California Grinders

It appears that this place just closed.

Went today to get a sandwich, but it was terrible. It was suppose to be on rye; it was on white. It was suppose to have thick tomatoes; it had none. It was suppose to have a thin layer of lettuce; it had none. There was barely any meat and the sandwich was pretty disappointing overall. With all the sandwich places downtown, I would avoid this one.

Something is «off» about this place.
I drove by and they didn’t have the gate up all the way, so I wasn’t sure if they were open. I called to ask their hours and the person who answered the phone didn’t know their hours. She had to check with someone else.
It sounded like the owner was having a loud /​heated conversation with a woman when I entered the restaurant. Odd. Not very professional.
The restaurant itself was pretty warm on this hot day and I wouldn’t have wanted to eat inside.
I had a coupon for $ 20 of food that I purchased for $ 8 from Reader Steals. The cashier wasn’t familiar with the offer and showed it to the owner, who initially thought I «got it for free» and that the coupon could not be for real. Seriously? How do you forget about an offer you signed up for?
FOOD: I enjoyed the greek salad, but they were out of chicken breast. Come on folks it’s not that hard to stock chicken breast! Also they no longer carry the baklava on the menu.
I personally didn’t care for the beverly hills (chicken salad) grinder that another Unilocaler «wanted to marry», but the potato salad was excellent.
I asked for an iced coffee and the employee at the register gave me the strangest confused look and said they only have hot coffee.
Average choc chip cookies and pasta salad.
Reasonably priced sandwiches, salad at $ 7.75 I believe was a little expensive for no protein included.
This place seems hit or miss.

Never before have I been refused service. Here’s how it went down:
«I’d like to order a Palm Springs»
«we’re out of roast beef»
«oh. So can I get the Little Italy…»
«We’re out of bread»
«…Ok. Can I have the vegetarian platter?»
«We don’t have any of that»
«So, what do you have?»
– guy shouts from the back– «Nothing»

Went in for a sandwich; had mine all picked out from their online menu, but then got there to find out you can’t order certain sandwiches by the half. No biggie, and guy behind the counter suggests I try the tuna. I say sure, I like tuna.
5′ later, and there’s the sandwich. Back at my desk to find one slice tomato, one leaf lettuce and a super fishy smelling pasty pile of mayonaise and onion with some tuna, blended so well you could use a straw.
Not impressed.

I’m not one to tell long, dramatic sob stories. So, I’ll try to keep it concise:
I walked in here, attracted by the green balloons that said «Grand Opening!», turns out it was just the first night that they were serving «dinner». I asked the owner, JoJo, to make me a recommendation, to which he responded, «everything is good!» (I hate when people do this). So I chose the meat lasagna. He said, «give me 5 minutes».
30 MINUTES later I really got to experience the kind of service this place provides. Not only had I not received my food, I got to see them get two other orders wrong, I saw a simple side salad that was missing from another customers plate take 10 minutes to make it out of the kitchen, and the girl who ordered before I even walked in to the place hadn’t gotten her food either.
At this point, my lunch break (and my patience) is over so I tell the owner that I have to get back to work and that he can make it up to me another time. He says, «give me 5 minutes». HA GOODBYE. Not worth trying the food if it’s anything like the service.
A hungry Unilocaler is NOT a happy Unilocaler!

I liked this place because it gave out that Mom and Pop’s vibe. And I liked the previous owners of this place.
The food was wonderful and very tasty. The crew at that time was also quick to make the sandwiches, which was convenient for me.
However, when management and ownership switched, man what a let down. The food was still good, but I can’t say the same at management. The guy at the counter/​cashier always had his bluetooth on. The last time, and I mean last time, I ordered from them, their machine died. Since I am paying with a card, I really didn’t feel comfortable paying with it after that happened. So I offered to go to an ATM Machine and get cash. He told me it’ll only take a couple more minutes. I was standing there for 15 minutes waiting for him to reboot it! The food was getting cold and I’m just standing there wondering to myself why he wouldn’t let me go to an ATM machine when I have suggested that I would (three times btw).
So after almost 20 minutes of waiting, he decided that I should just pay him back for the food. Are you serious?! I walked out of there with my food and never came back!

I had the stuffed grape leaves, Catalina sandwich on sourdough, and chicken salad salad. They goofed on the order by forgetting to put the chicken salad in the salad but I let it go since I didn’t want to bother and was using a Reader’s Steals gift certificate. Otherwise, the food quality was pretty good and all of the food was tasty. The grape leaves were a bit overpriced I thought since you only get 5. It’s definitely only a app and not a meal. The sandwich was also pretty tasty but a bit expensive given that it was $ 8.40 with the avacado add-​on but it barely had a smear of avacado and the sandwich wasn’t that big. If you are going to charge sit down restaurant prices for a deli, you have to at least give a heaping pile of food! The salad was flavorful and the ingredients were fresh and well prepared but again, it was missing the chicken salad in the chicken salad salad. Not good. It’s a small place and the owner cares and you can tell is trying hard. So that’s a plus. The online site to order works pretty well overall and is pretty convenient. They had the order ready when I came by.
Overall, the quality of food and taste is good, the prices are bit high for sandwiches, and the location is a little small. I’d say it’s a good lunch spot or a place to pick up a good salad if you live nearby. Maybe they can lower the sandwich prices by a buck and get things more streamlined.

New management and the experience is different… Will be interesting to see if they maintain the quality that I had come to appreciate…

I did a lot of business in SD area and wanted a good and quick breakfast place. I found this place on Unilocal and wanted to check it out.
It’s only about 2 blocks from my hotel (the ivy) so it was quite convenient. When I walked in, it wasn’t full of customers, but rather coolers packed with ready made lunches. I think they do a lot of catering. I ordered an omelette which comes with toast… i think I ordered the 3 egg omelette with ham, onions and green bell peppers with a little bit of chedder cheese.
This place is small and the remembered me the next day when I made the same order… and I thought it was kind that they saw me and the cook said to someone, «hurry, she’s waiting.» I hate it when I get ignored at some places.
Anyways, they put a lot of ham in their omelettes and my hubby, who apparently needs a lot of protein or maybe wants, would love this place. I would definitely go back.
The only downside of this place is that if you call too late for breakfast they might stop serving it. I think I called at 10am once and they stopped serving. I was sad for the whole day. no just kidding.
bottom line: i’m going back.

The place is small, but the food is great! All the sandwiches are named after Cali locations, and the quality is top notch.
The place uses Boar’s head meat, I believe, but they also have hot sandiwches as well.
The price is pretty cheap, and you can order half portions of many of the grinders.
I would also recommend trying their tangy coleslaw!

First off, their site is okay. You can order for pick-​up or delivery, which is pretty cool I guess, but it’s incredibly out-​dated in design — not to mention they have incorrect info. up on it. A friend and I went to order by phone and they neglected to include the $ 20 minimum for delivery, mayo/​mustard/​onions used only upon request.
I decided to go with half a Hollywood sandwich, add on some avocado and a side of fruit. Well, the fruit was okay. When I unwrapped my sandwich I found that they spread a good spoonful of mayo on my sandwich, which I did not request. So. I scrape off the mayonnaise and take my first bite. I have the strong taste of mustard in my mouth — again. I did not request mustard! I have to straight up remove the bottom slice of bread because. bleh, that mustard was just WAY too strong for me. There is one measly slice of half-​cooked bacon on my sandwich, which didn’t really bother me. The worst part for me is that they COMPLETELY forgot to put a slice of swiss cheese on my sandwich — that I DID ASK FOR (I really like my cheese). Anywho, they really screwed up my order. I wasn’t thrilled. All in all, the sandwich was mediocre at best. Don’t know if I’ll go back.

This place has the best sandwiches in the city! If you’ve ever had a grinder this is the joint to hit up. From Veggie to Meatlovers, everything is freshly cut that day and all for around $ 7 bucks, They always throw in a freshly baked brownie that is by far the bomb. Check this place out. It’s right by the Hustler store. Get a sandwich while your lady shops for something smokin to wear.

I’m usually on the receiving end of this comment but today I’m the one who gets to say, «I’ve had better.»
There are all kinds of guys in this world. There are Steak Guys, there are Pizza Guys, and there are even Salad Guys. Me, I’m a Sammich Guy. It is my go-​to food, and oftentimes my to-​go food. And I’m constantly on a quest to find the best sandwich ever.
After reading these mostly positive reviews, I put this place on my list. And once you’re on my list, there is pretty much no escaping the fact that I’m going to eat you. (Please don’t write asking me to add you to my list). So today I walked over to Grinders to see if it would live up to the hype.
Walked in, ordered, and had my Sammy in a bag out the door all in the span of about 5 minutes. Found a nice spot in the park where my sandwich and I could be alone, and went to town on the Beverly Hills Grinder (Chicken Salad). The only thing that was Beverly Hills about it was the price. For $ 7.45, it’s pretty small. They do throw in a free little side of pasta or potato salad, and brownie bite — but I think it is done out of guilt. Kind of like sex sometimes.
Anyway, If the sandwich had tasted über crazy good, then this would be a completely different review. But it wasn’t very über at all. The bread and all the ingredients were all fine, just not anything I would go out of my way to get again.
My quest for the best ever Sandwich continues.

Unilocal should allow infinity stars… because this place is a supercalafragilisticexpialadocious.
I walk by CA Grinders every damn day walking the dogs, running errands for work and… to indulge in the Beverly Hills Grinder. It’s like heaven on a ciabatta roll. CHICKEN SALAD!!! I want to marry their chicken salad sandwiches. I absolutely never get anything else, so my review is solely based on countless Beverly Hills grinders, a side of potato salad (delish and always the right amount of pepper and spices) and the little fudgy brownie bit. Cherubs sing when I eat this.
The staff consists of the friendliest people on the face of G-d’s green earth. Seriously… they’re perfect.
I have no more words, beside get your backside to CA Grinders and experience greatness, but don’t eat all the chicken salad because I’m selfish.

I just tried this place today on a whim with a buddy of mine. It’s a small sandwich shop on the 6^th street, downtown. I had the «Fresno» grinder which was BBQ dark meat chicken on a ciabatta roll, and my friend has the «Hollywood» which was turkey club on same type of roll. We both though the sandwiches were very good. The staff there was friendly. This is a good place for a mid day gnosh. Plus it didn’t hurt my wallet. All and All I’d head back there again. Thumbs up.

So I JUST went here for lunch. Literally. I finished eating 10 minutes ago. And it’s…OK.
I got the Little Italy with onions on it. AKA, meatball sandwich with onions on it. The meatballs were average. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had but certainly not the worst either. It came on a ciabatta. Not what I was expecting since I really wouldn’t describe ciabatta as a «roll.» But eh, whatevers, nothing that bothers me or anything. Now the ciabatta was, well, your average ciabatta. So, avg. meat + avg. bread = avg. sandwich. I know, shocking isn’t it?
Now, as to size. While I was waiting for my sandwich to be made, I couldn’t help but think to myself «hmm, I wonder what else I’ll get for lunch so that I can be full…» Yes, it’s quite a small sandwich. BUT, upon grabbing the bag, I thought «damn! This baby’s got some weight on it.» That’s right ladies and gentlemen… this thing was dense… really dense… as dense as a Britney fan. Ok, ok, I kid (sort of), but you get the idea. So, happily, I didn’t have to buy anything else to fill me up. This did it quite nicely. Not overly full but certainly not hungry.

Wow. That was a small sandwich. I had the «Beverly Hills», which was very good, with a side of pasta salad. The pasta salad was a little too mustardy for my taste. And, when finally opening up the bag (got it to go) I initially thought «Damn, they gave me a half sandwich by mistake»… But, no… I realized it was the full sandwich as it was actually cut in half for me. What’s the size of a half sandiwch, like 2″? I swear the full didn’t seem like more than 4−5″. Very good and I love the menu but too pricey for what you get.

I’m not a big sandwich eater because I tend to find sandwiches a bit borning, however, I can probably eat a Point Loma sandwich (tuna) from California Grinders at least 3x a week. I’ve also had their breakfast (omelettes are really good!).
What’s really convenient is that you can order online and they can also deliver… but since it’s just around the block from my work, it’s an easy walk.

California Grinders has one of the best sandwich menus around! They bring in excellent fresh bread from a local bakery, use Boars Head meats for their sandwiches and also have a creative and tasty special that is different every week. The sandwiches are served with your choice of garden, macaroni or potato salad and you get a little brownie square for dessert. They also do breakfast, the highlight being their seasoned hash brown potatoes. In addition to this store, they also have a catering business and can bring in sandwich platters for large groups from their regular menu, or they can create a custom menu for your event.
The Maverick, Little Italy and Santa Barbara sandwiches are my favorite!