The Trough Sandwich Shop

Their onion rings are to die for! I like that they have unique sandwiches. My grandson loves the spaghetti sandwich!

This place is awesome. My new favorite breakfast burrito spot around. They absolutely knock those out of the park! Thanks Vance.

I like that their sandwiches are so different than the standard ones you find in other shops. Pork belly, tuna, and the turkey are yummy.

The breakfast burrito was really good, I liked that it didn’t have ham (typically other places they will put ham). Their onion rings were good too. The place was not crowded and the service was very quick. It only has two small tables, each with two chairs and the remaining seating was stools. The lady first didn’t smile, I think too early in the morning, but when we started eating she checked on us with a smile :)

Great food — horrible coffee.
I had lunch here a while ago — and the food is great. Sandwiches are delicious. Breakfast burritos are awesome. Good stuff.
This morning I had a cup of coffee from there. Literally the worst coffee I’ve ever had. Undrinkable.
The guy behind the counter needed to make the first pot of the morning. So he poured water from a blender (why? No idea) into the coffee maker. Was the blender clean? No idea. Filtered water? No idea. Then he just poured a random amount of coffee grounds into a filter. No need for measuring. He just eyeballed it. I thought maybe he was a coffee Jedi and just used the force to dump in the perfect amount of grounds.
What ensued was the worst cup of coffee ever.
So… Come for the amazing food. Skip the coffee. I can’t be too upset. They don’t claim to have good coffee. But for $ 2 and no free refills they should probably have a better system.

When I walked in the staff seemed disappointed that someone actually came in, dude that took my order acted like I was inconveniencing him.
Got the club sandwich 10 $. Was as mediocre as any sandwich I’ve ever had. Too bad cause I love me a good sammich.

4 stars for the spaghetti sandwich and good service. Will return!
Wife and I intended to eat on the patio at Pizza e Vino (2 pizzas and a salad and wine) and let our kids chow down on that sandwich… but PEV chucked us because of the sandwich on their patio!!! See other review on that.
But thanks to The Trough for keeping it real and NOT being pretentious snobs.

This place is amazing !!! Great serving sizes and even better tasting food. I always get the chicken caprese sandwich. The chicken is so thick and juicy and the tomato jam that they put on there is seriously one of the best things I have ever tasted. I always get onion rings which are so so tasty!!! My only complaint is the amount of food! HA wish they had ½ orders because I hate wasting it. Such a yummy place and great staff.

Stopped by to try their breakfast. Totally worth it! Had an amazing breakfast burrito with carnitas. Delicious! Perfect balance of ingredients and just loved the egg was cooked not scrambled.

Meh. I’ve had better sandwiches, especially for this kind of $$$. I’ve been here twice. My $ 11 cheesesteak was bland, so bland. The spaghetti sandwich is an interesting concept but the execution is lacking. It’s super greasy and not that tasty. I did like the reuben on my first visit, and the onion rings were great both times.
I don’t care if the food is high quality if it doesn’t taste good. And this place is quite pricey, especially for a counter service restaurant. Two sandwiches and a side of onion rings was $ 25– youch.

They advertise best Breakfast Burrito in RSM, that’s one of the best Breakfast Burrito’s in the world!
Staff is super chill and very attentive! Glad I found this place!

Just like its big brother (Blind Pig) this place is delicious.
I stuffed my mouth with the Cold Cut and truly enjoyed each bite. I like a place where you can see your meal being made (so that I can make it at home later, JK). This sandwich is huge and could save it for later.
The parking is very limited but worth the walk.
The price is just right for a sandwich this good!
Thanks guys!

My husband and I had lunch here and it was pretty awesome. We ordered and cheesesteak, spaghetti sandwhich, onion rings and tatertots. Everything was really good! The only complaint my husband had was that the cheesesteak needed more meat. But other than that, everything was great including service.

So yummy! I can’t wait to try the rest of the menu, I ordered the caprese chicken sandwich and onion rings. It was a little expensive but I could I have split the sandwich and onion rings no problem. Have to try if your in the area.

In a world of increasingly generic sandwiches, The Trough is a welcome breath of fresh air! The Chashu Pork sandwich is absolutely delicious, unlike any sandwich I’ve had before. You can tell that the meat is very carefully prepared, and the other ingredients on the sandwich meld just perfectly. Fantastic!

Oh no! After reading a review for best sandwiches in Orange County, we made our way over here.
We got the chashu (pork belly sandwich) and tuna melt… two of the most disappointing sandwiches ever! the tuna melt had absolutely no flavor, and so little cheese, it was like a warm tuna sandwich. the pulled pork sandwich was worse. the egg and the arugula made for an interesting filling but almost the entire sandwich was bread. I think there was 2 ounces if pork? It was like a bread sandwich with some mayonnaise. I’m just so disappointed. $ 10 for a completely mediocre sandwich and absolutely no chips our side to go with it either.

It happens every once in awhile, a Groupon win.
Enter The Trough and the $ 12 paid for $ 20 rec’d worth of food.
A small spot right by the lake in Rancho Santa Margarita with some bar seating and two small tables. This is an order and pay at the counter, take a seat, open area kitchen so you can see your food being prepped and cooked. Some interesting décor awaits you:
and
While the prices for the food are on the higher side, including for the amount of actual ingredients that you get, the quality is definitely there including the taste.
Our lunch excursion (we just missed the breakfast) included Cheesesteak Sandwich on a fresh and soft corn meal roll, low quantity but high quality ribeye, smothered in melted provolone, and that is aplenty, very cheesy with some pepperonata, slightly sweet and slightly spicy!
Macaroni Salad, homemade, tasty and a bit more on the Hawaiian style-​side, with potato pieces and just the right amount of mayo, so it wasn’t dry, but not too wet either.
Spaghetti Sandwich also on a corn meal row with plenty of spaghetti in a bolognese sauce with cheese. Unfortunately this just didn’t work for my hubby as he felt it was not meaty enough and just was a bit boring and carb loaded.
Beer Battered Onion Rings, a big win!!! While not the greatest I’ve ever had, definitely in the top 7 or so. The price for this was the best dealio and you get quite a few ring-​a-​dings, along with your choice of homemade ranch or homemade ketchup.
I will definitely be back and while many say this, I’ve already found another great deal for The Trough so I mean it!
Tidbits: Service seemed just okay at beginning, but we were asked by at least 3 other people if we were enjoying the food and if they could help us, including the manager, so they seem to care about customer satisfaction.

There can be no question we have an obesity problem in America, but while others try to fight this epidemic, The Trough has embraced it and created a place for the little piggy inside of all of us!
Rohlinism: If you can’t soar with the eagles, you can at least dine with the swine!
My wife picked up a Groupon for this place a while ago and last Sunday we finally made it down to Lago Santa Margarita so we could pull our «snouts» up to the trough. The Trough (
) is located between Carmelita’s and Pizza E Vino on the lake.
The interior (
) is quaint (i.e. small) with bar stools and two long counter spaces for eating inside as well as two small tables near the soda machine (
) and condiments station. The décor fits the theme of the restaurant with wood paneling and pictures of farm life hanging on the walls. Even the water (
) has an interesting delivery system and a picture two «cuties» behind it.
The menu (
) is very simplistic with some interesting twists. It consists of a dozen Sandwiches, Small and Large Sides, House Sauces, Drinks and five Breakfast items. The Trough has Craft Beers and Fancy Sodas (
) in a refrigerator near the order counter.
When we were ready to order, we mosied on up to the cashier and requested our «slop.» My better half chose the Cheese Steak Combo (Rib eye, Mushroom Duxelles, Peperonata, Provolone Mornay on a Corn Meal Roll) sans the ‘shrooms, a side of their Mac Salad (Potato, Egg, Carrot and Pickled Celery) and Iced Tea to drink. I settled on the Spaghetti Sandwich (
), a side of Beer Battered Onion Rings (
) and a Hank’s Black Cherry.
We grabbed one of the small tables that was available and waited for them to «Sooey» when our food was ready. Our order were ready in a reasonable amount of time and we began to stick our snouts into our (
) troughs.
My lovely wife really liked the flavor of the cheese steak sandwich. There was plenty of cheese and she liked the softness of the corn meal roll. She also lauded over the quality of the rib eye. Originally she removed the peperonata, but she ended up adding them back in. I am not sure it made the sandwich any better for her, but she didn’t complain about peperonata either. The Mac Salad was not too dry and was one of the better Hawaiian versions she has eaten and she didn’t even mind the carrots and pickled celery. Her only complaints were the Iced Tea was weak and there could have been some more meat in her sandwich.
The spaghetti sandwich was decent, but could use tweaks. I think adding a couple of small meatball would really add some substance to the sandwich and I thought the Bolognese was weak in the flavor department. I also felt the corn meal roll might not be the best choice for this sandwich since it seemed to disintegrate after a few bites. The ring were pretty good, liked the use of red onion, but the real selling point is the $ 3.00 price tag for a rather large portion. The Hank’s Black Cherry had a good flavor (not my beloved Dr. Brown’s) and I would purchase it again in the future.
The service started out a little aloof, but efficient. Once we had our food, the manager, cashier and one of cooks checked on us to make sure we were enjoying our food. The sandwich prices ($ 7.00 — $ 11.00) can be a bit steep, but I found the sides to be very reasonably priced.
Laina was already talking about trying the Caprese sandwich on a future visit, so I would say a return visit is definitely in our future. If you are looking for a unique sandwich experience, let your snout lead you to The Trough and embrace the swine in you!

Pros:
The ambiance.
The cute trough sandwich trays
The service. Kind and fast.
The spaghetti sandwich. (My nieces loved them)
Cons:
Soda machine not calibrated. Coke was flat. Sprite was too sweet.
Sandwiches under seasoned. I left over half of my sandwich uneaten.
Expensive. Four sandwiches, onion rings, four drinks =$ 54. For lunch?!
No one seemed to care that the soda machine was broken.

Came in today with a Groupon deal. I ordered the Chicken Caprese and Turkey club with an order of onion rings. My daughter and I sat on the bar stools as we watched them freshly prepare our sandwiches. Both sandwiches were super delicious! My favorite is the chicken caprese. Perfect combo of flavors in every bite. The onion rings were cooked perfectly which came with a spicy ketcup. I was so sad when I looked in the box and I was down to my last onion ring.
Overall I will definitely be back and look forward to trying the other items on there menu.