Williamsport, Pa. — Bigfoot was recently sighted in Williamsport — not the cryptid, but a sandwich shop.
Originally opening in Pennsdale, Bigfoot Subs opened its second location last month in Williamsport’s Aspen Square.
The Williamsport shop at 500 Pine Street, which is carry-out only, is serving the same creative menu that longtime customers have come to love. This includes selections such as The Yeti and Wildman that take a traditional sandwich and put a unique twist on ingredients.
“Our people from this end of the county that have become Bigfoot enthusiasts are thrilled,” said Brian Taggart, the business owner.
Taggart also is thrilled to be in Williamsport. “I’m looking forward to serving the community as well as building relationships with downtown businesses and government agencies,” Taggart said.
For the love of hoagies
Taggart, a 1991 graduate of Muncy Area High School, said the idea to begin a sub shop business in the area “had been in the works for a long time.” Taggart is no stranger to the food business. He has owned Kimball’s Pub in Williamsport since 2002.
By August 2020, Taggart opened the first Bigfoot Subs location in Pennsdale at the Penn Hills Plaza. Business picked up immediately, and within two years, Bigfoot Subs moved into a standalone building less than half a mile away at 101 Kristi Road.
Taggart had always loved hoagies, and he experienced some of the best when he lived for a period of time in the Philadelphia area. The homemade breads and premium deli meats were something he wanted to offer back home in northcentral Pennsylvania.
When an opportunity came up to have a business space in Pennsdale, Taggart jumped on it. Taggart, who runs the business with his son, Peyton Cox, says the inspiration for the name came from shows they watched together.
“We always loved cryptid shows and would watch them on Saturday mornings on The Learning Channel and Discovery,” Taggart said.
Creative menu based on crytozoology
Taggart and son Peyton developed a sandwich menu based on their love for crytozoology. “The Wildman is what they call Bigfoot in Asia,” Taggart explained. “The ingredients are influenced by that part of the world. Instead of putting lettuce on, we put on napa cabbage. It has carrots and cucumbers. We use Boar’s Head Ichiban chicken, a teriyaki seasoned chicken. And it has sriracha mayo.”
Another flavorful twist is on the menu is The Yeti. “It’s what they call Bigfoot in the Himalayas,” Taggart said. “It has Boar’s Head curry chicken, with a mango chutney, tomatoes, onions, and fresh sprouts served on warm naan bread.”
Of course, Bigfoot Subs also offers classic sandwiches including the Classic Italian, Spicy Italian, Meatball Sub, and Club Sub. For the less adventurous, there is the build-your-own-sub option in which customers can select any meats, cheeses, toppings, and condiments to make it their own.
A vegetarian option, the Herby (Vore) also is on the menu with hummus, cheese, sprouts, avocado, tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers, red onions, carrots, mayo, and “culinary lube.”
Bread for the subs is baked on the premises. All ingredients at Bigfoot Subs are fresh. “Everything is chopped fresh each day. We hand shred the lettuce, the romaine. We hand slice the onions and tomatoes. The mayonnaise we bring in, but we make our own blends including basil mayonnaise, jerk mayonnaise, sriracha,” Taggart said.
For those who prefer salads, they are offered in the “For the Grassman” part of the menu. Salad offerings include the Asian Chicken Salad, Caesar Salad, Cracked Black Pepper Turkey Caesar, Garden Salad, and Spicy Chicken Cobb.
If you’re not into subs or salads, there’s also an option for wraps including a Chicken Salad Wrap and Chipotle TBA (turkey, bacon, avocado).
Running a smooth operation
Cox and longtime employees Tori Magyar and Chelsea Wert have been instrumental in keeping Bigfoot Subs afloat. Cox and Magyar have been running the Pennsdale location and Taggart and Wert have been operating in Williamsport. Cox, who previously had gone to college to study nursing, had recently decided to pivot and join the family business.
Taggart credits Cox and Magyar for their clever marketing of Bigfoot Subs on social media including Tik Tok videos. “He drives the bus,” Taggart said of Cox. “He and Tori and the young ones doing the social media.”
The public has been supportive of Bigfoot Subs since its inception six years ago. Catering is a big part of the business, according to Taggart. “We do tons of catering at the Pennsdale location,” Taggart said. “We can handle large and small groups.”
Many of those catering orders for the Pennsdale location come from businesses in that area including the car dealerships and hospitals in the east end of the county. Bigfoot Subs also recently filled a catering order for the Muncy schools football and cheerleader teams.
Additionally, Bigfoot Subs does fundraisers. Taggart said they have teamed up with school districts to offer fundraisers.
Catering is offered out of the Williamsport location as well. The Wililamsport shop is positioned close to several major employers, including UPMC, the colleges, government, and law offices. Taggart is hoping the catering part of the business will continue to grow as it brings to the area more nutritional options.
Ordering food from Bigfoot Subs is easy thanks for the online ordering option for both locations and an app, Bigfoot Subs To Go, that Taggart’s team developed. “We have a beautiful app,” Taggart said, noting that early customers reviews of Bigfoot Subs praised the simplicity of online ordering. The app and website also have a rewards program in which customers may earn points toward free food. Customers may also call in orders at Muncy (570) 757-7201 or Williamsport (272) 202-3064.
Hours are Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The shop is closed for now on Sundays. Taggart said he may look to expand weekend hours in the spring.