Dining: Hubby's Pizza

Hubby's Pizza as it appeared in Kennewick, Washington on 22-November-2005

KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON - It's Saturday and I'm in Kennewick, Washington. That can mean only one thing--time to have Hubby's Pizza.

Ever since Ed Gilbert opened Hubby's Pizza on Columbia Drive in 1976, my grandparents have been regulars. Often visiting on Saturday nights, they established a tradition that has spread throughout the extended family and probably was a major factor in creating my love of pizza previously mentioned on this blog. Part of the attraction of visiting the Tri-Cities was knowing that at 5 pm on Saturday, it would be time to meet at Hubby's.


A Hubby's Pizza box was observed on 2-January-2010

Well-promoted over the years, Hubby's has held its own as Kennewick has grown from about 30,000 residents at its founding to nearly 65,000 today. A large children's play area was added in the 1980's, at about the same time as a salad bar. Through it all, though, much has stayed the same. The furniture remains the original, heavy pine wood tables and benches that Gilbert special-ordered from LaPine, Oregon. The giant pizza knife, all 73 inches and 55 pounds of it, remains on the wall.


A medium "Hubby's Special" (now called the "Hubby's Household Combination") was observed on 2-January-2010

Of course, what has most prominently stayed the same is the pizza. Hubby's introduced what I would call thin-crust New Haven-style pizza to the Tri-Cities. Regulars of world-class Connecticut pizza restaurants like Pepe's and Sally's would be satisfied with Hubby's crust, their slightly tangy sauce, their own sausage blend, and use of pure mozzarella. Indeed, Hubby's is listed as amongst the world's best pizza on the well-known pizza site, Pizza Therapy, one of the things that convinced me that the site was trustworthy. My grandparents have always preferred the "Hubby's Special" (currently on the menu as the "Hubby's Household Combination") with salami, pepperoni, black olives, mushrooms, beef, and onions.


My grandmother Pat Gleich enjoyed a slice of Hubby's pizza on 2-January-2010

Ed Gilbert's son Monty officially bought Hubby's Pizza in 1995, and the founder tragically passed away in 2008 (as previously reported on this blog). I noted a tribute on the wall of the kitchen, visible from the order counter, during my visit today. Had I not known, though, I would not have guessed that anything had changed since 1976--and hopefully, Hubby's will continue to provide quality pizza for decades to come.

Margin Notes: Gambling, Hubby's, Griffey

Floyd Gleich posed with his check outside the lottery office in Yakima, Washington on 11-May-2009

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - Gambling has been in a theme in my life recently. On Monday, I drove my grandparents to the Washington State Lottery regional office in Yakima, Washington to redeem a secondary prize from the Lotto game. While my grandfather was eager to get his check, I was most eager to finally meet my cousin's one-year old son (pictures forthcoming).

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The next day, I found myself at the Wildhorse Casino near Pendleton, Oregon, observing amongst other things the slot tournaments. While I immediately caught on that teaching people to pound the "play" button as rapidly as possible was advantageous to he casino if people proceeded to do that at "real" machines, my grandfather caught the larger point. Since these machines could be programmed to win constantly for three minutes, that meant that the slot machines really could be calibrated to pay off at whatever level the casino wanted.

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Also in Pendleton, Oregon, we happened to run into Monty Gilbert, the son of the founder of the world-class Hubby's Pizza in Kennewick, Washington. For pizza lovers like me who have visited Hubby's but don't live in the Tri-Cities, the Gilbert family suffered a tremendous tragedy when Ed and Patricia Gilbert's boat was struck by a drunk boater, killing Ed as reported in the Tri-City Herald. Monty reported that his mother continues to "do as well as possible in the circumstances."

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Much as Hubby's Pizza has changed little since its opening in 1976, I certainly had flashbacks when I saw Ken Griffey Junior on television playing again in a Seattle Mariners uniform. "The Kid," one of three superstars (along with Edgar Martinez and Randy Johnson) who legitimated the Mariners in the early 1990's, still swings exactly the same as he did when young. Seeing him on television hitting a home run into the Subway $25,000 sign in the Minneapolis Metrodome on Sunday as the Mariners rallied to beat the Twins 5-3 was a reminder of when the Mariners first became credible as a winning team.

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Also on television, an ad from Kia for its Soul subcompact (available on YouTube) has mystified me. The most rational take on the the ad I've yet heard comes from my cousin-in-law Cynthia who said, "It tells me that the car is so small you have to be a hamster to fit in it."