About

Name: ThunderCloud Subs
Price range: $

Our Story

ThunderCloud Subs is a neighborhood sub shop with a rich tradition of good-natured people serving fresh, fast, and healthy food in a quirky and fun atmosphere. Andy Cotton and John Meddaugh founded ThunderCloud in 1975 with the simple philosophy of selling a great sub at a reasonable price. We proudly maintain that core philosophy today.

Andy Cotton, Co-Founder

Andy Cotton’s sole restaurant experience, before ThunderCloud Subs, was as a cook in a local restaurant in the 70’s. He began ThunderCloud Subs with his partner, John Meddaugh, in 1975 with a $5,000 loan (collateralized by a 1966 Volkswagen and an old yellow Pontiac). He saw a need for a sub shop in Austin and “cooked” up the ThunderCloud concept, with John, as their paths crossed when they both worked as cross-country tour guides.

Outside of ThunderCloud, Andy enjoyed writing. He wrote a column in the Austin Chronicle called The Coaches Corner for 10 years. He’s written two books: It’s Not Fun, Life Below the Radar of the PGA Tour, and a children’s book, A Puppy’s Tale.

Andy is retired from ThunderCloud and is no longer active with the company.

John Meddaugh, Co-Founder

John Meddaugh lived above his family’s general store growing up in upstate New York. He spent his younger years playing golf with his brother, eating submarine sandwiches (sometimes two or three times a day!) and running the store after school. His business and entrepreneurial background came in handy when he met up with Andy Cotton in 1974. Both John and Andy worked for Tauck Tours and during a three-day training tour in San Francisco they talked about their futures. John wanted to start an airline; Andy thought Austin needed a sub shop. Thankfully, Andy’s idea won out and they began planning their move. John and his soon-to-be-wife, Valerie, drove to Austin, sight unseen, on their honeymoon. ThunderCloud Subs was born.

Outside of ThunderCloud, John is an enthusiastic golfer, adventurous traveler, and first-rate woodworker.

John is no longer with ThunderCloud, but still enjoys his weekly lunches of submarine sandwiches and great conversation at the ThunderCloud, Inc. office!

We are proud of our ingredients. We have our bread made from scratch and delivered every morning by a local bakery. We slice all of our meats, cheeses, and produce in the shops every day, prepare all of our spreads from scratch, and buy local ingredients as much as possible. All of these ingredients come together to create the one and only ThunderCloud Sub.

Our People

Our personality comes from our people. ThunderCloud sandwich makers are famously good-natured and talented. We’re dependable, friendly, and trustworthy people who take pride in a job well done. (Interested in joining us? See Employment.)

Our Community

ThunderCloud loves to give back to the community. We were presented the Restaurant Neighbor Award from the Texas Restaurant Association for outstanding charitable service and dedication to improving the community. The co-owners of ThunderCloud were also honored with the Harvey Penick Award for Excellence in the Game of Life by Caritas of Austin, which is given to prominent community leaders whose lives emulate that of the first recipient: golf legend Harvey Penick.

Organizations we support include:
We Are Blood
Caritas
American Red Cross
Mobile Loaves & Fishes
Save Muny
Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM)
Earth Day Clean Up

We dedicate a large part of our annual marketing budget to supporting local non-profits and their initiatives. One example of this is through our annual “ThunderPets” campaign benefiting Emancipet, a nonprofit that’s dedicated to making veterinary care affordable and accessible for all pet owners. We also have a soft spot for first responders and dozens of local schools. In a typical year, the value of ThunderCloud’s food donations alone is nearly $100,000.

Our major community project is the ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot, a tradition since 1991 and the largest five-mile run in Texas. ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot has raised nearly $5.4 million for Caritas of Austin, a local nonprofit that supports people experiencing poverty and homelessness and also provides a fun and healthy Thanksgiving morning tradition for more than 20,000 people each year. (See our Turkey Trot section for more details.)