In Port Chester, Chili Is All About Meat and Heat

As a college kid, every so often I'd find myself at Hubba. Like most other patrons, I was substantially inebriated, as were all my buddies. And at 3 a.m., where else could we go?

Yet as time went on, I started to look forward to the eventual clown-car ride of seven people in a Civic, on a mission to get the greasiest food in Westchester.

Late night food is tricky: either you go to a diner and eat some bland food after an hour's wait, or find an all-night McDonalds, only to chow down on fast food that was made hours ago and reheated for your displeasure.

But the discerning insomniac always chooses Hubba.

It's fast, all the food is cooked right in front of you, it's cheap, and they're open late enough that you can stay for last call and still get some chili cheese fries on the way home. And did I mention they have the best chili in Westchester?

On Friday I treated a few Patch people to dinner at Hubba.  We sat at the end of the thirteen seat counter which runs the length of the entire restaurant. Dollar bills decorate the walls, most of them covered with notes and inside jokes scribbled by patrons.  The old flat top in the corner was dominated by the same huge pot of chili I remembered from ten years ago.  The menu is written on paper plates that have been nailed to the wall behind the counter.

We ordered, and when a Patch editor started to order one of the few non-chili dishes, I corrected her: "We're here for the chili!" Because to go to Hubba and not eat the chili is a colossal mistake. 

The wait was short, and a few minutes later two chili cheese dogs and chili cheese fries sat waiting for me on the counter.  This almost brought tears to my eyes, because ladies and gentlemen, Hubba is the king of junk food.  

The one problematic editor remarked it wasn't chili: "Chili has tomatoes, beans, and sometimes at my mother's house in Vermont it even has zucchini!"  Thank God we live in New York where the chili has meat and heat, and that's all she wrote. Who wants zucchini on a hot dog?

The chili is spicy, but not too spicy, more like on the edge of fiery hot. The food is greasy and everything is grilled or fried.  Service is fast and friendly, a rarity in places that are open past 11 p.m. The menu is expansive and everything comes with chili and cheese as options. 

Did I mention it's cheap? It is cheap!  Four starving writers, two items each, four sodas, and four chili cheese dogs to go, for $50. But bring some cash -- Hubba doesn't take credit cards.

Jeremy Shvetz is a trained chef and a second-rate Gnome Death Knight in World of Warcraft. In his spare time, he enjoys grilling, sampling the fare at Westchester's most famous eateries, and wondering what it would be like to be a proud member of the Horde.