College Station – When it comes to life in Aggieland, Texas A&M is a hot topic in this part of Texas. So is the cuisine in College Station thanks to a booming population in Bryan/College Station. Fortunately, the food at Hullabaloo is a hot spot for college kids and the fine folks who frolic around Brazos Country.
Rich Risbon, his wife Sydney, his daughter-in-law Natalie and his pet parrot Turkey lead the charge at this little diner. We’ve been coming here for a long time considering we’ve been shooting our show here since 2013. The best part of shooting our show at Hullabaloo’s is getting a chance to grub on some great food. Since 2005, they’ve been serving up delicious diner food from the diner car they found on the internet.
“On eBay, yes,” Rich said. “I don’t remember, it wasn’t much though. It cost ten times that to get it here.”
After shipping it down from New York, the diner got an overdue overhaul.
“Stools are all original,” Rich said. “We left the original counter top which, you know, being up in New York area everybody’s wearing coats. So you can see all the sleeve marks on the countertop, but it survived.Some of the same tile work on the wall. We ended up taking some off, some of the wall over there to fix spots over here, and patch it with a checkerboard over there to make it work, cause you can’t match that same color anymore, you know.”
You’ll find all sorts of offerings from homemade pie, ridiculously sized reubens and pork rinds with a punch. Being from Philly, Rich knew the menu had to include one more thing: Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches.
“It is the place to get a Philly,” Rich said. “Even our rolls come from Philadelphia, so we actually get the meat from Philadelphia, too. You’re getting the Amoroso roll, which is baked in Philadelphia. And you’re getting the Philly meat straight from Philadelphia. So it’s a Philly steak sandwich original, you know, just a few thousand miles away.”
Food from a far away place known as the Northeast might have been a hard sell at first, but it didn’t take long for folks to take notice.
“Probably Food Network showing up,” Rich said. “We ended up being on a second one which was fine. They came here and this is the second place they ever filmed.”
If it’s good enough for a guy named Guy, I’m looking forward to getting a taste. We’re going to try a new offering, and it sound like something we can refuse.
“We have a Roman Sausage sandwich, and we have a Philly Cheesesteak and just a year or two ago Rich started, like, combining them out of, you know, boredom,” Sydney said. “We’re always looking for things to do and, like, new things to eat cause we see that they, you know, change stuff all the time.”
Sydney got started with the sausage.
“So we get to slice it to get the meat out of the casing,” Sydney said. “That we’re going to stick under a weight to help it cook a little quicker.”
After some more cooking, it was time to step into the ring.
“Spice with a little kick,” Alicia Jordal said.
The Philly Roman Combo, an incredible stop at the Hullabaloo Diner in College Station. Even the Mayor of Flavortown approves and it’s well worth a stop on the Texas Bucket List.
“One of the best I’ve had,” Heath said. “Sausage has got a bit of a kick to it, but not too bad.”