The Sandwich Smith

It has almost been a year and I am still enjoying this great food and ordered some lunch boxes for a work event today and what a huge success, everyone was very happy.
However, I have two small complaints: wish you guys would bring back the all natural sodas that were orginally in the lunch box and what in the hell happened to the lemon crinkle cookie ???
It was a slice a heaven just last year and was perfection and the new substitute being used is just basic, no taste, smaller in size and the lemony flavor is gone :(and that is just not cool !!!
I want my REAL lemon crinkle cookies back please !!!

We ate here since it was right across the street from the Japanese American National Museum. We were there for an event. I checked Unilocal and this place had a solid four stars, so we thought why not give it a shot.
The interior is nice and hipster/​modern with plenty of seating. As for the food, it could be better. I ordered the Fickle Pig, my husband had the Holy Cow, and my mom ordered the Buckin’ Cowboy salad.
The steak on both the Holy Cow and the Buckin’ Cowboy was pretty rare, fatty, and chewy. My mom kept pulling strings of fat out. It didn’t say how the meat would be cooked on the menu because we would have asked for it to be cooked longer. My husband said his sandwich was chewy and super soggy due to the meat and condiments. It was hard to eat the sandwich without it falling apart.
The Fickle pig was my least favorite of all considering that the menu did not state the the pork was marinated with spicy peppers. The flavor combination was undesirable since the slaw was bland, the aioli had barely any flavor, and the spicy shredded pork overpowered it all. The pork was stringy and overcooked as well. If it wasn’t so spicy and had better complimentary condiments the sandwich would be so much better.
The one thing I liked about the place was that they served vegan bread since I can’t eat gluten. The vegan bread was way sturdier than the regular bread on the other sandwiches. Not enough pros to bring me back here again, but I would try out Fickle.

During the daytime, this place is called the Sandwich Smith and they serve lunch staples like sandwiches (duh) and salads. At night time it’s called Fickle, and they have more refined dishes, like oysters, and they serve alcohol.
This review is for the Sandwich Smith. Now, these aren’t your typical sandwiches. They are loaded with delicious and fresh things like pulled pork, angus steak and fried chicken. They have gourmet sauces like garlic and chipotle aioli. They use farm fresh, local and sustainable veggies and their menu changes by the season to ensure they use the freshest ingredients. And considering the epicurean selections on the menu, the prices are fair. You can choose a half sandwich for $ 5 – 7 or a full for $ 9 – 12. The sandwiches are not very big, but they are filling. When I’m not too hungry, I stick with half. When I’m so hungry I could eat a cow, I get the full size angus steak. Pun intended.
You place your order at the register and walk to the counter to pick it up when your number is called. The orders come out quick enough that you can eat here on your lunch break and not feel frazzled.
My one complaint about this place is the presentation of their food. First of all, I think if you dine in, your sandwich should come on some sort of plate, not wrapped in parchment. I say this because many of the sandwiches are extra juicy, and wrapping them up, even if it’s just for a few minutes, results in inedible sogginess. This last time I ordered the Fickle Pig, a feast of a sandwich piled high with tender pulled pork, cole slaw and a fried egg. I opened the wrapper to find sopping wet bread that was falling apart before I even touched it. As I took my phone out to take a picture, my friends urged me not to, saying it looked disgusting. I reassured them that I was aware, but Unilocal should know about this. I couldn’t take a single bite out of that sandwich without it falling apart. Now if I had a plate, a knife and a fork (or spoon), it would have been okay. But I had to devour that sodden sandwich like a barbarian, and my hands smelled like pulled pork for the rest of the day. I wanted to hate that messy Fickle Pig so badly. I wanted to go on Unilocal and write a review about how disappointed I was with this place and that soggy excuse for a sandwich. But no, it was damn good. So damn good. You win, Sandwich Smith.

I am shocked by the amount of positive reviews this place has. I have eaten here 3 times and each time, the experience got worse. Let me break it down…
First time — I got a salad that was beyond bland and awful. My co-​worker got a sandwich and the bread was completely soaked and soggy. it was so disgusting.
Second time — My office decided to order for delivery for a team lunch. There is about 9 of us that work in the office. They forgot 3 of our orders, one of them being mine. Of the orders we did receive, everyone seemed to have some sort of issue with their meal whether it be that they were missing something or that it was awful in taste. Due to the fact that they forgot my order, they gave me a $ 15 gift certificate to come back.
Third & final time — This was the experience that completely put me over the edge. I ordered one of their salads. This salad was supposed to include Avocado and Spinach, both of which were forgotten. In addition to that, the salad dressing was already put in the salad (as opposed to on the side) and while that normally wouldn’t bother me, it did this time because my salad looked more like a soup. It was absolutely drenched in dressing and overflowing to the point in which it wasn’t edible. But JUST when you think it couldn’t possibly get any worse… HA! Think again. The salad came with Bacon and while there was plenty of it, it wasn’t cooked. It was cold and fatty almost all the way around.
How on earth do you run a business like this? I don’t know if it’s that they are lazy or just don’t care but whatever the answer may be, I will never come back here again… Ever. It wouldn’t matter if they offered me a lifetime supply of their food, free of charge.

My friend recommended me a place to try in Little Tokyo, after stumbling around I ended up on the bus stop. I called it quits when I heard right behind, that $ 1 chicken sandwiches and beer for $ 3. That was one hell of deal! Celebrating there 1 year anniversary they were showing love to their customers. Lucky me.
I would think these sandwiches would be tiny, so I bought two. I was very wrong, when I got them they were big! Buttermilk fried chicken with a dab of sauce was good with the smog beer. The atmosphere was nice with the open counter seating and big enough where people were coming in and out and I didn’t feel crowded.
Good stuff on a sunny day in DTLA.

My #2 Son used to work down the street and would bring home some leftovers from this sandwich shop every so often.
Good stuff!
So, seeing their 1-​year anniversary event here on Unilocal,I figured to come here myself and get a whole Original sandwich. $ 1? HECK YES!!!
I’m glad to have gone in myself to see the shop.
It’s very nice inside. More of an upscale vibe.
I’m pretty sure I’ve tried this Original before.
Love the chicken’s crispy batter.
Overall, very good.
I really wouldn’t mind coming back on occasion.
There’s some really interesting things on the menu.
But only if #2 treats me. It’s a bit pricey here.
Thank you to the folks at The Sandwich Smith for this wonderful treat!

I’ve bookmarked this sandwich place for the longest time now. Finally had a chance to try it last week.
I ordered The Original and it was nothing spectacular. I was wildly disappointed that the bread wasn’t even toasted. For that price, I was expecting much more flavors and taste. But only the chicken tasted good. The bread was dry and the condiments didn’t seem to go right with the sandwich.
Great service though, but I won’t be returning. I did appreciate that they gave a discount to local employees.

The bf ordered a sandwich that he wasn’t too impressed with. I had a bite too and I agree that it wasn’t very memorable. There was just too much bread and not enough sandwich filling.
I on the other hand went for their cobb salad, which came with huge chunks of fried chicken. It was a very unhealthy salad, just the way I like it! Very delicious and cozy décor… definitely made up for the lackluster sandwich.

Saw this sandwich shop on my way to get some Vietnamese ice coffee at Café Dulce, so I decided to give it a try. Wasn’t sure what I wanted so I asked the cashier for a recommendation. She suggested the «Ace of Clubs» I think, so I just went with it. For a moment, I thought I was somewhere else! LOL! :-P Anyways, this sandwich had a piece of boneless fried chicken breast (wasn’t dry), bacon, avocado, and lettuce. I really liked it. I will come back again to try something else.
Note: there are 2 names for this place; The Sandwich Smith during the lunch hours and Fickle during the dinner hours. I think the menus are different, so make sure you check-​in at the right «location».

Came here Sat afternoon around 3! they had happy hour until 4 which would be $ 3 draft beer!
they were serving the black market hef and an imperial red (forgot the name)
the place has an open kitchen which was really cool… but all that heat from the kitchen just transferred to the dining area… and it seemed like no AC was on… so they brought out a couple fans. Besides that, the décor was really nice!
Its a partial service restaurant where you order at the counter and grab the food at the counter when your name is called. two ways of ordering, from their specialty sandwiches or opt to make a sandwich on your own.
We ordered one of each beer, the Original and the Fickle Pig sandwich. and FREE COOKIE WHEN YOU CHECK IN ON Unilocal!
The Original — ³⁄₅
French roll, buttermilk fried chicken, garlic aioli, cheddar cheese, creamy coleslaw, pickle chips, tomato
this was nothing really special, all the ingredients sounded awesome but in the end they were just okay. i couldn’t get much of the garlic aioli or the creaminess of the coleslaw. The fried chicken was pretty crispy, but i thought the bread to chicken ratio was pretty off! too much bread. overall an okay sandwich, i didnt think it was work $ 8.95
The fickle pig ($ 8.95) 2.5÷5
country white, dr pepper pulled pork, habanero lime aioli, cheddar cheese, tomato, bacon coleslaw, pickled red onion
again the ingredients and description of the sandwich did not seem to be carried out in the sandwich. I wished the bread was toasted a little bit for that extra crunch and to keep the pulled pork from making the sandwich soggy. I didnt taste the aioli again or the bacon in the coleslaw. The pulled pork didnt have much flavor, but was okay, nothing special.
Chocolate chip cookie was pretty good!
Beer was great! liked the imperial red more (more flavor and hoppyness)
Overall, I’m not sure I would drive all the way down to grab a sandwich from here, but the beers were ice cold and for $ 3, its a pretty good deal!

we were pretty excited when we heard about this place opening up in little tokyo.
THE FOOD: i ordered the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich with garlic aioli, lettuce and grilled onions. it was huge and fell apart when I tried to eat it. you could easily just split a sandwich with someone and you would be fine. first bite of my sandwich was good. since there was so much mayo, i got sick of the sandwich pretty fast.
kyle got a much heavier sandwich on their doughnut bun with the habanero lime dressing. again, it the sandwich was ok… short of amazing. we wish the bun was better. the habanero lime dressing wasn’t too spicy either.
one thing I would also like to point out is that this is the counter-​style ordering (where there is a sheet of ingredients and you make your own sandwich) may attract some but deter many others. when we went, we didnt see a special list of sandwiches for you to choose from.
we got the macaroni salad as a side per the recommendation of the cashier. it was tasteless. we had to add salt and pepper (lots of it) in order for it to be decent.
ATMOSPHERE: décor is modern and open. it has so much potential.
PARKING: this place is at the heart of little tokyo in downtown. if you are lucky, you will find metered street parking (free on sundays). if you are like us, you will have to pay for one of those outdoor parking lots or structures for $ 5 – 8. not ideal but its downtown. I wouldn’t expect anything less.
SERVICE: service was very friendly. it was us and two other people in the restaurant that morning. they were pretty patient with us after we told them it was our first time. they also let us taste a few things before ordering it… we appreciated it.
OVERALL: this place was okay. sandwiches were decent. to be honest, this it will be hard for this place to compete with places like mendocino farms for the downtown lunch crowd. the sandwiches here are heavier, moderately priced ($ 10 a sandwich) and short of outstanding. not to mention, there is great japanese food in little tokyo. so, if you are little tokyo, you probably already have your sights set on ramen, shabu shabu, or sushi. long way of saying… no one should go out of their way to come here and that there is a slim chance we would come back here.

the vegan sandwich needs A LOT OF WORK. It was completely bland to the point where I was so surprised and took it apart to see if each component was salted or not and I didn’t taste any salt on any of the vegetables and the sweet potato paste was also completely bland but because it is naturally sweet it just made the whole thing taste a little sweet/​bland. The texture of the bread was weird. It was wet on the bottom of the bread (did the veggies get thrown in there with some water/​juice?) but the bread itself was really dry so you just had this soggy dry bread holding in a really bland mixture of vegetables.
Look, I’m not vegan but sometimes I like ordering the vegan option at places as it tends to be on the healthier side but it doesn’t have to taste like a wet cardboard. Maybe I got the wrong thing and I’d love to try one of their amazing sandwiches that everyone else is raving about but I don’t know if I want to go back and pay for it. Honest truth.

I reserved my judgment until I visited here a few times, and here’s the verdict: It’s OK. It’s expensive, it’s fresh, it’s messy, it’s OK depending on what you order. As a self-​professed fan of all things sandwich, I’m not a hard person to please, but unfortunately Sandwich Smith hasn’t had a big wow factor for me either.
Creating your own sandwich can be like an art form — it’s very easy to screw up if you don’t know what you’re doing and what kind of ingredients work well together. Order the pre-​conceived specialty sandwiches to save yourself some grief, or take some ideas from the list in putting together your own creation.
Sandwiches:
— Fried Chicken is delicious. The Original is a very good sandwich. The Central Street Chicken was good too, but also messy because the bread doesn’t hold the chicken well at all. The Ace of Clubs is probably my favorite sandwich to date, though pricey now at $ 12.95 (was previously $ 9.95).
— I kinda liked pulled pork, more than the prime angus but definitely less than the buttermilk fried chicken. It’s a little wet though.
— Prime angus is OK but does not particularly impress. I liked the Holy Cow better than Red, White and Blue, but neither were good enough for me to want to eat them again; I’d rather eat chicken or try something else.
— Lamb shoulder is dry. I didn’t like The Greek in large part due to this reason (also make sure you like arugula a lot since you get a lot of it). Lamb is not worth it; not recommended.
— French Roll holds the sandwich together better than some of the other bread options, but isn’t particularly the yummiest of options. On the other hand, it’s very filling.
— The Honey Wheat bread is my favorite so far.
— The Cranberry Walnut bread makes for a small sandwich.
Salad:
— Salad comes with a small triangle of bread, and the portion was big enough to feed me two meals.
— I have no idea what dressing you should get with your salad. I picked Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette because it sounded the most like a salad dressing, but it made for a terrible salad. I ate my leftover salad with my own dressing of choice at home and liked it much better.
— Why does it cost $ 1 more than a sandwich? Making salad is cheap. Let’s count up how much the ingredients in my vegetarian salad cost…
And miscellaneous:
— The chocolate chip cookie is pretty good.
— The water cups are huge — yay!
— I wish there was a turkey option, or some kind of other lean protein option, or better vegetarian options. The ingredients here are fresh, but I am not sure that I would ever label this restaurant as healthy eating.
— While we’re on the topic of vegetarian, spaghetti squash (seasonal vegetable), meh…
— The service is very friendly. Everytime I’ve gone in, they’ve asked if it’s my first visit, and are eager to explain the menu, let you sample anything, and answer any questions.
— There’s a sign posted in the window for 10% discount (was 20%) to LA City employees, other local businesses, and students.
Although I’m curious to try other combinations still, I think I’m done with this place for now…
[edit 8/​3/​13] Everytime I go here, something changes. I feel like they’re reading my review. Are they? The Ace of Clubs is now $ 10.95, The Greek is no more, no spaghetti squash, more options on the menu including fish and tuna salad (yes!!), more vinaigrettes, re-​adjusted prices (e.g. chicken is $ 1 lower at $ 8.95, prime angus is $ 1 lower at $ 9.95, salad is +$ 2, avocado +$ 2, etc.). Because of these changes, check the Specialty Sandwiches to see if it’s really a deal anymore, e.g. Holy Cow (now on wheat bread instead of a roll) is overpriced by $ 1.

Just dined at The Sandwich Smith for a late lunch since I was in Little Tokyo to hang out. At first I had thought I was inside Fickle then the gal told me that they share the same space. During the day, she said, it’s The Sandwich Smith and in the evening the place becomes Fickle. With the confusion cleared up, I ordered.
The Sandwich Smith has a good variety of sandwiches and an option to make your own. You can even up grade to a combo (sandwich, a side salad or chips, and a drink) for a few dollars more. Since it was a Monday, my brain was still on weekend mode so I opted to ask for the most popular sandwich. The gal said it was The Original, which is a Fried Chicken Sandwich. I made my order a combo and got the Kale Tofu Salad and a Orange Crème Soda.
I was very pleased with The Original. I can see why it’s a popular Chicken Sandwich. The Fried Chicken alone is a humongous piece and very tasty. It had a nice crunch too. The pickles and the cole slaw were good as well and added the nice balance to make this sandwich a hearty meal. However, when I tasted my Kale Tofu Salad, I was amazed. It was very delicious. It would be a good substitution to stuff it into the Chicken Sandwich instead of the cole slaw.
I’ll be back at The Sandwich Smith for another good ol’ sandwich.

I’ve heard rave reviews about Fickle so I decided to check it out… only to discover its alter ego The Sandwich Smith. Same company, same location, different identity for lunch vs dinner. The Sandwich Smith has a delicious selection of specialty sandwiches or a create-​your-​own list. I’ve tried The Original (fried chicken with coleslaw) and the Red White and Blue (angus steak with blue cheese). They were sizable and tasty, though I was bummed the steak was served cold. Sandwiches cost $ 9 – 13 and the variety is appealing (they even have lamb shoulder). I think I’d like this place better if Mendocino Farms didn’t exist, because SS is like a little brother to MF (same concept but not as good). Also, the poor selection of side dishes was disappointing. Sandwiches come alone, or you can add a kale salad or homemade chips for ~$ 3.
The vibe is chill and it’s a nice lunch spot with outdoor seating. They also validate for parking in the Japanese Village Plaza.

What is this place??? Apparently it’s one restaurant until like 4pm, and a different place at night (called the Fickle). So we went there during the daytime and I really enjoyed it.
The workers are really super friendly and explain everything to you when you get in. Essentially you can make your own sandwich or pick one of the classics. I decided to go for «The Original» which was fried chicken, pickles, tomatoes, cole slaw and cheese. It was very good and definitely filling.
You can make it a meal with either a side salad or house-​made potato chips (I chose the chips — which were nothing special) and a drink (I got a lemonade).
They also have a few cool cookies for desserts (and lay out samples for you to try of each) … I had the salted chocolate chip and the alfajores … they were both really good, so definitely think about a cookie if you’ve got a sweet tooth!

Sorry Sandwich Smith, I had to rip off a star due fax order fluke.
Placed an order via fax, upon arrival they said no order was received, better yet, all fax orders were not being taken as they are still working details out. I think they should add some type of note on line so people wont assume order was made.
It was a little frustrating waiting for our order. The only reason my friend and I were not too upset was due to the fact that we know they recently opened. A gentleman whom appeared to be the owner offered an apology and handed us a few freebies.
Once they fix the fax problem I am sure they will go up to 5 stars :)
Food overall is good.

The Sandwich Smith by day, Fickle by night. During the day they are a casual sandwich shop and once the sun goes down, they become Fickle, a trendy little restaurant.
I was immediately greeted upon entering, and the menu/​ordering system is pretty self-​explanatory. The Sandwich Smith reminded me of The Counter because of the checklist menu. When you walk in, there is a counter with multiple clipboards with menus attached. You circle the things you want in your sandwich and walk your paper to the cashier.
I ordered the Angus prime grilled. It was good, but nothing special. The sandwich was falling apart while I was eating it and there were several pieces of tendon that made it difficult to eat.
The prices are high in my opinion for what you’re getting. If I were going to spend over 10 dollars for a sandwich, I would rather go to Langer’s. While the ingredients are fresh, the service was a little slow considering there were only three of us waiting for our order. Overall the staff was friendly, minus the girl handing out the sandwiches; the poor girl was scowling at everyone.

Sandwiches are huge portions!
Stopped by here on a Saturday afternoon for lunch and the place just had opened up. I got the angus beef sandwich on white bread not grilled with argula, red onions, pickles and chimicurri and ble cheese. The sandwich was really big and I was only able to eat half. We got the lamb sandwich which was the special for the day. It was really good and not gamey. The chips were homemade and so was the lemonade. We got to try the smore brownies and they were yummy! I checked in on Unilocal and got a free pastrie of my choice and I picked the preztel donut. It was different and good. I will definetly come back to try the other sandwiches.

The Sandwich Smith is a solid new sandwich option in Little Tokyo. You have your usual choices of bread, meat, veggies, sauces, etc. You order by filling out an order slip which details each of your options.
Me and my buddies came in to try the their donut bun bread option. I opted for the doughnut bun, with buttermilk fried chicken, swiss cheese, lettuce, pickled red onions, cucumbers, and habanero lime sauce. The ingredients were very fresh and the sandwich itself was pretty tasty. Also had one of their Prickly Pear donuts; very tasty — not too sweet and had a cake like texture.
My one qualm with the place would have to be the price. My sandwich — without any sides, desserts, or drinks — came in at a hefty $ 9.00. Mike’s deli down the street has a complete lunch combo for $ 8ish. Overall, a tasty new Little Tokyo sandwich option, that is just a little bit too expensive IMHO.