The Grove Grinder is one of those little places we’ve passed by so many times without ever actually going in. One recent weekend it was finally time for us to check out this little building and see what it was all about.

The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

The Grove Grinder is across the street from the GTM store and about a stone’s throw away from the Giant Lemon. You can see it on a side street if you’re driving up Broadway towards the lemon. It looks a bit like an antique store from the outside. You know… if antique stores sold sandwiches. 

The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

Menu at The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

They’ve got an old school menu up there and the shop’s interior makes you feel a bit like you’re in someone’s home.

The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

Rate Your Rootbeer - The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

At Grove Grinder they’re totally into their root beer here and even have a chart where you can vote for your favorite root beer.

Root Beers at The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

In addition to root beers they also have other bottled sodas, like orange and ginger ales and such but root beer is where it’s at for them.


Bottled Soda at The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

Our soda choices for the day. Jake was thrilled to see the old school Dr. Pepper that uses real sugar instead of cane syrup. Can you guess which root beer I choose? I’m sure you can guess. (Answer at the end of this post.)

Cheesesteaks at The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

Cheesesteak at The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

Jake and T shared a full sized (12 inch) Steak & Cheese sandwich with onions ($11). It also comes with peppers, mushrooms and marinara if desired. It wasn’t.

The boys loved the flavor of the steak in this sandwich and that the bread was nice and soft. I found the steak to be a bit too peppery for my tastes but luckily it wasn’t my sandwich. The steak in this sandwich is a bit thicker than a Philly Cheesesteak so the meat was a little chewier as well. 

James Special Sandwich at The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

James Special Sandwich at The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

I decided to get the James Special (half size). It is a cold sandwich made with Ham, Salami, Pastrami, and Meatballs. Since I got the half size it was only $6 and it was more than enough sandwich for me. The slices are a bit on the thicker side which I didn’t mind at all. I wasn’t sure if the cold meatballs would weird me out or not but I actually really liked them in the sandwich. The combination of meats went really well together and I really liked their soft, fluffy bread. 

Stacey's Potato Salad at The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

Stacey's Potato Salad at The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

I spied some cold salads in the refrigerator case and decided to spring for some of Stacey’s Potato Salad ($1.95). Sadly I didn’t notice there was a bunch of black olives in the potato salad otherwise I would not have gotten it. The olive kind of permeated the salad a bit and made me not enjoy it as much which is too bad because I liked the other flavors. There was red onion, bacon, and parsley mixed in there, too.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies at The Grove Grinder Sandwich Shop | Lemon Grove - San Diego, CA

After we finished eating, Jake got me one of their bags of $1 cookies (you get two cookies for a buck). They just tasted like Chip Ahoy cookies and weren’t anything super special. Too bad! 

If you guessed that I picked the Sea Dog root beer because there was a dog on it, then YOU WIN. See, I told you that you could guess that one. The Sea Dog root beer ended up being everyone’s favorite root beer that day. The Grove Grinder is a really cool little sandwich shop with a very homey feel to it. I’d stick with the cold sandwiches and some chips 

The Grove Grinder
3345 Olive St
Lemon Grove, CA 91945
(619) 462-5071

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4 thoughts on “the grove grinder

  1. What a cool find! I’m not so sure about the look of those onions; they look a tad more too raw for my taste but love the selection of root beers. I’ve been looking for an alternative to BevMo and hoping these run under $2.

    1. Hi Darlene! I love raw onions so that wouldn’t bother me, haha. I even saw your favorite Faygo here! I can’t remember the exact price of the bottles but I believe they are under $2 a bottle and you get a discount if you buy at least four.

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