Over the weekend, Jake and I needed a little grub before we headed over to T’s baseball game (he recently made the varsity squad! Go T!).
I flipped through my Entertainment Coupon book to find something of interest in the area. We were headed out for burgers for San Diego Burger Week in the evening and wanted something a little lighter for lunch. I decided to check out the College Sub Shop.
College Sub Shop is located off El Cajon Blvd. near College Ave, across from the Vons Shopping Center. They even have three parking spots of their very own in case there’s no street parking. It simply says “Sub Shop” on the outside.
It’s very simply decorated inside the shop. Check out these withered old newspaper cutouts about the Chargers heading for the Super Bowl. I have a feeling this shop’s been around for a while.
Here’s the menu (click it to see it better). They really got the submarine thing down. For their hours they “surface” at 11am and “submerge” at 7pm. Heehee.
The very best deal they have is for 2 footlongs subs for $8.99 (certain menu items only). What?! That is crazy cheap! They have a good combo deal as well – Half a sandwich with drink and cookies or chips, or macaroni salad or potato salad for $4.99. Man, what a deal.
I had my coupon which was good for buy one menu item get one free (up to $6). The very nice Asian lady working at the counter handed us two bags and pens so we could fill it out with what we wanted. We both waffled for a bit on our order but there was no one else in the shop that day (probably because it’s spring break – I wish I had a spring break. Sigh.).
I like filling out my own order, instead of standing around and pointing out what I want. Then again I do have a slight obsession with office supplies and paper products, so don’t mind me.
This is my sandwich. I know it says Jacob on it but I wrote Jacob so we’d get our sandwiches together. I have no idea why. There was only one other person in the shop when we left and the nice lady bagged our sandwiches together anyway.
There also an Asian man who works there and they work in sync to put the sandwiches together (perhaps they are a husband and wife team?). The bread is cut fresh and the meats and cheeses are sliced fresh on the spot as well. I like that!
[#7 footlong pastrami with avocado / $5.55 + $0.99 cents for avocado]
These sandwiches are MASSIVE. They cut the sandwiches into four slices which makes it much easier to eat the pieces and makes it easier for sharing. The bread was fluffy and light and paired very nicely with the cold pastrami. The pastrami tasted wonderful with the cold lettuce and onions plus the creamy (and quite large) slices of avocado. I really enjoyed the sandwich and was able to enjoy more of it the next day (I only ate 1/4 of and T had some after his game).
[#1 footlong ham, salami, & pepperoni / $5.55]
Jake also got a footlong with ham, salami and pepperoni in it – Italian style! He got it on wheat bread instead of white and said it didn’t taste as good as the white bread. He thought the “wheat” flavor was too light but otherwise loved the sandwich.
In the end I paid just over $7 plus tax for both sandwiches. I added the avocado which cost a little extra but is always worth it in my opinion. These sandwiches could easily feed multiple people and would be great for a picnic or any kind of outing!
College Sub Shop | (Yelp)
6150 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
(619) 286-4221
After we picked up our sandwiches, we headed over to Tea Station for some drinks. I recently won in their Instagram/Twitter contest for March. All you had to do was post a photo of a drink or item with their logo clearly labeled and add their hashtag and I was lucky enough to win! I got a $10 gift card and treated Jake and myself to a milk tea and a taro tea. Jake thinks the taro tea tastes like Captain Crunch Berries and that’s the only one he ever orders now. Me? I still stick with the regular milk tea. They had a hazelnut tea for awhile that I loved but I don’t see it on the menu anymore. I tried an almond one once and didn’t like it at all so now I just always get a plain old milk tea. With boba, of course. Always with boba.
I love this place. Maybe it’s the bread that makes it happen for me, but the avocado never disappoints.
Although I’m a huge fan of subs, eating them is never a graceful thing to witness, particularly with me. 🙂
Hi Kimberlee – I *might* have gotten avocado all over myself. It’s amazing I can even get food into my mouth sometimes.
Mary, I’d call it collateral damage with avocado. I’m one of those people that could easily eat avocado every day, so by now, you’d think I would have mastered the art of eating one. No such luck here. On the bright side, I can enjoy anything I want to eat these days since I’m a regular bib-wearer. I’ve actually traded in my fabric washable bib for a vinyl, wipe-off variety so I don’t have to ever be without it. You never know where or when a sandwich might explode, so being ready is paramount. Call me a dork if you feel the need to.
Ohhh, vinyl, you’re getting fancy on me! I forget to wear mine sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time. I’ve gotten a little better at leaning way, way over or just picking up the plate and putting it near my face instead while I eat!
Great deal indeed! I gotta find that coupon now!
Yes, I think you’ll enjoy it, CC!
I used to go here all the time back in the early 2000’s using the same coupon and it sounds like the owners haven’t changed. It’s impressive to see that the prices have barely gone up (if at all) in over 10 years. You just couldn’t beat the value although they used to be out of items fairly often when I came in on weekends (which was most of the time).
Hi Mr. K – That’s pretty awesome to hear, actually. It’s kind of a little easy-to-miss place but I enjoyed it very much, more than some chain sandwich shops that we won’t speak of. I think we were lucky because it’s Spring Break and they had everything in stock. I can imagine this place being packed! Thanks for sharing your comments!
Ok I cannot understand the massiveness of this sandwich. Is it like the size of a Giant sub at Jersey Mikes? B/c the pics of the subs here look that big! And for $5.55?!!! And it looks like they were generous with the avo in the second pic of the #7. Not bad for an additional .99c!
I’m an office supply junkie slash hoarder. There is nothing weird about that.
You know, I’ve never had a giant sub at Jersey Mike’s! I always get one of those little baby mini ones. These subs are probably like, the length of your forearm. They were pretty hefty for a sandwich! They were really generous with the avocado which make me very happy. Totally worth the extra buck.
I love cute paper and office supply things! Glad I’m not the only one 🙂
Thank you so much for such a nice blog review! This is my parent’s deli and they’ve owned it for over 25 years. I worked there..gosh from high school thru college. It’s great to see people enjoying their subs still and that the quality hasn’t changed! Still huge, fresh, and yummy! Thanks again!
Hi Kathy! That’s great to hear – we really did enjoy it and tried to go back on a Sunday once, haha. We’ll have to remember to go on Saturday instead. It’s such a great deal and the sandwiches are great! Your parents are really nice folks with a great shop 🙂