STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Philadelphia has cheesesteak. Buffalo has chicken wings. And Rhode Island has Olneyville New York System wieners. Did you know this? I did not know this. But now we do, thanks to The Public's Radio, which is based in Rhode Island. And David Wright has a report on a change at a local institution.
(SOUNDBITE OF GRILL SIZZLING)
DAVID WRIGHT: Lunchtime finds George Saccoccio working the grill right by the window at Olneyville New York System in Providence, as he has done off and on since 1973.
So what exactly is the New York System?
GEORGE SACCOCCIO: The New York System is actually a generic term for restaurants only in Rhode Island that sell these - hot wieners. They call it the system because of the setup of the restaurant. You got the stools. You got the bar. This is the system.
WRIGHT: Don't you dare call it a hot dog joint. LA has Pink's. Of course, Coney Island has Nathan's. But this place is different.
SACCOCCIO: We sell a product here that you can't get anywhere else in the country...
WRIGHT: A product known locally by a few different names.
SACCOCCIO: ...Gaggers, destroyers, Greek lobsters.
WRIGHT: They may look like hot dogs, but George says a true Rhode Island wiener is flat at the ends.
SACCOCCIO: That's because they come the way hot dogs used to a generation ago - in a rope. We have a guy who cuts them every day fresh - beef, pork and veal.
WRIGHT: Served up in a bun and garnished all the way.
SACCOCCIO: Mustard sauce, onions and celery. That's all the way.
WRIGHT: And what is this meat sauce you're putting on?
SACCOCCIO: This is our famous meat sauce. One guy in the family knows this recipe, and we're pushing 80 years.
WRIGHT: (Laughter).
SACCOCCIO: I think it's more closely guarded than Coca-Cola. But I'm just - you know, I'm joking.
BILL BRYAN: I don't want to know.
(LAUGHTER)
WRIGHT: Bill Bryan says it doesn't matter what's in the meat sauce. What's important is that it's stayed the same since he was a kid.
BRYAN: It's a classic. I mean, it's an institution. It's a Rhode Island thing.
WRIGHT: How often do you come?
BRYAN: Not as often as I probably should, or maybe not.
WRIGHT: Or maybe not...
(LAUGHTER)
WRIGHT: ...Depending on what your cardiologist has to say.
BRYAN: Exactly. Exactly.
WRIGHT: He and his friend, Mark Soprano, practically grew up here.
MARK SOPRANO: Late nights when I was younger, and now we're here - hasn't changed a bit. Hopefully, it stays the same way.
WRIGHT: A lot of the customers worry it might change because the family that's owned Olneyville New York System since 1946 wants to retire. They've sold the business to new owners. Matt Ijack picked up his order to go.
MATT IJAC: You don't want something to just become a Starbucks, you know?
WRIGHT: The new owners say they'll keep things just as they are. That goes for the menu and the staff.
SACCOCCIO: I have lemonade, fruit punch, iced tea, bottled water, coffee milk.
WRIGHT: Rhode Island style, it's got to be coffee milk.
SACCOCCIO: You want to try a coffee milk? (Shouting) Give me a coffee milk up for Dave.
WRIGHT: Coffee milk is another Rhode Island thing - a glass of milk with coffee-flavored syrup.
Here goes my first bite.
SACCOCCIO: Ah, yes.
WRIGHT: That's excellent.
SACCOCCIO: I could tell you stories. People come from all over the planet, no exaggeration. Did you know this place won a James Beard Award?
WRIGHT: Really?
SACCOCCIO: Really.
WRIGHT: Rhode Island all the way.
For NPR News, I'm David Wright.
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