When I was a child my parents would occasionally treat me to a special dinner at a nearby restaurant with carhop service. In the days with a high hump (at least to a three- year-old) on the floor in the back, it was great fun to sit on the hump and use the backseat for a table. The restaurant was the Goody-Goody, well known for several specialties, one of which was french fried shoestring potatoes, homemade, not frozen, not battered, and probably fried in lard. They also served a butterscotch pie and a cream of onion soup that were wonderful. I have not been able to come close to duplicating that soup, although I have a few great butterscotch pie recipes that are at least as good as Goody’s.
Their piece de resistance, however, was not even on the menu per se. It was the special condiment served on their hamburgers. Forget McDonald’s special sauce. Forget catsup and mustard. Goody-Goody’s hamburgers were served one way, with dill pickle slices, and their own tomato-based sauce, not really like catsup, not really like chutney, just it’s own category altogether. When “The Goody” closed in the 70’s, many people had their gustatory hearts bent, if not broken.
The Goody was a favorite spot for highschool sweethearts to grab a bite after a game or a movie. The ambience was casually elegant, a Tudor building not at all what one imagines nowadays for a restaurant with carhop service. It was truly unique.
Several years ago, our local newspaper had articles about local cooks and one of the articles featured a gentleman who also had fond memories of The Goody-Goody. He had experimented with various ingredients and finally arrived at his best recreation of the famous hamburger sauce. Naturally, I tried it and found it very close. I played with it some, subtracted this and addedthat, and now it is as close as I can get it to a 30-year-old memory.
If you want to try Goody-Goody sauce, prepare your favorite hamburger, fried, broiled, or grilled, butter and toast a good hamburger bun, add Goody sauce and a few dill pickle slices. (I sometimes use dill relish). You must plan ahead. The sauce needs at least 3 hours, mostly unattended, on the stove.
GOODY-GOODY HAMBURGER SAUCE
3 T. butter
15 oz. can tomatoes, whole or cut
1 t. celery seed
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1 t. pepper
1/4 t. salt
1 small onion, minced (about 1/4 c.)
1 T. lemon juice
Combine all in a small but heavy saucepan. Cook low for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes will break up as they cook and will form a thick sauce. Makes enough for about 8 hamburgers.
Happy dining.
Morgana
Best Room in the House 
Morgana,
You mentioned you had few great butterscotch pie recipes that are at least as good as Goody’s. Would you mind sharing one with me?
Thanks,
Kim
Kim,
Check my more recent post for the pie recipe you want.
Morgana
A friend of mine grew up in Tampa and remembers how wonderful the Goody Goody Butterscotch Pie was. I read that you have several recipes that are at least as good as Goody Goody’s Butterscotch pie was. May I ask one question? What was used in the Goody Goody pie recipe to produce the rich dark color that my friend describes as the same color as cola. I have found a taste that is similar, but I am stumped about the color. If you would be so kind to share this with me, my friend would truly appreciate knowing. Thak you. Sincerely, Christine Cormier
The Goody-Goody restaurant I refer to was in Ohio, not Florida. I am not sure whether or not it was the same owner. I found the following quote on a message board concerning local Dayton history.
The butterscothch pie recipe I remember was a medium dark brown, not like cola. So I am stumped about that. I did publish my Butterscotch pie recipe a few days ago. Search for Butterscotch Pie in the search window.
Morgana
[…] By the way, check my post on Goody-Goody Sauce for hamburgers. Try it. Easy recipe. Type Goody-goody hamburger sauce in the search window of this blog, or click on this. […]
Morgana,
Thank you so much for your response. I did see your recipe for the butterscotch pie and I made it. The flavo is great and yes the color was a medium brown. I have tried another recipe from the Fanny Farmer cookbook that produced a more pudding like testure to the custard. And I think that I may have found an answer to my question. I cooked the brown sugar and butter over medium heat for 5 minutes to caramelize the sugar. The resulting custard was almost the color of cola. I will let you know if this si what my friend remembers.
I will try the recpe for the Goody Goody hamburger sauce.
Chris Cormier
Dear Morgana,
I was born and raised in Dayton, OH. Goody-Goody’s was the mainstay of all our social events. I have been looking for the recipes for the hamburger sauce and butterscotch pie for years. Thank you so much for this posting It brings back wonderful memories. And don’t forget the wonderful garlic franks they served when we were really young. I too remember standing on the car hump and waiting for the tray to be fastened to our window.
Sincerely,
Donna
Hello,
i am a Johnson and Wales Pastry student and my family and i have been going wild looking for the recipe for the Goody Butterscotch Pie from Tampa so when i saw that you were offering a recipe we were thrilled i would love it if you would send the recipe me or post it. thank you very much, i am awiting the recipe
Angela-
Our Goody restaurant was in Ohio, not Florida, and I don’t have the official recipe for the pie. I use one, which I emailed to you, from an old cookbook. Good luck looking for the Goody recipe.
Morgana
My mom passed down to me recipes from Goody’s in Dayton. Here they are:
Goody’s Hamburger Sauce
1 No. 2 Can Tomatoes (big)
1 med onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Combine all ingredients. Simmer until you get a sauce or paste.
Goody’s Onion Soup
1 Bermuda onion, chopped finely
3 Tablespoons butter, divided
2 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup whole milk
1 13 3/4 oz can chicken broth
Homemade croutons
Parmesan cheese
Saute onion in 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter until transparent; set aside. In another pan, make a white sauce. Melt remaining butter, stir in cornstarch with wire whisk and add milk. Continue stirring and cooking until sauce thickens. Add chicken broth and onions. Serve plain or with croutons and parmesan cheese.
I am not 100% if this is Goody’s Butterscotch pie, but this is the one my mom used to make:
Butterscotch Pie
pastry for one nine-inch pie, baked
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (maybe try dark for color)
4 egg yolks
5 to 5 1/2 Tablespoons flour
pinch salt
1 1/2 cups scalded whole milk
Melt butter and remove from heat. Add sugar and then stir in egg yolks, flour, salt and then hot milk. While stirring, bring mixture to a boil over direct heat; transfer to a double broiler over warm water and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes to remove the raw taste of flour. Cool briefly.
Pour filling into baked pie shell.
My mom sometimes would put meringue over the filling and bake at 350 degrees until peaks brown.
Meringue: 4 egg whites at room temp. 1/2 cup sugar – beat together until soft peaks form.
My grandma also had recipes from Goody’s, her recipes for the hamburger sauce and onion soup match Lisa’s exactly, here’s her recipe for
Ohio Goody Goody’s Butterscotch Pie:
1C Brown Sugar
3T Corn Starch (she used to use flour but scratched it out and began using corn starch. Maybe because it didn’t get lumpy?)
2T Butter
1C Milk
1/2t Salt
3 Egg Yolks
1T Vanilla
1/2 White Sugar
Put Butter and Milk in saucepan, when butter is melted add Brown Sugar, Corn Starch, Salt. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add Lightly beaten Egg Yolks to mix and cook two more minutes. Remove from stove, add Vanilla and White Sugar.
Meringue:
3 Egg Whites
1/8t Cream of Tartar
6T Sugar
1/2t Vanilla
(She didn’t give instructions on mixing)
Pie Crust
I think this was her pie crust recipe, not Goody’s:
4C flour
1 3/4C Lard
3T White Sugar
2t Salt
1 Egg
1/2C water
She did not write down mixing instructions but I do know she always said not to overwork the pie pastry when you mix it. She also used one of those tools with a handle and slits on the bottom for blending pie dough… I can’t remember what it’s called!
Hope this is what you all remember, I’ve not had this in 30+ years!
Thanks Julie for the Goody’s Butterscotch Pie recipe! I cannot wait to make it. The pie crust recipe sounds really good. Lard makes the best crusts. Can you please clarify the measurement on the white sugar? I assume it is a 1/2 cup.
I found out on Labor day that my mom’s Butterscotch Pie recipe came from another local restaurant institution that has closed which was located in Greenville, Ohio called Gerschuh’s. It was a diner on State Route 49 that was famous for their pies, mainly the Butterscotch Pie and Old Fashioned Sugar Cream Pie. We make the Sugar Cream pie every Thanksgiving. It is my all time fav! What made those places so memorable and great was that everything was made from scatch.
My grandmother was a resident of the Greenville Brethren Home and a trip from Dayton to see her was not complete without a stop at Gerschuh’s. We would sometimes buy a whole pie and bring it home to enjoy, returning the empty pie pan (a real one, not a tin foil one) to the restaurant on our next trip. Delicious.
I worked at Goody Goody as a carhop for a year while I was layed off from Inland (GM)
I loved working there…..
On Sundays I would make around $100 in tips and that was in 1967,
My mom worked there about 20 years before.
I would like the Butterscotch Cream Pie Recipe
Can anyone help please
Was going through my bookmarks and came across your site again. It is 1/2 c sugar… Hope you’ve already tried the pie recipe!
I just found this site. I am the niece of the original owners of the Goody Goody chain( yes there were more than one) The original was in Fl. the next was in Dayton, OH, and another was in California. My Uncle Bob(son of owner) and Aunt Mary(my mom’s sister) recently died, and I was the only relative that showed for the dispersal sale. The attorney in charge gave me many boxes of ‘family things’, and one of them is the original recipe for all of the things served. By the way, none of the recipes I’ve seen so far are not even close to the original. I’m hoping that someone out there would like to have the original hand written book to cary on the the tradition. I’m too old to do it myself! I also have original menu and other items from the Goody Goody in Dayton. I hope someone is interested!
Thanks,
Sue
I would love to see the book. Let me know if it’s possible. Email to pdmimi@woh.rr.com
does anyone have the recipe for Goody Goody Strawberry pie? It had a layer of custard and a sort of mousse-like strawberry topping? DELICIOUS!
THE GOODY GOODY RESTURANT IN DAYTON OHIO WAS OWNED AND OPERATED BY BOB AND MARY BEATTY. BOB DEVELOPED THE FAMOUS RECIPE FOR HIS HAMBURGER SAUCE. THOUGHT YOUD LIKE TO KNOW