GILROY
– One of biggest-selling food items at the Garlic Festival this
year wasn’t located in Gourmet Alley.
No, the Fried Garlic Bologna Sandwich was tucked away near the
Cook-Off stage, where the creators, Gene Sakahara and Sam Bozzo,
gleefully fried and served the sandwiches to more than 3,000
patrons this weekend.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – One of biggest-selling food items at the Garlic Festival this year wasn’t located in Gourmet Alley.
No, the Fried Garlic Bologna Sandwich was tucked away near the Cook-Off stage, where the creators, Gene Sakahara and Sam Bozzo, gleefully fried and served the sandwiches to more than 3,000 patrons this weekend.
“People have been coming back and told us that they love it,” said Sakahara, who invented the sandwich, based on the fried bologna sandwiches that he used to eat as a kid. The idea came to him after watching a special on the Food Network about fried bologna sandwiches at a restaurant in Waldo, Ohio.
“We basically did this to rival Ohio,” he said.
While many people loved the sandwich, others were more cautious about trying it.
“I’m not so sure about this,” said Hollister native Bob Spetter. After trying it at the insistence of his wife, he thought it was “OK.”
“My kids liked it, but they had to get it without the tomato and onions.” said Marcy Holgrin, from Arizona. “I don’t really care for it.”
But others enjoyed the new creation.
“How could you not like bologna?” asked Daniel Pierce, from San Jose, before taking a huge bite.
Charles Mirken, a 52 year-old Gilroy native said he loved the sandwich. He said that he had come to the festival Friday, but decided to make a second trip out Saturday.
“I wanted a chance to eat the food I didn’t get to yesterday,” he said.
Sakahara said that he had planned to serve the bologna only for this year. However, if it does well enough, he’ll hand out the recipe to a local business, and they can serve the sandwich.
He compares the debut of the sandwich to when the garlic fries first emerged.
“People thought that was kind of hokey … now look at them.”
