"Eateries Old and New" - Opinion Page, 2006

Long-time loyal customer and fan of McCobb's Howard Lee Ball wrote a nice opinion piece about McCobb's that appeared in the Suburban Trends newspaper in 2006.

Howard and his family have a long history with McCobb's, going way back to when McCobb's was called the Maple Snack Bar.

You can read the article below or click the picture on the right to view the original newspaper article as a PDF file (opens in a new window).

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Some of the old eateries are around and improved. Of the famous Texas Wiener vendors, The Maple Snack Bar was among the best.

The Maple Snack Bar was located on Hamburg Turnpike a bit north of the Alderney Milk Barn. It was one of the roadside stands that were popular in the late '30s to '70s. It was one of the true sellers of Texas Wieners and invention of Paterson restaurateurs, which was at the time served only in a few establishments. The snack bar was a gathering place for young motorists and families, The cry of "two all the way" echoed off the Ramapo River in the back of the stand. "Two all the way" referred to two hotdogs with sauce, and other condiments. It was and is like the nectar of the gods. Don't mistake it for the lowly California " Chili Doe which could never touch the succulence of the Texas Weiner. Another feature at the Maple Snack Bar was Boylan's Birch Beer. At the time, you could not get birch beer anywhere except this area. There was a bottle version that tasted like medicine - HOWARD LEE BALL the real Boylan's on tap tasted as though it had been drained from a fleecy cloud.

I made many trips to the stand as a youth and consumed large amounts of tube steaks and many gallons of sauce. We often took our food and sat at the riverside and talked. I don't remember having brown gravy on my French fries, but I know that was on the menu at some hot dog stands. When Jim and Beth McPherson visited me from Weston, Missouri, their family became addicted to Texas Wieners and fries with gravy. The taste was nationwide.

Maple Snack Bar opened some time the early 1940s and served the public until 1973 when Tom Mamakos not only took over the business but expanded to include indoor dinning space. The menu was expanded, but the same family atmosphere prevailed. The call for "two all the way" still filled the air as families settled down to lunch or dinner. A baby sitter for Spero and Dean Mamakos was Mrs. McCobb. She was the nomendonor of McCobb's Family Restaurant. Tom has retired and turned the business over to Dean and Spero who maintain the family flavor not only in the service, but in the sauce. Whenever I fly into Los Angeles there is a jar of McCobb's sauce in my luggage. Some times my son Guy pays more attention to the jar of sauce than he does me when we arrive, that's the way Texas Wiener deprived people act! The addition of an ice cream bar has made McCobb's even better and is a replacement for the Alderney Milk Barn, which is now a parking lot.

My Missouri friends stun their Heartland Fast Food shops by ordering fries with brown gravy, but none of those rubes have been able to make a Texas Wiener.

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