Richland County is known for its hearty food, Amish cooking, farm-fresh produce, apple orchards and the Klondike bar made famous by the locally based Isaly Dairy chain. It’s no surprise, then, that this region would have an abundance of big foods.
Three Richland County food establishments are marketing big—maybe humongous is a better word—sandwiches that are challenges to eat. These culinary creations are not for the fainthearted. Stop by the Olivesburg General Store, Johnny Biggs or the Buckeye Express Diner if you’re ready for a big food challenge.
Olivesburg General Store owner Connie Crossen got the idea to create a sandwich to commemorate the heroism of customer Mark Cooper, who identified James David Myers as the inmate who had escaped from a Mansfield prison while visiting the store and then “body slammed” him to the ground while waiting for police to arrive.
The “Body Slammer” sandwich challenges diners to tackle two slices of honey ham, two slices of oven-roasted turkey, four slices of trail bologna and one slice each of Swiss and Colby cheeses, along with condiments and bread of choice.
“He [Cooper] didn’t order anything from the deli,” Crossen stated, “I went by the meats that were the No. 1 sellers, and put them together” into a sandwich in honor of the heroic act.
The sandwich has quickly become a top menu item at the Olivesburg store.
“We sell a ton of them,” Crossen said. “People know the story behind it, and the response has been really good.”
To her knowledge, no one has been able to finish the sandwich.
“A lot of people share it,” Crossen says.
Johnny Biggs, a Mansfield restaurant that pays homage to the speakeasies of the 1930s, offers up its famous “Bigg Boss” challenge. This 5-pound sandwich features four half-pound burgers, lots of cheese, bacon, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, onions and mayo and is served on a toasted pretzel bun. Alongside the burger, you’ll find a large serving of fries.
Down the burger in 20 minutes, and Johnny Biggs will pick up the check, take your picture and hang it on the wall of fame. You’ll also go home with a T-shirt commemorating the event.
Manager Samantha Cox says the restaurant can go a month with no takers but then might sell four or five in a weekend.
Recently, a patron arrived at Johnny Biggs to “best” his time. On his first attempt, he mastered the Bigg Boss in 18 minutes. On his second attempt, he bettered his time by two minutes. Cox reports that several other patrons have successfully completed the challenge.
Leave it to some teenage boys to take on the “Belly Buster” challenge at the Buckeye Express in Bellville and succeed. Perhaps the largest big food offered in the area, the Belly Buster features just over 10 pounds of food, including 8 pounds of ground beef, 1 pound of bacon, some locally sourced pepperoni and salami, four kinds of cheese, and the establishment’s famous Woody Sauce (a mixture of horseradish, bacon and cream). But there’s more. The diner tops the sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and grilled onions and mushrooms and serves it on an entire loaf of Vienna bread.
Owner Tony Morris described the reaction when patrons encounter the sandwich for the first time.
“Oh my gosh,” he said. “They have no conception of what it really looks like in real life. When you put it on the table, it’s a whole different ballgame. People don’t order it very often because of its size. We have groups that sometimes come in, and they’ll want to try it. Most of them can’t finish it.”
But adolescent boys are another story altogether.
“We had a group of seven teenage boys that did finish it,” Morris said.
Unfortunately, one person has to eat the entire sandwich for the diner to foot the bill for the Belly Buster. And so far, no one has managed the feat.
Those who’ve tackled any of these three sandwiches might not have been up to the challenge. But when it comes to a big-time marriage of meat, cheese, mustard, ketchup, mayo and a bun, there are no losers.
“Oh my gosh,” Tony Morris of Buckeye Express said of his Belly Buster sandwich. “They have no conception of what it really looks like in real life. When you put it on the table, it’s a whole different ballgame.”
