ADagwood sandwich is a tall, multilayeredsandwich made with a variety ofmeats,cheeses, andcondiments. It is named afterDagwood Bumstead, a central character in the comic stripBlondie, who is frequently illustrated making enormous sandwiches. According toBlondie scripterDean Young, his father,Chic Young, began drawing the huge sandwiches in the comic strip in 1936.[1]
Though the exact contents of Chic Young's illustrated Dagwood sandwich remain obscure, it appears to contain large quantities and varieties ofcold cuts, sliced cheese, and vegetables separated by additional slices of bread. A whole small fish, presumably a sardine, is usually visible. An olive pierced by a toothpick or woodenskewer usually crowns the edible structure. "Dagwood sandwich" has been included inWebster's New World Dictionary, and "Dagwood" (referring to the sandwich) has been included in theAmerican Heritage Dictionary.[2]
A real-world realization of the Dagwood sandwich concept
In 1951, businessmen Bob Weiler and Art Lang opened a Dagwood-themed restaurant inToledo, Ohio, with hopes of establishing a national chain. They had not licensed the Dagwood name and were ordered to stop using it byKing Features.[3]
Assortedlunch meats featuring Dagwood have been sold at grocery stores. In May 1999, a counter-service restaurant named Blondie's opened at Universal Orlando'sIslands of Adventure, serving a traditional Dagwood-style sandwich. Blondie's bills itself as "Home of the Dagwood Sandwich." The exterior displays a 20-foot plastic Dagwood sandwich over the entrance.[5]
Denny's offered their breakfast Dagwood in the early 2000s;[6] it contained over a thousand calories.[7] It was later removed from their menu.
Dagwood's Sandwich Shoppes, aBlondie-themedrestaurant chain founded in 2006, had franchise locations open in Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, and Georgia that have all closed as of 2011.[8] The chain struggled financially and never reached the growth anticipated by its founders.[9] Two lawsuits were filed alleging mismanagement, fraud, embezzlement, and deliberate deception of the chain's financial state as it collapsed.[10] The Dagwood was sold as a 1.5-pound (680 g) sandwich.[11] The Dagwood sandwich served in the Dagwood Sandwich Shoppes included the following ingredients: three slices of delibread,Genoa salami,ham,pepperoni,turkey,cheddar cheese,provolone,lettuce,tomato, roasted redbell peppers,banana peppers,red onion, delimustard, and low caloriemayonnaise.[12]
Cincinnati-based chainPenn 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.[as of?]
Dagwoods are also a popular sandwich inSouth African takeaway (fast-food) restaurants and roadhouses, both in small street-side stands and larger chains. A South African Dagwood is usually made with three slices of toasted bread with a hamburger patty (or two), along with lettuce, tomato, and a fried egg. Other common accoutrements may be added and the beef patty may be replaced by savorymince reminiscent of an Americansloppy joe, but it seems to be the fried egg and double-decker nature of the sandwich that characterizes a South African Dagwood.
In 2008,Man v. Food hostAdam Richman visitedColumbus, Ohio, and partook in the Ohio Deli and Restaurant's Dagwood Challenge. The challenge was to eat a 2-1⁄2-pound Dagwood sandwich, plus a full pound of French fries, within 30 minutes. Richman successfully ate the sandwich and fries in 20 of the 30 minutes and was awarded a commemorative T-shirt.
Dagwood's Deli and Sub Shop opened in Indiana in 1985, now serving several locations.[13] On the menu is a "Dagwood Supreme", which includes roast beef, ham, turkey, provolone and Colby cheeses, lettuce, tomato, and onions and a "Dagwood" sauce.[14]
Dagwoods Sandwichs et Salades is a fast-food chain operating inCanada. It was founded in 1989 inMontreal but subsequently expanded throughoutQuebec and intoEastern Ontario.[15]
Canadian supermarket chainSobeys sells an in-store made Dagwood sandwich. However, this version does not look like the multi-layered sandwiches from the comic; instead, it resembles a thickSubmarine sandwich.[16]
^Michael F. Jacobson; Jayne Hurley; Center for Science in the Public Interest (6 May 2002).Restaurant Confidential. Workman Publishing Company. p. 35.ISBN978-0-7611-7886-6. "Denny's Annual Report"(PDF).annualreports.com. Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc. 2000. Retrieved24 April 2017.
