It seems like this once staple of Tacoma dining is going to be lost forever. Why has the city shelved the secret recipe that by rights belongs to us citizens? I am saddened that it is likely the sauce I grew up with as part of a family tradition will never grace my taste buds again. Why? What happened? Are there any plans or is it just a complete lost cause? Does anyone know?

Bimbo's in a jar? Tomato puree, water, high fructose corn syrup! Please, return the sauce recipes to the masses or sell it to a local or several local Italian restaurants to do it justice.

Although I no longer live in T Town, for years working as a wilderness ranger, I would buy cartons of Bimbo's meat sauce and dehydrate it. I would then carry the dehydrated sauce into the cascades where I could simply add fresh spring water and reconstitute it, simmer until the thickness was just right, and then savor the goodness of my favorite meat sauce while watching the alpine glow of a sunset against the backdrop of Glacier Peak.

Bimbo's in a bottle would be like champagne in a can. Let those of us who truly remember this Tacoma institution be able to relive a true taste of Tacoma and not Prago's idea of what Bimbo's should be.

Release my inner Bimbo! Now! The City of Tacoma has held it hostage for too long. My fondest childhood memory is my mother dropping my brother and I off when we were kids, to run in and pick up a couple of “straights” to go. I remember there were two beautiful waitresses there, a shorter one and a taller one. When I returned from living in Southern California for many years, I was eating at Bimbo's and the taller lady was waiting on me. She said “I remember you, your mother used to drop you off to pick up dinner.” Now this was some 25 or 30 years later. To me, that’s an amazing gift, to recognize a person from so many years ago. I can’t recall someone I met yesterday. I digress. I don’t know what the answer here is, but I do not think it’s Del Monte. I mean, we’re talking a beloved sauce that will end up just like the homogenized crap in jars on the grocery store shelves today. Is there not some local restauranteur that is willing to step up to the bat and recreate this beloved ambrosia? Viafore’s has sauce in their freezer that could greatly be improved by the Bimbo recipe (no offense). I’m willing to chip in for this recipe. Maybe put a big brass pig out for collections. It doesn’t look like the City of Tacoma has made much money off of this for the past -- how many years? What’s the point of holding it hostage? My parents are now dead, my brother and I and our children grew up on Bimbos, but if you don’t bring it public soon, we Bimbo’s lovers are going to die off and no one will remember. I’m becoming clinically depressed thinking about it.

Christine DeBolt

Kraft? Del Monte? We're talking Bimbos here! These are large corporations, which, even if they did have an interest in the sauce, it would only be financial. If things did not work out, the recipe will be lost forever. Besides, mass producing and bottling this great sauce would likely reduce it to only a pale and foolish impersonation of the real thing. If no local restaurant is interested in purchasing the recipes and doing them due justice, I for one would be willing to pledge a generous contribution toward a common fund for making them public. Far too many years have past by since I have been able to enjoy a plate of Bimbo's spaghetti. Let's do the right thing and not waste another minute in letting these truly remarkable recipes see the light of day again!

I have never tasted a sauce that even comes close to how much I liked Bimbo’s meat sauce. I wonder if a restaurant or major food producer could re-create that taste, without the equipment, etc. that was used at Bimbo’s. A high bidding restaurant or a food producer may not be able to match the taste, or they may even change the recipe for some reason. If they were to acquire exclusive rights, and are ultimately not successful, then the recipes, and that wonderful taste, could be lost forever.

I suggest giving the recipes to the public, where individuals could attempt to re-create that amazing flavor, and enjoy it with family and friends. If several restaurants were successful with the recipes, then the public would be able to enjoy the sauces all that much more. The sauces could have a Northwest identity.

If there is a worry that the recipes become too widespread, then the city could sell copies to anyone for a small fee. Maybe restaurants could pay a higher fee. The proceeds could be given to a charity. I would gladly pay $10 or $20 for personal use, just for the chance that I could re-create that unsurpassed flavor which remains in my memory.

The city wants a return on the sauce recipe. The should let Jerry (Bimbo's former owner) do a seminar on how to stick city government with a real white elephant for $200,000. Actually a tomato red elephant. Charge $100 a head. City got screwed.

I would support the idea to have a spaghetti sauce "blind taste-off" at the Convention Center pitting the Bimbo's legacy against a group of restaurant recipes to see if the Bimbo's sauce really deserves so much attention. Let the public vote after tasting and let the results determine if there really is any justification to pursue this further. I doubt so. Whoever prepares the Bimbo's sauce needs three week's head start to achieve that characteristic burnt taste.

publish it on the web site

The sauce recipes could be given to the Tacoma Rescue Mission and/or Bates Technical College so they could go in the business of making and marketing the sauces providing practical training and experience for the people involved. The profits from the sale of the sauces and related items could be used to help the homeless in Tacoma find the dignity, safety and comfort of housing. The sauce recipes are Tacoma's treasure and can help solve a Tacoma problem. This could put Tacoma on the map for innovative social action from the historically significant recipes.

publish it, it belongs to us

Who remembers the fresh relish trays of green onions, celery sticks and carrots? The fabulous warm bread with scoops of butter? Martinis and Dago Red wine to knock your socks off? My family believed that Bimbos was for every occasion: birthdays, anniversaries, new babies, mournings, senior proms, post theatre and ballet, (Yes, I took Robert Joffrey there after a performnce at PLU) and it was everyones favorite. We DO MISS it. The homemade raviola, sauces, pesto, great bread,: the memories make my mouth water. For the City to try to create the same tastes and ambience would be a miracle as I have not seen the City demonstrate miraculous taste about any issue. Sell the rights to a private enterprise/marketer so we can all remember the iconic tastes and events that made Bimbos a legend.

I mean, a caterer who works with non-profits. Make it so that the only way you can get the special sauce is to pay for and attend a fund-raising dinner.

In my opinion, a replica restaurant would be the only alternative to just making the recipes public. If that is just out of the question, then stop being so silly about it. I find it really upsetting that the city bought these rights with no intentions or plan in mind. They failed to help relocate the restaurant and ended up buying them out instead. (did you know that?) I don't know why any major food producer would have even the slightest interest in a product that is only a local legend. So, please just make the recipes available to the public that enjoyed them for so many years. For me, it was the Pesto Sauce that I had to have at least twice a month, sometimes more. Let's not forget that recipe. I make my own, but it doesn't taste like Bimbo's. Who paid for this stuff anyway? What is the city thinking?

If you ever ate at Bimbos you knew that the sauce was cooked 24/7.That old copper pot was never taken off that stove,they just added to it!As far as making that sauce, anybody can follow a receipe but its more than that,we all know its the taste and theres know receipe for that!

To heck with the sauce....they made by far the best french fries in Pierce County. That's the secret I want!

I've only tried their sauce 4 or 5 times at both Bimbo's locations and it always tasted burnt, just like like the city got when they bought the recipe. Another bad investment, shread it.

How about making the sauce public, it was our taxpayer money that purchased the rights to the building. Even better, give 'em back to the previous owner or their family, let them decide. It would be better served that way than having the complete morons in city government decide.

Fare Start would probably be a very good idea. Otherwise put it up to the highest bidder from one of our local restaurants (no major food producers, it would never be the same) so we can all enjoy it again, with the profit going somewhere like Fare Start or some other worthwhile food charity.

As a second generation Bimbos sauce lover and former loyal patron of Bimbos, I think it should go to the people that were their customers for so many years.

Never been there so I don't know if it was or not. I know I make some slammin jammin sauce! and I'm not Italian!

and I thought someone was calling me names again!.....LOL

Bimbo's was a Tacoma establishment and was located in an area where many street/homeless people hung out. I suggest a local vendor prepare and sell Bimbo's Sauce. The vendor should be reimbursed costs plus a percentage of the profit and the remaining proceeds go to local charities, i.e. Tacoma Rescue Mission, Food Banks, and the like. Perhaps build some kind of housing for the homeless. We have too many people on the streets of Tacoma. I like the "Fare Start" suggestion also. Let's keep the benefits from Bimbo's Sauce local.

Use the sauce to highlight local produce and farm preservation. Make the sauce in limited quantities from 100% local ingredients and sell it locally to the public in shops and restaurants. (Alt. idea, sell it only to restaurants for special seasonal listing on menus.) Let someone use the business incubator to create the franchise to make, market and distribute it. Keep it local, build local pride, keep the appeal.

I have heard that there is group starting a Fare Start type of restaurant in Tacoma to offer vocational training to homeless or others in need. Why not let them use the recipe and have them reap the benefits of the famous sauce.

I would like to see the City of Tacoma hold a taste-testing festival in the Greater Tacoma Convention Center. The celebration could offer a chance for Tacomans to taste the Bimbos sauces again and to honor a Tacoma icon. The Tacoma Historical Society could organize the event with the proceeds benefiting the Society. The Society is currently raising money for a museum dedicated to the history of Tacoma - so this event would fit perfectly being Bimbos is a part of Tacoma's history. The Tacoma Historical Society could offer at the same time; an Exhibit in our Allen C. Mason Exhibit Center for the public to view and to learn more about Bimbos and its rich history!

I believe the recipe should be put up for auction for pierce county restaurant's to bid on. Proceeds go to Charity. Otherwise it will lose it's mystique....

Why does City Government own rights.