed it into a roll with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and ketchup.  Sound delicious?  It is.

In 1997, a student by the name of Darrell Butler went up to R U Hungry?, and asked if he could take chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, and french fries, mix it with marinara sauce, and eat it as a sandwich.  Call it sheer genius or a drunken mistake, but alas, the Fat Darrell was created.  Thirteen years later, Maxim magazine named it the number one sandwich in the country. 



There are now about six Grease Trucks.  They're parked on the College Ave campus of Rutgers University, at the corner of College Ave and Hamilton Street.  Mr. C's is my favorite truck, but I couldn't tell you why, it's just preference. 

I was really skeptical about trying the Fat Darrell for the first time in the year 2000, but I will never forget my first bite.  I was a student for about three months at Rutgers, and after a night of drinking, a friend decided we should head over to the Grease Trucks and get some sandwiches.  Imagine this, you're 18, drunk, craving food, and you're broke.  You then learn you can get everything you're craving in sandwich form for $4.  Hell yes.  Now for the past 11 years, I still have yet to find another sandwich that even comes close to measuring up to it.  It's one of those things you need to experience at least once in your life. 

There are now over thirty Fat Sandwiches available, with a good variety of vegetarian options as well.  The prices have gone up since I was a student here years ago, from $4 and now in the range of $5.50-$6, but still a great deal.  The trucks are cash only, but don't worry if you forget to bring cash with you, as every truck now has an ATM machine built into it.  These trucks certainly have changed in the past few years after becoming nationally famous. 

I made the trek back to New Brunswick to visit The Grease Trucks at least once a year, but I haven't been back since 2008.  Now having a blog with the tag of "fatty" in the headline I decided to come back.  On this visit I bought two of my favorites, The Fat Darrell and The Fat Knight.  The Fat Knight (the mascot of Rutgers is The Scarlet Knight) has everything The Fat Darrell has, but with the addition of cheesesteak.  Oh yea. 

Fat Darrell on the left & Fat Knight on the right

Fat Darrell

I quickly realized one thing after this visit, though, I certainly can't eat like a college kid anymore.  I used to be able to devour these sandwiches in less than 15 minutes, but now I had enough food for about three days.  I guess that makes it an even better deal nowadays.

The Grease Trucks

58 College Ave

New Brunswick, NJ 08901