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ORAL HISTORY
Sam Graphos
Sam's Super Samwiches
When Sam Graphos was young, his dad bought a lamb every spring. He grazed it a few weeks in the back yard before dispatching it in the basement. All the Greek families in Graphos’s neighborhood would roast whole lambs for Easter. As adults, Sam, his twin brother, Jimmy, and older brother, Pete, revived the tradition. Cooking is second nature to the Graphos brothers.
Their Greek-born dad, Ted, owned restaurants and later helped run Lyric Hot Dogs. Sam founded Sneaky Pete’s Hot Dogs in 1966, which expanded to stores owned by Sam (1969), Jimmy (1973) and twenty-one others before Pete sold the chain in 1986. Sam left in 1978 and rebranded his store Sam’s Super Samwiches. Only at Sam’s is a sandwich a samwich. Sam’s hot dogs haven’t changed in five decades. A Special still includes sauerkraut, seasoned beef, chili and special sauce. Sam still uses his dad’s recipe for special sauce and makes the hot-dog chili and seasoned beef in-house.
Mr. Graphos passed away on October 5, 2021, at the age of 79.
