BALLAST POINT, Fla. — The secret to the "Steak Bomb" is...salami.
Salami and steak, cheese and onions, mushrooms and a fresh roll, cooked to perfection on the same trusty grill for four delicious decades now.
The trademark sandwich at Chubby's in Ballast Point (5023 Bayshore Boulevard, Tampa), the "Steak Bomb," has been a hit with soldiers at MacDill Air Force Base since 1982.
Today is the eatery's 40th anniversary.
"People come from all over," said Christi O'Malley, who owns Chubby's with her brother Michael Dickinson. "Maybe they were stationed at the base 20, 30 years ago."
Dickinson jumped in.
"They'll say, 'I'm back in town, and I had to come into Chubby's and get a Steak Bomb,'" he said.
The scratch kitchen also cranks out beautiful pizzas from an oven with 40 years of service as well.
The other secret to Chubby's is...consistency.
"If you had something from our menu 20 years ago, you can still come in and have that same feeling," O'Malley said. She bought the restaurant a few years ago. "You know what you're going to get at Chubby's."
Chubby's original concept was clown-themed. As a nod to those creepy early days, a lone clown remains by the bathrooms.
"There were a lot of clowns," O'Malley said.
Tampa Maya Jane Castor is expected to stop by the delicious local institution today to toast Chubby's on its big birthday celebration.
Whether the mayor will also eat a Steak Bomb is anyone's guess.
