A Dagwood sandwich is a tall, multilayered sandwich made with a variety of meats, cheeses, and condiments. Though the exact contents of Chic Young’s illustrated Dagwood sandwich remain obscure, it appears to contain large quantities dagwood varieties of cold cuts, sliced cheese, and vegetables separated by additional slices of bread. An olive pierced by a toothpick or wooden skewer usually crowns the edible structure. In 1951, businessmen Bob Weiler and Art Lang opened a Dagwood-themed restaurant in Toledo, Ohio, with hopes of establishing a national chain.
They had not licensed the Dagwood name and were ordered to stop using it by King Features. Assorted lunch meats featuring Dagwood have been sold at grocery stores. In May 1999, a counter-service restaurant named Blondie’s opened at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure, serving a traditional Dagwood-style sandwich. Blondie’s bills itself as “Home of the Dagwood Sandwich. It was later removed from their menu. Dagwood’s Sandwich Shoppes, a Blondie-themed restaurant chain founded in 2006, had franchise locations open in Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, and Georgia that have all closed as of 2011.
The chain struggled financially and never reached the growth anticipated by its founders. Cincinnati-based chain Penn Station East Coast Subs refers to its “create-it-yourself” submarine sandwich as a Dagwood. A customer may include up to five meats, and any combination of available condiments and vegetables. Food host Adam Richman visited Columbus, Ohio, and partook in the Ohio Deli and Restaurant’s Dagwood Challenge. 2-pound Dagwood sandwich, plus a full pound of French fries, within 30 minutes.