When Jon Wildi's niece Mia, at age 3, gave him the nickname “Fat Cat,” she had no idea that one day she would see it, submarine-sandwich style, in lights.
She's now 13 and still refers to her feline-loving uncle by that colorful endearment. Hungry folks visiting Wildi's Fat Cat's Subs, self-described home of “The Purrrrfect Sub” in Harmar, now know it, too.
This small, mom-and-pop shop is a place where Wildi and his fun, upbeat staff, working with a soundtrack of oldies music in the background, know their customers by their names, too — and their favorite sandwiches.
“Everyone knows each other, customers and employees,” Wildi says proudly. He honors the youngest among those customers by decorating the walls with their artwork.
The New Kensington resident has been in the restaurant business for 33 years and says he continues to find his rewards in “seeing my customers leave with a smile on their faces from eating a quality product.”
He hopes Fat Cat's is a happy surprise for those traveling nearby Route 28 or Pennsylvania Turnpike.
The location has a long history for satisfying hunger. The building on Freeport Road, just across the street from the Allegheny River, was built in 1950s as The Dog House. In 1963, it became Mr. Beefy's, with roast-beef sandwiches as the star attraction, and then it had a long run as Rudy's Subs from 1971 until Wildi took over in 2010. He decided to keep the original Rudy's menu intact with some Fat Cat's additions.
The restaurant, offering takeout and dine-in, with seating for about 40 at tables and booths, has 34 varieties of made-to-order grilled and deli subs on Cellone's bread, fresh daily.
The Italian and Steak subs, fresh-cut fries (starting at $1.75) and salads are among customer favorites. Deli and hot subs range from $5 to $9.25. Speciality subs go from $5.75 to $11.75 for “The Fat Cat,” which is a cheeseburger sub with capicola, egg, bacon, American and provolone cheese, fried onions, roasted red peppers, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, mustard and mayo. Banana and jalapeno peppers are optional.
Wildi offers “The Fat Cat Challenge” for those who dare.
“Eat a whole Fat Cat and 2 pounds of our Loaded Fries in one hour and get the $20 worth of food for free,” he says.
“The Wild Cat” specialty sub, another signature sandwich, is not part of the challenge. It contains breaded chicken, shoe-string fries and bacon and cheddar cheese sauce ($10 for the large).
Burgers are $6.50 to $7.50 and include the cheeseburger, bacon cheeseburger, nacho, mushroom and, yes, the Fat Cat Burger — with mushrooms, roasted red peppers, fried onions, provolone cheese.
There's seasonal soups ($3.50 for soup of the day) and salads ($7.95 to $8.95,) from house to chef to ribeye steak, gyro and grilled chicken salads. Pizzas are $5 to $7, with toppings extra. Non-alcoholic beverages are $2, with free refills. If you feel nostalgic, a bottle of Red Ribbon Pop is $2.25
Specials through Lent are planned every Friday, including a $3.50 fish sandwich every day through Easter.
Fat Cat's Subs, 1401 Freeport Road, Harmar, is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, closed Sundays. Details: 724-274-9977 or fatcatsubs.com
Rex Rutkoski is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4664 or rrutkoski@tribweb.com.
