Speedsters

Bummer– although the lady behind the counter assured me that it was the same, the salad that I used to CRAVE is now a gloppy, disgusting mess, and they forgot to add the MINISCULE chicken cubes, but charged me anyway. No wonder Lativias café (formerly Speedster) doesn’t have a Unilocal page. And she hires only staff whom cannot understand you. :(Thus, the incorrect order. Stay away if you used to love the CEASAR from Speedster.

This is my third time eating at Speedsters. It’s a block from my office, so I’ve stopped in on occasion to grab a bite on my lunch break. Just had their cajun chicken panini on chiabatta bread and it was terrible. The chicken was almost nonexistent and super salty. For some reason, the spread was pesto sauce, which does not pair well with cajun seasoning… especially not salty cajun seasoning. I could barely finish the first half of the sandwich. It was that bad. The last two times I visited here, I was also unimpressed. I honestly don’t remember what I got before, which is a bad sign. I will not be returning. Oh, and they are way overpriced to boot!

I’m so sad. I don’t know how to say this without hurting the management. I apologize in advance.
Paid $ 9.58 for a large cobb salad (should’ve gotten small). I end up throwing ²⁄₃ of it away. It was that bad. Cobb salad with some weird dressing? Tasted like… IDK but it tastes like no other dressing that I know of. I don’t understand, cobb salad is suppose to have ranch? If not, at least warn/​ask me if I want everything in the salad! The chicken was super dry and weird tasting. The guacamole did NOT mix well with the dressing. My coworker got a sandwich and her bread was STALE, for $ 7! I took a bite and it was terrible. We wanted to complain but decided not to. She only ate half her sandwich. It tastes like something you can make at home with the leftovers in your fridge.
The workers seemed impatient taking our orders. Put a smile on at least?
Won’t be coming back here. I’m very sad I spent $ 10 on a salad, I really want my money back…

Sadly, Speedsters has new owners. This is sad because the food just isn’t the same. I tried a few times to get over it, but I just can’t. My last salad I got here was so over-​dressed it was inedible. $ 7 bucks down the drain. My favorite cobb salad is no more. Even the dressing isn’t as good. I don’t think the previous owners sold all their recipes along with this place. Or maybe the new people just don’t execute them well?
Too bad for me that I have to remove Speedsters from my lunch hour rotation. :(

Just got a «Chicken Oriental» Salad at this place– Let’s skip the Politically Incorrectness of the name and focus on the food:
Chicken, lettuce, dry ramen noodles and tomato. I’m pretty sure the dressing is just ramen flavoring packets mixed with oil.
On top of that, they mixed the salad in a bowl that had clearly just been used for another salad.

Great ambiance! Friendly staff, and a cool crowd. Spoke to the new owner, who prided himself on making sure we enjoyed our meal. Very impressed!
I had the chicken & pesto panini, which was 5star worthy! Friend raved about her cobb salad, saying that it’s the best choice amongst other local eateries. She’s a salad junkie. Will definitely be back soon

I had a salad, it was ok, not that impressed. My friend had the caprese panini and I’ll give them 4 stars based on the fact that I was there two weeks ago and I’m still thinking about how delish that sandwich looked. I’ll be back and that’s what i’ll order.

Good salads– i like the small salad option with a small soup.
–Chicken oriental salad: very good
–Cobb: pretty good
–Spinach: great (love the ramen noodles)
–Southwestern: decent
Their soups are good usually too. Very flavorful.
The owner is a really nice guy and the service is fine, could be improved.

its expensive but pretty on par with what the area offers. but i like it because its tasty and they have a lot of choices. chicken tandoori wrap? YES. spinach salad? YES. paninis? not so much… like others mentioned, not a TRUE panini (in my opinion). just pressed bread. strange. and i havent yet tackled the baked potatoes but it is on my to try list!
the guy at the counter is FANTASTIC. he is so friendly and always asks if i want hot sauce. YAY. the workers? they are efficient. they may not look so happy but how many of us look happy all the time at our job? and theirs is a service job!

What a great little find! Perfect for a delicious lunch with plenty of options and friendly staff. It’s no frills but you still feel as if you had a pleasant lunch. It’s not too pricey either.
The food tastes fresh and the portions are good without being too hearty.

I LOVE their portobello mushroom panini. I’m not a vegetarian, but it’s so full of flavor that it satisfies even a meat lover like myself. Thick, juicy pieces of grilled portobello and homemade garlicky pesto sauce melds so well with melted cheese, a slice of tomato, red onions, lettuce, and red bell pepper toasted inside a fresh, crusty roll. DELISH! For $ 7.99, it’s a steal considering how expensive portobello mushrooms are!
But I have to take a star off because of the moroseness of the staff. The people making the food look so miserable, I’ve never seen them crack a smile. Also the wait time can be long, so I only go early (11 a.m.) or later (after 1 p.m.). And the obnoxious cashier really rubs me the wrong way — he’s really snarky and impolite. He doesn’t even say ‘hello’ or a ‘thank you.’ It’s like he’s doing you a big favor or something, you never wanna feel like that when you’re the customer.

I have walked by this place forever and never looked at it twice. I finally saw in the window that there soup of the day was chicken tortilla (MY FAV) so I decided to go on in for lunch.
I wanted to order the ½ sandwich soup combo, but that excluded the Panini (that i was craving)
SO.
I order the soup: it was good, the chips to go with it was completely stale but after being soggy in the soup you could not really tell.
The Chicken and artichokes Panini was alright, BUT could not consider its self a panini. The cheese was not even melted, the meat was cold and the bread was a really crunchy roll, not flat. This upset me, cause i would have just gotten the ½ sand/​soup combo for like 8 $ instead
I spent 14 $ on a panini, sm soup and a sm drink. It was not worth it
All-​N-​All: I would go back for some more soup or lite lunch, it seems like they have lots of choices i am willing to try. I would stay away from the Panini if you want the standard kind. This was a sandwich, NOT panini!
And the service was excellent, everyone was nice and talkative!

Decent wrap, plenty of greens, dressing and meat for $ 7, not the cheapest but nothing is really in this area.
Well except the previously mentioned Togo’s but Togo’s is not great.
Service is a little slow, but nothing to excessive. Service with a smile makes up for speed.
I like the separate smoothie bar for a vitamin hit.
It is added to the list of acceptable lunch spots close to work

I’m not exactly sure why this place is called Speedsters. It seems as though I always have to wait 15 minutes+ for a standard salad/​sandwich combo. $ 11.50 for the Ham & Cheese is hardly justifiable especially when Togo’s is across the street promoting $ 5.00 daily specials.
Okay, Okay… I get it. Corporate Chains piss you off, right? I have no qualms about supporting privately owned restaurants if they give me something to be proud of. In fact, I actually prefer it.
It’s just that I’m not proud of what may or may not have been the clam chowder. I would have opted for a can of Progresso if I knew that it meant I’d be paying an arm and leg for a bowl of lukewarm fishy potato water.
Could it be more obvious that the pastries are purchased wholesale? Throw some saran wrap on it or something so that I could at least pretend I’m not getting ripped off.
Dear Speedsters,
I don’t think we can be friends. It’s not me… it’s you.
–H

The service was fine and fast, my sandwich is tasty, and I’m sure I’ll go back more than once, but I’m a little baffled by the paninis. I haven’t lived in California for a long time, so maybe this is just how it’s done here, but they pressed and toasted the bread before they put anything in it. Then the rest of the sandwich was assembled and served without pressing again. Isn’t the point of a panini to have everything pressed together into a warm, melty, flat, toasty square of goodness?
Don’t get me wrong, it tastes lovely. But this would have been a four star review if they’d actually made my panini the way a panini is meant to be made. Now I’m back to my search for a properly pressed panini.

This place is ok. I would never come here if I didn’t work around the area, which I don’t. I was visiting someone that did. The salad is regular good but it’s not worth the price. It’s a little over $ 10 and the salad wasn’t anything crazy.

Absolutely disappointed in the quality of the Cobb salad. The salad was littered with wilted and week-​old discolored lettuce leaves. Though the portion size was enormous, I had twice as much crappy food to pick through and discard. After picking through my salad and making a huge mess on the table, I gave up on the $ 9 salad. What a waste!
I expected far better quality and freshness of the ingredients in their salad especially since it’s 50% of their business.
Stay away or you might get food poisoning from the rotting salad. Someone needs to call the food inspector on this place.

Very high quality deli on 20^th St. Excellent salads, wraps, sandwiches, and baked potatos. Fresh homemade soups also. Fresh ingredients and tasty desserts. Friendly staff.
A cut above the normal deli fare.

Their salads are HUGE and yummy. However, their prices are just as HUGE. $ 10 for a salad can make a girl go broke! It’s close to my work and I’m lazy, so I keep going back. I also have cravings for their cobb salad. It’s soo good. They have this avacado/​guacamole sauce that they put on the salad before they add the olive oil-​y, lemon-​y dressing. YOM.
One thing I hate is that every worker there is always in a bad mood. They never smile and they always look like they’re having the worst day. They don’t talk to you or make much eye contact. Not only are they not smiling, they look kind of irritated. I mean I don’t need them to be super ecstatic everytime I come in, but not once has one of them been happy to me.
The owner (guy at the register) though is always super upbeat and friendly. He talks to you, remembers you and jokes with you. He’s great. I just wish his workers weren’t so depressing.

This place gets so busy during lunch time so I’m surprised on the few people that reviewed this place.
What I like about this place — It’s just below work so if I want a quick bite, I don’t have to travel that far. The service is quick and the staff are nice. Everything is made fresh daily. My favorite dishes to get is their Meatball Panini; the marinara sauce is yum-​yum delicious.
What I don’t like about this place — Everything is overpriced. You can’t get anything below $ 5 unless you want only chips for lunch. The food is alright; typical sandwich, soup and salad place. You can definitely a better tasting sandwich (ie. Specialty’s) for either the same price or lower if you don’t mind walking a bit further. They close at 3pm so if you want to grab dinner, then you’re out of luck. You have to go elsewhere.