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Arguably the best place for food on campus. I have only tried their paninis but I absolutely love them every time. I have tried the Californian and Southwest paninis. The Californian tasted like a BLT but the the bread was super crispy and buttery, it was also loaded with avocado. The Southwest also had a very crispy and buttery bread. It was on the spicier side, but the tomatoes and avocado does a good job at balancing the spice.
I had eaten at Croutons once before and enjoyed it. This time, I had a club pesto sandwich and a pear walnut salad. The sourdough bread tasted fresh. It had a crunchy outside. The chicken flavor was light, the pesto was creamy with a zesty kick, and the greens were a fresh addition. The sandwich is pretty filling, so I ate half and kept the second half for later. The salad, though simple, was really tasty. The pear pieces were sweet, the blue cheese added some nice flavor, and the greens brought it all together. Croutons, in the heart of UTC, combines taste, convenience and variety. A great spot!
Croutons is a great place to visit if you are on the UCSD campus looking for a quick lunch. Food comes out quickly and it is absolutely delicious. I've tried the chicken margherita panini, chicken pesto panini, tomato and basil soup, and the chicken and rice soup. Everything I've tired thus far has been AMAZING. So very delicious. The picture of the food TRULY does not do the flavor justice! Croutons is located in the middle of the New Student Services building. It can be difficult to find as it is hidden in the middle of the building on I believe the 2nd floor. Food: 10/10 Service: 10/10 The staff here are very nice. One time I was eating lunch in their seating area and their staff offered me a free chicken margherita sandwich!
Croutons is similar to that of Panera, Boudin, and all those other places with soup/salad/sandwiches. This restaurant is one of the cooler looking places on campus! Aside from that, the food is alright. It's good, but it's not the best. The price range is typical... It's cheap, but it's expensive for what it is. A little ole sandwich for almost $7 and a tomato basil soup, which equates to almost $13? I should've done the combo, but it was my first time and it was really busy, so I didn't know what to do hehe. I got the chicken pesto and tomato basil soup. Since the name of this restaurant is called "Croutons," I expected the croutons to be good. Indeed, they were huge and delicious! The soup and croutons were the best part about my meal. The tomato soup has too many chunks of tomato, though. The sandwich wasn't the greatest, and I couldn't really taste the pesto. Seating inside gets crowded because it's pretty compact, but there's seating outside also. They bring the food to you when you order in. The customer service was forgettable! I wasn't impressed.
I can't believe it took me almost 3 years to try this place! I love soup and salads but I just never took the time out to eat here. Anyway, this Croutons is relatively small and when it's busy, the line will go out the door. I ended up getting the combo meal which allows you to order specific salads and any small-sized soup for a low price. I got the Granny Smith Chicken Salad and the Tomato Basil Soup. The salad was topped with apples, chicken, cranberries, and croutons and was so tasty! There was a perfect amount of vinaigrette dressing on there and it just complemented the salad so well. The soup was equally tasty because it was just so creamy and the texture of the croutons in the soup balanced out the soup. I seriously can't wait to come back and try more! TL;DR: Food: 4/5-- recommend the Granny Smith Chicken Salad Price: $
Located on the campus of UCSD, this particular location can get really busy during the lunch hour. A lot of staff members go here for lunch and not too many students. I think it's because it's a little too pricey for what it is. The staff is efficient and friendly. The menu has a lot of salad options, panini options but not too many soup options. I just feel like it's just okay here. Anyhow, I ordered the pear and blue cheese salad with chicken. I ordered the larger size since I was going to share with the sister. In any case, chicken is an extra $2, so my lunch ended up costing me $9.99. It really is a large bowl of salad aka there's a lot of greenery for what it is. There was a little bit of blue cheese and a sprinkling of chicken. The dressing was very light, almost non-existent. I wish there was just a tad more than what they gave. Overall, it's not a bad salad. It just needs a little by more ump. Would I could back here? Maybe if I wanted a panini. But I think I'll just wait it out until I get bored of the other restaurants on campus.
I stopped by croutons on a cold day through a recommendation of their basil tomato soup. I ordered half a chicken pesto panini and the tomato basil soup. The cost was a little under $10 Chicken pesto sandwich was pretty standard. Bread was buttery but chicken was dry. Not worth in my opinion So why 4 stars? The tomato soup was the best I've had. It was smooth and with seasoned with basil and other spices. The consistency was awesome It definitely hit the spot on a cold day before finals. I'm definitely coming back just to try other soups. I wish they had longer operating hours though.
The famous chicken pesto panini was a huge disappointment. The pesto had very little pesto flavor and, despite looking very creamy (more like pale green Alfredo sauce than pesto) did little to alleviate the extreme dryness of the slices of chicken breast. The bread was poorly sliced and grilled - one slice was super thick and looked like they'd fried the outside of it to a hard crust, while the other slice was much thinner and wasn't grilled at all. I had to force myself to finish it because I hate wasting food, but there is no way I'm getting that again. There's a variety of other sandwiches and salads there, but none of them are worth it - like most of the on-campus, non-UCSD-affiliated restaurants, actually. But I'd much rather eat in the dining halls than at Croutons, whether I have dining dollars or not.
While I enjoy Croutons there are some things I would change. One thing I would change is how quickly the food comes. Sometimes when you order in person it'll be quick but a couple of times when I have ordered in person it'll take 30 minutes for the food to be ready. When I went in today I ordered my food online in advance. It said online that my food would be ready at 11:20 but I actually didn't receive my food until 11:40, this is unfortunately not the first time this has happened to me even when ordering ahead online. If you're in a rush to get food then I wouldn't come here because the wait time is never really known. My favorite sandwich to get here is the Chicken Pesto Sandwich, the only thing I would change is the amount of pesto they give you. A lot of the times when I have gotten this sandwich they do not put enough pesto on which makes the whole sandwich. Overall good food but the wait time is really a disadvantage.
One of the better campus food options at UCSD especially if you want something healthy. I love coming here for the salads. They have a wide variety of salads. I always get the half and half combo when I come here. The salad is definitely a decent size portion as a small, so I don't know how big it would be as a large. The half and half I think is a tad pricy, but the best deal if you want variety. It's a bummer that they upcharge $1.25 if you want any of the sandwiches or salads that they deem "special." My favorite salads are the mixed berry salad and the pear salad. The pear salad comes with blue cheese but I always sub it for feta and they have no problem doing that for me. The salads usually come with a variety of other toppings like nuts and stuff. I recently had the sundance salad. It was pretty good, but my least favorite so far. I don't think the dressing was as flavorful as in the other two. I liked how it came with mandarin and avocado though. The soups are pretty good here, but not "out of this world" special. I like the tomato basil soup and the chicken and wild rice soup. The sandwiches are what bring down Croutons to a 3 for me. They serve mostly pretty much only paninis and flatinis here. The flatini bread is almost pita like bread. I've had the pesto panini and both the barbecue and buffalo chicken flatinis. They were all pretty lackluster to me. The chicken on the pesto panini is pretty dry. The flatinis are reminiscent of something you'd get at Subway, Quiznos, or the freezer section of a grocery store. There just isn't a lot going on besides meat, cheese, and sauce. I'd rather have a sandwich packed with more fresh veggies, but the panini style here kind of limits the execution of that type of sandwich here. Although Croutons is a bit pricy, it's a solid option for me when I'm at UCSD and craving salad and soup. I'm just not a big fan of their sandwiches.
ian even gon lie my boy. this was the most mid panini of all time if im bein frfr. i got the 5.99 chicken panini bc they got that deal on friday. i mean its a good deal but like man its j mid. they also charged half a dollar to add buffalo sauce which is lowkey insane ngl. but yeah. the flavors were good bc they had pesto in there. but like damn the chicken was dry ngl. like i would be choking sometimes from the dryness. but overall just not bad read more
A bit of a hidden but delicious spot on campus for a quick bite for lunch located up the stairs of the SCC! They serve soup, salads, and sandwiches here at an affordable price. I tried the spicy chicken pesto panini and it was a STEAL for only $9. read more
Arguably the best place for food on campus. I have only tried their paninis but I absolutely love them every time. I have tried the Californian and Southwest paninis. The Californian tasted like a BLT but the the bread was super crispy and buttery, it was also loaded with avocado. The Southwest also had a very crispy and buttery bread. It was on the spicier side, but the tomatoes and avocado does a good job at balancing the spice. read more
I had eaten at Croutons once before and enjoyed it. This time, I had a club pesto sandwich and a pear walnut salad. The sourdough bread tasted fresh. It had a crunchy outside. The chicken flavor was light, the pesto was creamy with a zesty kick, and the greens were a fresh addition. The sandwich is pretty filling, so I ate half and kept the second half for later. The salad, though simple, was really tasty. The pear pieces were sweet, the blue cheese added some nice flavor, and the greens brought it all together. Croutons, in the heart of UTC, combines taste, convenience and variety. A great spot! read more
Croutons is a great place to visit if you are on the UCSD campus looking for a quick lunch. Food comes out quickly and it is absolutely delicious. I've tried the chicken margherita panini, chicken pesto panini, tomato and basil soup, and the chicken and rice soup. Everything I've tired thus far has been AMAZING. So very delicious. The picture of the food TRULY does not do the flavor justice! Croutons is located in the middle of the New Student Services building. It can be difficult to find as it is hidden in the middle of the building on I believe the 2nd floor. Food: 10/10 Service: 10/10 The staff here are very nice. One time I was eating lunch in their seating area and their staff offered me a free chicken margherita sandwich! read more
11 years ago
Croutons is similar to that of Panera, Boudin, and all those other places with soup/salad/sandwiches. This restaurant is one of the cooler looking places on campus! Aside from that, the food is alright. It's good, but it's not the best. The price range is typical... It's cheap, but it's expensive for what it is. A little ole sandwich for almost $7 and a tomato basil soup, which equates to almost $13? I should've done the combo, but it was my first time and it was really busy, so I didn't know what to do hehe. I got the chicken pesto and tomato basil soup. Since the name of this restaurant is called "Croutons," I expected the croutons to be good. Indeed, they were huge and delicious! The soup and croutons were the best part about my meal. The tomato soup has too many chunks of tomato, though. The sandwich wasn't the greatest, and I couldn't really taste the pesto. Seating inside gets crowded because it's pretty compact, but there's seating outside also. They bring the food to you when you order in. The customer service was forgettable! I wasn't impressed. read more
I can't believe it took me almost 3 years to try this place! I love soup and salads but I just never took the time out to eat here. Anyway, this Croutons is relatively small and when it's busy, the line will go out the door. I ended up getting the combo meal which allows you to order specific salads and any small-sized soup for a low price. I got the Granny Smith Chicken Salad and the Tomato Basil Soup. The salad was topped with apples, chicken, cranberries, and croutons and was so tasty! There was a perfect amount of vinaigrette dressing on there and it just complemented the salad so well. The soup was equally tasty because it was just so creamy and the texture of the croutons in the soup balanced out the soup. I seriously can't wait to come back and try more! TL;DR: Food: 4/5-- recommend the Granny Smith Chicken Salad Price: $ read more
Located on the campus of UCSD, this particular location can get really busy during the lunch hour. A lot of staff members go here for lunch and not too many students. I think it's because it's a little too pricey for what it is. The staff is efficient and friendly. The menu has a lot of salad options, panini options but not too many soup options. I just feel like it's just okay here. Anyhow, I ordered the pear and blue cheese salad with chicken. I ordered the larger size since I was going to share with the sister. In any case, chicken is an extra $2, so my lunch ended up costing me $9.99. It really is a large bowl of salad aka there's a lot of greenery for what it is. There was a little bit of blue cheese and a sprinkling of chicken. The dressing was very light, almost non-existent. I wish there was just a tad more than what they gave. Overall, it's not a bad salad. It just needs a little by more ump. Would I could back here? Maybe if I wanted a panini. But I think I'll just wait it out until I get bored of the other restaurants on campus. read more
8 years ago
I stopped by croutons on a cold day through a recommendation of their basil tomato soup. I ordered half a chicken pesto panini and the tomato basil soup. The cost was a little under $10 Chicken pesto sandwich was pretty standard. Bread was buttery but chicken was dry. Not worth in my opinion So why 4 stars? The tomato soup was the best I've had. It was smooth and with seasoned with basil and other spices. The consistency was awesome It definitely hit the spot on a cold day before finals. I'm definitely coming back just to try other soups. I wish they had longer operating hours though. read more
3 years ago
3 years ago
13 years ago
The famous chicken pesto panini was a huge disappointment. The pesto had very little pesto flavor and, despite looking very creamy (more like pale green Alfredo sauce than pesto) did little to alleviate the extreme dryness of the slices of chicken breast. The bread was poorly sliced and grilled - one slice was super thick and looked like they'd fried the outside of it to a hard crust, while the other slice was much thinner and wasn't grilled at all. I had to force myself to finish it because I hate wasting food, but there is no way I'm getting that again. There's a variety of other sandwiches and salads there, but none of them are worth it - like most of the on-campus, non-UCSD-affiliated restaurants, actually. But I'd much rather eat in the dining halls than at Croutons, whether I have dining dollars or not. read more
3 years ago
While I enjoy Croutons there are some things I would change. One thing I would change is how quickly the food comes. Sometimes when you order in person it'll be quick but a couple of times when I have ordered in person it'll take 30 minutes for the food to be ready. When I went in today I ordered my food online in advance. It said online that my food would be ready at 11:20 but I actually didn't receive my food until 11:40, this is unfortunately not the first time this has happened to me even when ordering ahead online. If you're in a rush to get food then I wouldn't come here because the wait time is never really known. My favorite sandwich to get here is the Chicken Pesto Sandwich, the only thing I would change is the amount of pesto they give you. A lot of the times when I have gotten this sandwich they do not put enough pesto on which makes the whole sandwich. Overall good food but the wait time is really a disadvantage. read more
7 years ago
8 years ago
11 years ago
One of the better campus food options at UCSD especially if you want something healthy. I love coming here for the salads. They have a wide variety of salads. I always get the half and half combo when I come here. The salad is definitely a decent size portion as a small, so I don't know how big it would be as a large. The half and half I think is a tad pricy, but the best deal if you want variety. It's a bummer that they upcharge $1.25 if you want any of the sandwiches or salads that they deem "special." My favorite salads are the mixed berry salad and the pear salad. The pear salad comes with blue cheese but I always sub it for feta and they have no problem doing that for me. The salads usually come with a variety of other toppings like nuts and stuff. I recently had the sundance salad. It was pretty good, but my least favorite so far. I don't think the dressing was as flavorful as in the other two. I liked how it came with mandarin and avocado though. The soups are pretty good here, but not "out of this world" special. I like the tomato basil soup and the chicken and wild rice soup. The sandwiches are what bring down Croutons to a 3 for me. They serve mostly pretty much only paninis and flatinis here. The flatini bread is almost pita like bread. I've had the pesto panini and both the barbecue and buffalo chicken flatinis. They were all pretty lackluster to me. The chicken on the pesto panini is pretty dry. The flatinis are reminiscent of something you'd get at Subway, Quiznos, or the freezer section of a grocery store. There just isn't a lot going on besides meat, cheese, and sauce. I'd rather have a sandwich packed with more fresh veggies, but the panini style here kind of limits the execution of that type of sandwich here. Although Croutons is a bit pricy, it's a solid option for me when I'm at UCSD and craving salad and soup. I'm just not a big fan of their sandwiches. read more
16 years ago
The food here is good, but the portions aren't as great as at the Villa La Jolla location. The service here is okay, maybe not as friendly as the other location though. I like the seating arrangements in the back of the restaurant, makes it a little bit more intimate. read more
The Granny Smith Chicken Flatini was delicious! I can't believe I have been walking past this place for almost 4 years without trying it. I am glad my friend pick this place for our lunch and recommended the flatini to me. The sweetness of the apples complimented really well with the lightly seasoned grilled chicken. I really enjoyed that subtle hint of sweetness from the apples and honey very very much. Oh&& they were giving out free brownies too! It was the kind of brownies I like too- moist center and crunchy crust! I will probably be back more often to try their other options and see if the brownies are still there. Hehe(: read more
7 years ago
8 years ago
13 years ago
Since when is paying $7.81 for a salad/sandwich combo considered pricey, especially when you can pay more than that elsewhere for a mediocre, boring offering? A fancy name for Subway -- really? Only if by "fancy name" you mean "somewhere where I can actually eat something edible." We're talking about a campus that is home to Panda Express and Burger King. It's nice to see a dining option on campus that doesn't immediately make my arteries explode upon first glance. I've been a patron at the La Jolla location for several years now and they have always provided consistently great, healthy, and creative dining options, all the while remaining friendly and kind to student business. It's no wonder that they have now opened a store on campus, and in such a great location. The new UCSD restaurant makes them one of the best places on campus to grab lunch. (Yes, it's busy, but there's a reason for that.) Thankfully, the restaurant is located in the new Student Business Services building, which means that you can sit outside in peace and enjoy your lunch, rather than battling the chaos and crowds at Price Center. Thumbs up to Croutons, as always. Thank you for treating us well. read more
7 years ago
11 years ago
18 years ago
9 years ago
I love coming here for their sandwiches. I've never gotten their soups or salads, so I can't comment on those. My favorite sandwich is the Californian ($9.64 in total, including tax) which is a panini with turkey, bacon, avocado, tomato, Swiss cheese, and mayo. Yum! The bread is also buttered, I believe, making it a bit oily (but not too much).The portions are also bigger than what I expected it to be when I first bought food here. I thought it was going to be the size of a regular sandwich, like those from the dining halls. I usually eat one half then save the other half for later. I will say, though, the price is a bit high for me, so I only come to Croutons once in a while when I'm really craving. read more
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Croutons Restaurant - sandwiches - Updated September 2026
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