Great local 'hole in the wall' sandwich shop. No fuss and the sandwiches are amazing!

the sandwiches have fresh ingredients! I like the firefighter veggies with rye bread. read more

My go-to sandwich has been the Fireman's Special w/o onions. The best vegetarian sandwich option; great high quality veggies every time. The avocado is always creamy and the pickles are crunchy and tangy. You have to get the rye bread with this sandwich because the flavor compliments the veggies perfectly; earthy goodness! And don't forget to get a brownie with walnuts! It's a must. I usually call my order in for pickup. The ladies are always kind and polite; never had a bad experience by phone or in-person. The place, like its name, is unique looking. Highly recommend for a feel-good lunch option. read more

Although I try to support local business, this one is a non-returner. I ordered a tuna sandwich ($12). The sandwich consisted of bread, tuna, and cheese. And I mean tuna with mayo only, nothing added. They asked if I would like it warmed, and my guess is they used a microwave as the bread was very tough, not old, but the tough you get from microwaving too long. Also, the place really needs a cleaning. The dining room has cobwebs and dust everywhere. read more

I can't believe I've been going here for 30 years now, but I am still addicted to several of their sandwiches. Their gondola-half egg salad half tuna salad is bomb, check out their menu for their creative combo sandwiches read more

Hometown vibes at its finest. Literally the largest and freshest sandwiches and they are so fresh tasting. I actually prefer dining in her than taking to go because it's such a ma and pa vibe, the decor, the ambiance just make you feel good. Lovely staff and friendly vibes. read more

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Best sandwich shop in south Salinas. Great customer service. I highly recommend. A MUST TRY!

It must be very nice to have so many customers that you can afford to PO regular customers. The website says they close at 3pm as has been the rule for years. I have been a regular for some time. Today, I was informed we could not sit down because they were closing, it was 2:15, though we could have take out. There were 4 tables with people. Forget it. Sorry Loose Caboose, I won't be back. read more

Love The "Loose Caboose" In Salinas, CA Best Sandwich Shop In Town...!!! I Ordered "The Loose Caboose Sandwich " ;Turkey, Ham, Avocado, With Jack Cheese, Lettuce, And Tomato's On Sourdough Bread...!!! Yummmmerrzzzzz...!!!!! If You're Ever In Salinas,CA And Looking For A Good Sandwich...!!! "The Loose Caboose " Is Definitely The Spot To Hit Up...!! The Mother Daughter Team Are Awesome They Get You In And Out Quickly In A Timely Manner..!! The Decor Is All Railroad Inspired.!! Casual Place To Eat A Quick Lunch..!! And Friendly Service..!!! read more

Loose Caboose - The "Loose Caboose" - Sandwiches Near Me - Salinas, California

The food is great, fresh and tasty. Prices are fare and staff is polite and professional. You can actually eat two meals off of one sandwich. Everything goes well. Yes I highly recommend this place. read more

Service wasn't great, all i can really say, came at 2:40 on a Friday, online it says they're open until 3:30, the young woman mopping said they were already closed and that online is wrong they close at 3, which it was still 20 minutes before, my sister asked if they could still make the food because we came all the way there, they responded with attitude, I just told my sister we should leave as the worker was obviously annoyed and raising her voice like we were in the wrong , wasn't worth the drive over, rude workers with poor communication skills, sad to see it. I think one star is very generous for them. read more

Loose Caboose is ok! I stopped by for a sandwich on Saturday around 1 and was a bit disappointed when they told me they were out of French Rolls. Ok, whatever I just got the sliced sourdough instead. I got the Loose Caboose with sprouts and it was surprisingly really good. Everything was so fresh and the sprouts were amazing. I love a sandwich place that still does sprouts, its rare! The only thing I disliked was the sliced sourdough bread. It was too thin and was barely holding the sandwich together. The tables appeared to be clean, it was tidy. However the place as a whole could use a good dusting. Dang I get it, they are going for the retro feel but you can achieve it without all the layers of dust and dust balls on everything. The ladies behind the counter... so sweet! They were attentive and our sandwiches came out fast. I asked for a water and they later asked if I wanted a refill. Honestly, I would have given this place 4 stars, easily! HOWEVER, if you follow my reviews you know for me consistency is key. The fact that a sandwich shop is out of bread is less than ideal. It's one of the main ingredients. I will definitely be back! read more

Loose Caboose - Loose Caboose + Sprouts on Sliced Sourdough - Sandwiches Near Me - Salinas, California

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Decent sandwich shop. Although you could make the same sandwiches at home. They do have excellent customer service. Staff is friendly and food comes out promptly. Decor is cute. read more

I have been a patron of Loose Caboose since they opened over 20 years ago. A few years back the original owners sold the business, and the new owners didn't skip a beat as far as I was concerned - same good food, same good customer service. It sold again a few months ago and I started having issues right away. I usually call in an order from my office so I can go pick it up and not wait. I am very specific when I order, i.e., egg salad on whole wheat, no mayo or mustard, lettuce only. What started happening was I would get the sandwich with tomato and onion, which I had not asked for. Same with the chicken salad. Then, I ordered a pastrami and Swiss on rye, mayo and mustard. I get back to the office AND there was no Swiss cheese! Then, yesterday I dialed to place an order...the phone rang 10-12 times and was never picked up. This a.m., I tried again, and after *8* rings it picked up. I asked why they are not answering their phone and she said "well, we're busy". Not at 1:15, honey. SHE HUNG UP ON ME. So...bye bye, Loose Caboose. read more

The food is great and i go there pretty often. today I went in, got a sandwhich and found what seems to be a tick in the sandwhich. when I informed them about the tick they didn't seem to care at all. I wasn't expecting a whole refund, but atleast maybe an apology. Did not receive either read more

Loose Caboose - Sandwiches Near Me - Salinas, California

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Food is always great! Our favorite is the "loose caboose". The extras are good too. Very friendly!

The sandwiches are just as good as I remember them from 15 years ago. Good prices and good food!!

Are you ever craving a classic sandwich that your mom would make you growing up minus all the work? This is our favorite place for a egg salad or chicken salad, and their soup is my favorite. My go tos are the split pea or lentil. They are such a sweet team of women and a Salinas classic. read more

The customer service here is always wonderful. I love supporting women run businesses. I come here for a quick sandwich for lunch. Everywhere else takes too long. But here they're quick. read more

If you're from the Southside, you know all about Loose Caboose. If you don't...say whaaaaaaaat?? Anyway. I've been coming here since my sophomore-ish year of high school (the specific year escapes me at the moment), and their sandwiches have ALWAYS been amazing. My husband is a bit of a sandwich snob, so when I introduced him to this place, he was over the moon with his Ironside. I love their extremely fresh ingredients, plus the size of the sandwiches are definitely worth the money! As another reviewer mentioned, its best to call your order in ahead of time or you're gonna be waiting for a while since your walk in order will get jumbled in with the phone orders. I've waited up to forty minutes before, and that's when there was a very long line out the door. Anyway, they're delicious and you're missing out if you haven't given them a shot! read more

Ive been coming to Loose Caboose forever & although i dont come back often, when i do they never disappoint, sandwiches are always fresh & tasty, the staff is always very pleasant, my sandwich was delish read more

The BLT was excellent! The best FRESH potato salad was a great addition Service was also very welcoming

Better than Subway but not as good as, say, Capagno's in Monterey. I want it to be great, because it's got all of the elements of a great sandwich shop; funky old ambiance, family run, quality ingredients, clever sandwich ideas, etc. There is the flip side, however. The sandwiches are sort of pedestrian and sloppy and take a long time to construct. So don't avoid it if you're in the area, but you don't need to go out of your way to seek it out, either. read more

I recently started working in South Salinas, and hitting all the local sandwich/lunch shops is a goal of mine. I started my journey by visiting the Loose Caboose based on a recommendation by a previous co-worker. The shop is much larger than I anticipated. There was plenty of natural lighting, which made most of the shop look fairly dim. I went at lunch time, 12:45, and there were lots of open tables. The food took a bit of time to get to me, but it was really delicious. I had the Fireman's Special (half size) and creamy broccoli soup for less than $7. Both were great. The soup was thick, tasty, and warm. The sandwich was very tasty as well. The only downside was the marble rye was not toasted, so the bread fell apart a bit while I was eating the sandwich. I would probably ask for toasted bread next time for ease of consumption. I would definitely go back. I'm looking to try the avocado sandwich. Hats off to you, Loose Caboose! The 3 star rating was for the wait time. Otherwise, the food was great. read more

Loose Caboose - Sandwiches Near Me - Salinas, California

This place merits at least a couple of stars for its ambiance, which is worthy of a hobo shantytown on the wrong side of the tracks -- a train theme that looks like it hasn't been touched in thirty years. The building is basically unheated and was freezing cold today. So we ordered the hot sandwiches, and I got news for you, owners. You don't make a hot pastrami sandwich by making a sandwich and microwaving it. You do that, the bread is soggy and the meat is cold in the middle, which is what mine was like. You're supposed to (a) keep the meat hot, (b) toast the bread, (c) combine said hot ingredients, and voila, a hot sandwich, sans pan-aux-soggé. So I basically rate our experience here as a two, but the junior companion of my party simply loved the American cheese and his slightly stale bun and the train decor and said "THIS IS FOUR STARS, DADDY!" so in the truth-in-ratings category, I averaged out our two ratings to three. read more

Just wow. It's the best thing to ever happen since Sliced bread. Favorite thing to get is the brownie. It is scrumchous.

Definitely some of the best sandwiches in town. I'm not a big fan of Subway or Quiznos, I do however like Erik's Deli and Togo's but since Erik's is too far from home and there are no Togo's in town--Loose Caboose is your best bet. Plus, I love the fact that it's a mom and pop shop and not a chain restaurant. I absolutely love the turkey sandwich and their prices are very reasonable considering they use fresh ingredients. :) read more

I had been here once before because of an Entertainment coupon. I liked it then. Then I want again and read the reviews, and someone had complained about the Ironhorse sandwich. So when I got there I had it in mind, so I decided to see if their complaints were warranted. I got the sandwich and it was awesome! I came in hungry & left full! And I don't feel that paying $7 something for a sandwich and a soda is outrageous. I think people are too used to generic $5 sandwiches at chain restaurants! This is a great local sandwich shop with loads of charm! read more

Loose Caboose - Sandwiches Near Me - Salinas, California

3 stars cause I love the sandwiches but I just wish they would wear gloves when preparing the sandwiches . I just can't stomach eating my sandwich after someone grabbed the bread and lettuce with their bare hands . read more

I ate here long long time ago and decided to give it a try again. I'm a sucker for hot sandwiches so I got some roast beef sandwich called the Iron Horse(I think that was the name?) It was way too mustardy and rather overpriced. For almost $7, I'd expect drinks and chips or a side but got just the sandwich. I thought it would at least come with pickles?! Sigh. read more

Good place for lunch with a variety of sandwiches at a reasonable price. I usually order the egg salad cause they make it simple: eggs and mayo...no relish, or chunky veggies or any other "fancy" things in it. Staff is friendly and helpful and the place is clean and homey. read more

How does this place only have 3.5 stars?!?! They have the freshest, high quality ingredients. I have been here twice and phenomenal both times. It is hard to get a high quality sandwich these days and they crush it. read more

Awesome great portion sizes little high on price but we'll worth it. Get the lentil soup!

Eat breakfast here. It's wholesome.

They MICROWAVE their sandwiches. My sandwich came out hot as hell with that distinct microwaved bread texture, so I watched them prepare others. Sure enough, in the microwave they went. I hate subway, but at least they toast. read more

Love my sandwiches from LC, even with takeout the quality is not compromised. Best chicken salad sandwich in town! My sons have only recently tasted the sandwiches here and they've become fans too and enjoy the pickles:-) Happy to support them during this weird time. read more

So today was my first day eating at this place. I order a BLT sandwich and it had only three lines of bacon. The sandwich was skinnier than the sandwiches I make at home. The bread was just a white cheap box bread. Apparently, they have other choices of bread (didn't know till later). You would imagine they would ask when ordering, what type of bread would you like, right...? almost $7 dollars for a sandwich like it? My child's sandwich was almost $10 and he did notice the cheap bread too. My friend had a chili bean soup. The beans looked like the Mexican beans you get when you buy a platter (they were dry not soupy). She didn't eat it. I paid with a credit card and didn't get a receipt only the credit card ticket. Which, showed the amount owed not the itemized purchase. For the amount I paid I could have gotten a better meal somewhere else. Also, the place was very cold and felt uncomfortable while eating. read more

This place is good enjoyable. Friendly staff. interesting decor. Clean. What an unfortunate name! I really wish they would change it! Grownups laugh and kids get grossed out. I mean people really! How about the red caboose? Or the little caboose? The hungry caboose? No that dose not sound right ether... it is a good sandwich shop.... Grub caboose?......... read more

First off, what others describe as cute I describe as a junky looking and dirty sandwich shop. Second, I'm sitting down watching the employees making the sandwiches and they are not wearing gloves while wiping their noses and handling the food. Gross. Third, I'm wondering what kind of standards the Salinas health department has. I wish they would adopt the L.A. system where they grade the restaurant by placing an "A", "B" or "C" in the window. This place is a "C" all the way. Enter at your own risk. You've been warned. read more

I passed by this place a couple times on my lunch break and decided to give this place a try. The ambiance has that small town feel that's inviting. I had the Loose Caboose because its the name of the place and man was I satisfied. They piled the meat pretty high and added a lot of avocado. The sandwhich cost me $8 which is quite pricey but it was worth every penny. Most of the sandwhiches run for $7 but they have a nice special for $6 which includes 1/2 a sandwhich, soup or salad, and a drink. I can't believe it took me this long to come here. Best sandwhich shop in Salinas period. read more