In days past, only two meals were commonly served in big buckets: Kentucky Fried Chicken and pig slop. I’ve had the fried chicken many, many times, but as for the porcine fare—well, that was a one-time deal born of desperation.
I mention this because, on a recent visit to my soon-to-be in-laws, I noticed a new restaurant on the way to their house called By the Bucket, proudly advertising “Hot Spaghetti to Go” on its sign. When I asked about it, they told me it was a real experience—good pasta, bad timing—since the place was frequently closed.
Despite the long drive for some on-the-road spaghetti, I was more than intrigued. So the very next day, my fiancée and I returned to south Edmond to visit By the Bucket (16530 N. May Ave.) and experience mass-produced spaghetti by the slippery bucketful.
To be fair, the place was seriously dead when we arrived.
Looking over the bucket sizes—actual bucket-sized containers, naturally—we opted for the Large Bucket ($29.00) with extra meat sauce and two massive meatballs ($4.00) dumped right in. My fiancée wanted the cheesy bread ($4.00) because, well, what my baby wants, my baby gets—especially when it comes to pasta.
As I waited by the counter, they packed my cellophane bag with the big bowl of spaghetti, the cheesy bread, a handful of errant parmesan and red pepper packets, plastic forks, and—surprisingly—paper plates. With everything in place, I was ready for the long ride home.
Almost immediately, the lemon-fresh car scent was overpowered by the aroma of fresh garlic and melting cheese. As my stomach growled in anticipation of the waiting spaghetti, my dog, Sean, started sniffing around and pawing at the weighted bag.
Oh, the exhausting wait for dinner!
Finally home, I laid out the Italian spread and took in just how all-encompassing the meal truly was. The bucket of spaghetti was dense, layered with their special meat sauce, with two hefty meatballs poking out of the mire.
With a sprinkle of parmesan and a generous shake of red pepper flakes, I spooned a substantial portion of the lavish spaghetti onto my complimentary paper plate. On the side, my cheesy bread completed the saucy feast. I was ready!
Twirling the spaghetti on my fork, I inhaled the fresh, tomatoey steam...
After a few bites, I felt that it was very good—probably the best bucket of spaghetti I have ever encountered. That being said, my own spaghetti-autobiography played fast and loose with the dish, simply because for so long I believed that it was the thing of canned meat, like Chef Boyardee.
But, as their very advertising says, it’s “Grandma’s delicious spaghetti” and it truly is .
I took a piece of the garlicky cheese-bread and, without fail, it was also pretty good.
That being said, it was the billiard-class saucy meatballs that got the most acclaim of all. Full and round and packed with faux-Italian flavor, when you finally get to nosh on them, you literally want to get a whole bag of them to snack on, preferably in secret in the middle of the night.
And, as any pasta-centric meal will prove, there were ample leftovers, so, I guess, I will be having this tomorrow and, probably, the next night. But at least these leftovers are some high-grade spaghettis with none of the clean-up and none of the mess.
You can’t do any better than By the Bucket and, really, are you going to eat pig-slop?
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Follow Louis Fowler on Instagram at @louisfowler78.
