Tony Baloney's — Restaurant in California

Tony Baloney Submarine Shop! This sub sandwich shop is a local institution. A lot of community history and fond memories. I remember the first time I dined here and that was over 25 years ago. The place has been around since the 1970s. I recall dining and talking to Tony, the owner. The pepper steak sandwich is legendary, that's their number 1 seller.

Fast forward now. Tony is no longer with us but his family continues to run the business now. The staff is fun, sassy and engaging. The pepper steak is still my favorite on the menu. It's subjective if it's the best ever. In my book, it's pretty darn good. The Italian American style menu includes cold sandwiches, hot sandwiches, pasta, and pizzas. I also enjoy their meatball sandwich, potato salad, pastrami sandwich, and spaghetti n meatballs plate. All housemade. No frozen meatballs or lunch pressed meats here.

On my last visit, hubs and I ordered a pepper steak sandwich and spaghetti n meatball entree. Still digging that pepper steak. Don't forget to ask for the provolone cheese with it. The spaghetti and meatballs hit all the familiar notes. It's not a jazzy standout menu item, but it's comforting and basic. It came with two meatballs and a lot of pasta. Wish they were more meatballs. You get more in a sandwich. Those meatballs are tasty though. Fluffy, dense and savory. The entree size was ample for two. It came with cheese bread and a green salad. The bread was heavy on the butter. Soaking in it, so much that it provided a crispy and buttery deliciousness. Served warm. The green salad was simple with fresh ingredients, refreshing flavors.

The building needs some TLC. It's showing its age. The dining room hasn't changed. And sadly so hasn't the restroom, oh the restroom is not in great shape. They gotta upkeep the restroom to keep it functional and clean. If you intend to dine here and not use the restroom,...

Three of us ate here yesterday for lunch on the recommendation of one of the three. He'd been eating at Tony Baloney's for 25 years. He built up the experience before hand so I'm not sure it could ever live up to the hype. Two of us split a pepper steak sandwich and a pastrami sandwich. I asked the waitress if the pastrami was lean.....she said it was, it wasn't. Lots of chewiness and fatty sections to it although it did taste okay. The pepper steak sandwich was a four in flavor, but there didn't seem to be a lot of pepper steak to it for the price. Not a great value. A small sandwich was $8.50 I think. That brought it down to a three. The restaurant itself was okay. We ate around 11:30 am on a Friday morning, and there weren't many people in the restaurant eating. Kind of an old school aesthetic. The waitresses were okay, not overly friendly or unattentive. Again a three. So, I wasn't overwhelmed, but came out satisfied. An over all "okay" experience. I gave it a three, but I don't consider a three "A-Okay", I consider it an "okay" experience. Not enough...

My husband had a sandwich here last week and raved about it so much, that I gave it a try. I had the meatball sandwich w/cheese and also some macaroni salad. All I can say is WOW! My sandwich was so tasty and I appreciated the meatballs did not have an overwhelming flavor of sausage as they can sometimes have. The sandwich itself was quite large and I couldn't finish it, so I saved it for dinner. The macaroni salad was also delicious. I honestly can't wait to come back again--it was that good! After living in the area for the past 11 years--how is it I never knew this place was here? I need to make up for lost time!

*Edited to add--today 7/10/2025-we had ordered a pizza. That is the one item I don't think I would eat again--VERY greasy! It had pepperoni, olives & sausage. Literally, when we took the slice out of the box, the bottom of the box was coated in grease and it was soaking through. Other than that--their sandwiches are the...