October 22, 1977: Stuff Yer Face Opens

The original location, 43 Easton Avenue, 1977-82

October 22, 1977: Stuff Yer Face opens at 43 Easton Avenue in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Five years later, in 1982, it moves into larger quarters at 49 Easton Avenue, where it remains.

The current location, 49 Easton Avenue

The restaurant is known for its stromboli, named for a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coasts of the Italian mainland and Sicily, pronounced "STRAHM-buh-lee." The food, usually pronounced "Strahm-BOH-lee," is a type of turnover, made of Italian bread dough, and filled with pretty much anything you want, but usually cheese, vegetables like onions and peppers, and Italian cold cuts such as salami. But the menu allows you to pick your own fillings, if none of the dozens of varieties fit you well at that moment,

Unlike the similar calzone, which are always stuffed and folded into a crescent shape, the stromboli is folded into a cylinder. Like the cheesesteak, it's believed to have been invented by Italian-American bakers in South Philadelphia, about 60 miles southwest of New Brunswick.

New Brunswick is the seat of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Stuff Yer Face not only caters to the Rutgers crowd, but is festooned with Scarlet Knights memorabilia -- and, to a lesser extent, that of other local teams, including the Yankees, the Mets, the Giants, the Jets, and the New Jersey Devils.

SYF (the initials are occasionally used, but no one calls it "Stuff's," "Stuffy's" or "Face's") is also known for its "beer library," an extensive array of beers from around the world, including small breweries in the Northeastern U.S. The slogan is, "Enjoy a boli and a beer!" They are also known for their "potachos," potato chips cooked like nachos.

They have become an institution in New Brunswick. They are one of those places that likes to say, "We were here before you were born." For pretty much any visiting Rutgers student from the Class of 1996 onward, that has been true.

*

October 22, 1977 was a Saturday. And how did Rutgers do on this momentous day in the history of its hometown? Actually, they weren't even scheduled to play. The team that were then RU's arch-rivals, Princeton, beat Harvard, 20-7 at Harvard Stadium in Boston.

* Number 1 Michigan lost to Minnesota, 16-0 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis, a rare win for Minnesota in the battle for the Little Brown Jug. But Michigan rebounded to win the Big Ten Conference title.

* Number 2 Texas, with the eventual Heisman Trophy winner, running back Earl Campbell, beat Southern Methodist (SMU), 30-14 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Texas won the Southwest Conference title, and would return to the Cotton Bowl stadium for the game of the same name.

* Number 3 Alabama beat Louisville, 55-6 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Alabama won the Southeastern Conference title.

* Number 4 Ohio State beat Northwestern, 35-15 at Dyche Stadium (now Ryan Field) in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois. Ohio State blew its chance at the Big 10 title by losing to Michigan, and lost the Sugar Bowl to Alabama.

* Number 5 Southern California were upset by Number 11 Notre Dame, 49-19 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Or maybe it wasn't such an upset: Notre Dame, with sophomore quarterback Joe Montana, went undefeated, and beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl, deciding the National Championship.

* Number 6 Oklahoma beat Number 16 Iowa State, 35-16 at Owen Field in Norman. Oklahoma won the Big Eight title, and went into the Orange Bowl ranked Number 2 behind Texas, who lost.

* Number 7 Colorado were upset by Number 18 Nebraska, 33-15 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Nebraska could have won the Big 8 by beating Oklahoma, but they didn't, and ended up beating North Carolina in the Liberty Bowl.

* Number 8 Kentucky beat Georgia, 33-0 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. Kentucky went 10-1 on the season, but were on probation, and thus ineligible for the SEC title or a bowl game.

* Number 9 Arkansas beat the University of Houston, 34-0 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. But, as in their famous 1969 "Game of the Century," Arkansas lost its chance at the SWC and national titles by losing to Texas. But they did ruin Oklahoma's shot at the National Championship by beating them in the Orange Bowl.

* Number 10 Penn State beat West Virginia, 49-28 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Penn State, whose only loss was to Kentucky, beat Arizona State on their own field in the Fiesta Bowl on Christmas Day.

* Number 15 University of California (usually called "Cal" for sports purposes, and "Berkeley" for everything else) were upset by unranked University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), 21-19 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The University of Washington, then unranked, beat Oregon State, 14-6 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. Washington won the Pacific-Eight Conference title, and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Lafayette, 42-6 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; Navy beat William & Mary, 42-17 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; and Baylor beat Air Force, 38-7 at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas.

The baseball season had ended 4 days earlier, when the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6 of the World Series, thanks to 3 home runs from Reggie Jackson and a complete game by Mike Torrez.

There were 11 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Bullets, 141-115 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets, in their 1st month as a New Jersey team after playing on Long Island, lost to the Buffalo Braves, 101-96 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The New Orleans Jazz beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 104-103 in overtime at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 107-101 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Boston Celtics, 110-98 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets, 126-106 at Cobo Hall (now the Huntington Center) in Detroit.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Kansas City Kings, 106-101 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bulls, 113-95 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 130-115 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Lionel Hollins led all scorers on the night with 36 points.

There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat their arch-rivals, the New York Rangers, 7-2 at the Nassau Coliseum. Michel Bergeron and Bobby Nystrom each scored 2 goals.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toront.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Atlanta Flames, 5-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Boston Bruins beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

And there was 1 game in the World Hockey Association: The Quebec Nordiques beat the Birmingham Bulls, 8-5 at the Colisée de Québec.

In New Jersey high school football, the school that would become my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, played John F. Kennedy High School of Woodbridge to a 6-6 tie at Louis M. Bartha Field in Woodbridge.

And in English soccer, the North London team I would one day begin to support, Arsenal, traveled to the West Country, and beat Bristol City, 1-0 at Ashton Gate in Bristol.