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East Bay Serves Up Tasty Tradition With Frito Pie

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By SCOTT PURKS, Tribune correspondent

Published: October 18, 2007

APOLLO BEACH - Conversation with a colleague on Wednesday over the cell phone:

'Where are you?' he asked.

'East Bay High School.'

'Mmmmm,' he said, 'Frito pie.'

Fritos. Covered with steaming canned chili, sprinkled with cheese.

Which was, sure enough, the reason for being at East Bay on Wednesday.

The first stop was to Dodie Bertram, who for 15 years has served thousands of Frito pies through East Bay's concession-stand window.

'We started Frito pie and now a bunch of other high school concession stands are copying it,' Bertram said. 'Which is fine because, hey, other folks have to make money. But fact is, East Bay started it.'

The credit for the creation, Bertram said, goes to retired East Bay concessionaires Randy and Bonnie Hann, who concocted Frito pie about 25 years ago.

'We used to scoop chili in those little Frito bags, top it with cheese, stick a spoon in it and serve it,' Bertram said. 'Cost a dollar.'

They've since graduated to bowls, which sell for $2.

Tonight, for East Bay's homecoming game, Bertram expects to sell hundreds of bowls, because 'it's tradition.'

In the end, though, there are not official statistics kept for such things. It's pretty safe to say that among 'unique' concession stand foods (those outside hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza and french fries), East Bay's Frito pie is the mother of all concession stand foods in Hillsborough County.

Yes, Durant and Riverview have been known for giant turkey legs, and Hillsborough was once known for its Italian ice, and Berkeley Prep has had everything from Cuban sandwiches to deviled crabs.

However, none has had an all-star with the staying power of East Bay's Frito pie.

'Mmmmm,' my colleague said, 'makes me want to go to an East Bay football game.'

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