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Staggering Ox opened its doors on the new Kalispell location last month, serving its signature sandwiches that have gained popularity throughout the state and nationwide.

The franchise first began as a single store in Helena more than 30 years ago, and now has five locations in Montana including the Kalispell store.

Local Staggering Ox owners Jill and Darrell Marlow first fell in love with the franchise while going to school in Missoula.

“It was always our favorite restaurant,” Jill Marlow said.

Both Polson natives, Marlow and her husband have been in Kalispell for 17 years. They met each other in high school and attended the University of Montana together where Marlow majored in photography and her husband studied economics and finance.

“From the beginning, we thought the Staggering Ox was what we wanted to do,” Marlow said.

Marlow had previously worked as a hospital baby photographer, and her husband worked in retail management. His parents owned restaurants in Polson, and the couple first got their restaurant experience in high school working for them.

Marlow still does photography in addition to taking care of their three kids and managing the front-of-the-house operations at the restaurant, while her husband’s passion is in the back of the house, crafting the signature menu items.

Marlow was born and raised as a vegetarian, and while going to college the Staggering Ox offered a convenient and healthy option, she said.

Her favorite sandwich is the Broken Heart, made with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic cream cheese, alfalfa sprouts, black olives, provolone, lettuce and sauce.

The Broken Heart, like many of the Staggering Ox sandwiches, is a trademarked name. The restaurant’s menu has a humorous and colorful theme, with unique names such as “Swingin’ Single,” “Crab Trap,” “Isis Crisis,” “Yo’ Momma Osama” and “The Beastie.”

The Staggering Ox is most well-known for its clubfoot sandwiches — a trademarked name for the cylindrical-shaped bread described as “a taco that can stand up.”

“The Nuke” is one of the franchise’s most popular sandwiches and first gained national attention several years ago when it was featured in Food Network, Esquire and Maxim magazines. A sandwich made from the signature Staggering Ox clubfoot bread with ham, turkey, beef, swiss, provolone and cheddar cheese and lettuce and sauce, the Food Network magazine listed “The Nuke” as the sandwich for Montana in an article titled “50 States 50 Sandwiches.”

Since opening, the Marlows have added their own sandwich to the franchise’s list of trademarked sandwiches. “The Kalifornia,” named after California but spelt with a “K” for Kalispell, is a vegetarian sandwich made with four different types of cheese, garlic cream cheese, guacamole, sunflower seeds, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, lettuce and a choice of sauce.

Marlow said the restaurant is also well known for its homemade sauces, and that the “Camel Spit,” a cucumber-dill sauce, has been the biggest hit in Kalispell.

“Everyone wants ‘Camel Spit’ sauce,” Marlow said. “We have days where we go through eight gallons a day.”

Marlow said a lot of the ingredients come from Cisco and Costco, but now that summer is officially here, she hopes to source more ingredients from local farms, such as Mountain View Growers where the restaurant will be sourcing tomatoes from.

“I like seeing families come in and be happy with what they’ve got, and that it’s fresh and healthy and not deep fried,” Marlow said.

The Staggering Ox is located at 110 Hutton Ranch Road, Suite 101, in Kalispell and is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information and to view a menu, go to http://staggeringox.com/kalispell/.

Reporter Alyssa Gray may be reached at 758-4433 or agray@dailyinterlake.com.