It’s 2am, you just pushed your way through the crowds on the Gaffney’s patio and you’re ready to call an Uber and head for home. But, wait—your night out in Saratoga Springs isn’t over quite yet. As everyone who’s partied on Caroline Street on a Saturday night during track season knows, a trip to Esperanto isn’t just a potential nightcap, it’s pretty much a requirement. (I’ve been known to get up from the bar at Tap & Barrel, mid-beer, and head for the grab ‘n’ go hotspot on a solo mission.) And what do you order? After midnight, there’s really only one socially acceptable choice: the Oboy.
Formerly known as the Doughboy, the king of savory late-night snacks is a tubular treat filled with chicken, cheese, scallions and a secret spice blend wrapped in pizza dough. The Oboy has become a Spa City icon, a delicacy that the town’s tipsiest (and teetotaling) people the Capital Region over have been swooning over for decades. And even though Saratoga’s nightlife scene is on hold due to the COVID-19 crisis, you can still place an Oboy order to go on esperantosaratoga.com, or have one delivered via mealeo. So, what are you waiting for? If you can’t go out on Caroline Street, you might as well bring its spirit right to your doorstep.
The Oboy, Deconstructed:
Enriched high gluten unbleached unbrominated wheat flour
Boneless skinless chicken
Cream cheese
Water
Cheddar and jack cheese
Monterey jack cheese
Corn starch
Canola oil and extra virgin olive oil blend
Scallions
Salt
Lemon Juice
Secret spice blend
The OBOY, by the Numbers:
25: Number of years Esperanto has been in business, serving up Oboys since the beginning
66: Number of Upstate New York Stewart’s Shops that carry Oboys
2: Number, in millions, of Oboys that have been sold over Esperanto’s two-and-a-half decades in business
2,700: Size, in square feet, of the commercial Oboy bakery that opened in 2019 in Ballston Spa
4: Cost, in dollars, of one ready-to-eat, chicken-and-cheese-filled Oboy
99: Cost, in dollars, to stock your freezer with 36 frozen Oboys to heat up whenever the craving strikes you
215: Number of miles between New York State’s southernmost Oboy retailer in Clinton Corners and northernmost in Saranac Lake