Ike's Love & Sandwiches — Restaurant in San Jose

Today, I thanked Hugo (at the Santa Cruz location) for the wonderful job he and the other workers do at this location, and I'm expressing my feedback after coming to the realization on the vast difference between the Santa Cruz Ike's location and other Bay Area locations but mainly the 'Westgate' [5385 Prospect Rd] location.

I was VERY "turned off" on wanting another sandwich from Ike's after my last experience with the Westgate location. However, after thinking about how I feel when I visit the Santa Cruz location, I decided to go back there today and was very happy to receive the positive experience I always have there.

My go-to order is the 'Sometimes I'm a Vegetarian', made vegan, with vegan chicken. Every single time I have ordered from the Westgate location, they have never made it vegan (I know because I always get the green pesto, which from my understanding is NOT vegan, and this also makes me question if the rest of the sandwich is made vegan). This has happened for my last three orders at the Westgate location, and last time I went, I made sure to express to two different employees to make my sandwich vegan, without pesto. When I got home, I again found my sandwich was not made vegan. I regretted not double-checking the sandwich at the location - but I should not have to. Besides this, the employees at the Westgate location don't "seem" friendly (e.g., not all, but many have a "I don't want to be here" demeanor - not wanting/expecting them to be overly happy, but compared to the Santa Cruz location, it's a big difference & noticeable), I've seen multiple workers here who generally do not know how to use the ordering machine properly (i.e. to apply rewards), and everything just feels clunky/slow here (and I remember this from visiting the location a few years back even). Overall, I'm just VERY disappointed with the service from the Westgate location and likely won't go back unless things change...

TL;DR: The staff at this location don’t care at all and the quality is significantly worse than the Cupertino location.

I have been to at least 10 Ike's locations in the last 2 years, all over the Bay Area. I've loved the sandwiches for so long and it's arguably one of the greater sandwiches that the Bay has to offer. However, this location does not hold true to the Ike's standard we are all so used to.

The quality of the sandwiches is simply mediocre at this location. Each layer of an Ike's sandwich should be easily distinguishable from the last, as it is at most of the locations. This location does not guarantee the same style. The meats are of lower quality then they should be, often getting the fatty portions of pastrami on the Paul Reubens. One time is acceptable, three times are not. In addition, the mushrooms on "Sometimes I'm a Vegetarian" should be grilled, but those coming out of this location are half grilled and half raw. Everyone knows that an Ike's sandwich bag should be layered with napkins the sandwich and a lollipop. Again this location stuffs everything into the bag presuming that it's acceptable. In my opinion, it is not. I realize that this review sound pretentious, but quality assurance standards should be met at all locations and it is a bad mark on the company to have a store that is so different from all others. should you be in this area I recommend going either to the Santana Row location or the greatest one in this area is the Cupertino location.

Realistically, I do not expect this door to remain open for a long time, and given the turnover at that Westgate I presume we will see a...

I had heard a lot about this place, it showed up several times when I was looking for good deli places nearby but it was only yesterday that I decided to give it a try. I will start with the sandwiches since that is what impressed me the most. The sandwiches are HUGE-easy two meals for me! No doubt its great value for the price. I went there with my brother and for this time around we decided to try just their chicken sandwiches and share half each and will work our way through the rest of the menu items like that. I ordered "The 49er" and my brother got something I am assuming was off the secret menu, he told the guy on the counter if he could get the "rum rum" sandwich (I don't remember seeing it on the menu). Both the sandwiches were great, we got the sandwiches on french bread with cheese. The 49er sandwich consisted of shredded chicken and was little saucy. It had lettuce, tomatoes and tasted amazing! The rum rum was delicious and even better than 49er! The sandwich was a bit on the saucier side than 49er and had more spicy tinge to it which made it taste super good! The place overall was amazing, I loved their decor, the staff members were very friendly and patient even though the place was pretty crowded. Last but not the least, the highlight of the whole experience: They give you lollipops with your meal...