Bedford’s big sandwich shop is getting bigger.
The Colossal Sandwich Shop, already something of a legend on the Airport Freeway for giant sandwiches huge enough to feed an entire family, has begun delivery and takeout at a second location in Fort Worth.
The new Colossal pickup counter is inside a door marked “Food Pickup” at 3004 Cullen St., near North University Drive. It’s a “ghost kitchen,” meaning there’s no restaurant or order counter — just a pickup window for online orders.
But the sandwiches are the same huge gourmet versions that made Colossal’s Bedford location, 1220 Airport Freeway, one of Texas’ 100 popular restaurants among users of Yelp.com.
The Italian grinder is the size of a truck tailpipe. A muffuletta would easily feed four.
There’s also a hefty pulled pork sandwich with jalapeno slaw and spicy barbecue sauce, along with a Cuban, a cheesesteak, a Reuben and a triple-decker club that could feed four, among others.
The Fort Worth takeout counter will open with a shorter menu than the Bedford restaurant, which also serves options such as seared tuna and breakfast items.
Every sandwich is also available as a salad bowl. (But then you’d miss out on Colossal’s distinctive breads.)
Founders Terry Duncan and Jonathan Merrill had cooked in hotels before striking out on their own;. They started in a snow cone stand and operated briefly in a VFW hall kitchen before landing an anchor spot in the Cimarron Plaza shops.
They plan to open two more takeout restaurants at the Fort Worth ghost kitchen: a steak-and-salad concept and a simple menu named Wrap & Bowl.
“I think a lot of people still want to get food to go instead of going to crowded restaurants,” Duncan said.
The takeout stands also operate with delivery services so diners can stay home and work or care for children.
At least two other major ghost kitchens operate near downtown Fort Worth.
“I think it’s here to stay,” Duncan said.
Merrill said the partners had planned to open a full-service bar and restaurant.
“But as we got older, we realized simpler was better,” he said.
They expected cheesesteak would be the big seller, but it turned out to be the Cuban sandwich.
(The neighborhoods along Airport Freeway have a taste for Cuban sandwiches thanks to 30 years of Cuco’s Sandwich Shop, 6650 Glenview Drive.)
Colossal’s Fort Worth takeout counter is open for lunch and dinner daily; order online, through a delivery service or on a tablet at the counter.
The original Bedford restaurant is open for lunch and dinner daily; 817-508-0123, colossalsandwich.com.
Columnist Bud Kennedy is a Fort Worth guy who covered high school football at 16 and has moved on to two Super Bowls, seven political conventions and 18 Texas Legislature sessions. Since 1985, he has also written more than 2,800 “Eats Beat” columns about Texas dining, restaurants and food.
