- Cheese Shop
- Cuisine: Delis
- Neighborhood: La Jolla-Downtown
- 2165 Avenida De La Playa
- La Jolla, CA 92037 (Map)
- (858) 459-3921
- http://www.cheeseshopdeli.com/
Recommended by 1 local
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Nearest freeway access: I-5, La Jolla Parkway exit.
Transit & Parking Info
Hours of Operation 
Sun: 11am to 4pm
Mon: 11am to 4pm
Tue: 11am to 4pm
Wed: 11am to 4pm
Thu: 11am to 4pm
Fri: 11am to 4pm
Sat: 11am to 4pm-
Updated: 01/07/07
Here’s to !
Fresh stuffed sandwiches and lots of extra touches make these two delis something special.
While sandwiches are seemingly all around, a really good deli sandwich is surprisingly hard to find in San Diego. Enter the Cheese Shop, a local mini-chain with two locations that does things a little differently than most. While there are some differences between their Downtown and La Jolla branches, happily they both serve up a mean sandwich.
The first thing you’ll notice when you walk into the La Jolla shop, on La Jolla Shores Drive near the beach, is the pork roasting in the ovens, right there by the door. It’s a mouthwatering aroma that leaves little doubt as to why they’re famous for the pork loin sandwiches. (There’s even a sign outside that says “Home of the Porker.”) They also roast their own turkey. The second thing you will probably notice is the huge selection of British candies and food products that line the left-hand wall, and the selection of forgotten favorites on the shelves below the checkout stand. Big League Chew, Bit O’Honey, Chick–a-Stik, even bubblegum cigarettes -- if you’ve been missing it, chances are they have it here. They also carry a wide selection of bottled sodas, juice drinks and beverages and several kinds of fancy chips, including my favorite, Poore Brothers.
The La Jolla shop is small, with no seating indoors and just a few tables outside. It’s actually a great place to pick up a picnic to take to the beach or one of the local parks. The sandwiches are huge overstuffed monsters -- I generally only tackle a half -- stuffed with their house-roasted meats and whatever else you like. They will pull the meat out of the case, slice it, and make the sandwich to order there on the spot. I can wholeheartedly recommend the Turkey, Jack and Avocado, which is something of a specialty; the roast pork loin; or the roast beef (though it’s not for folks who like their meat well done -- it might be the rarest beef I’ve ever seen.) They also have two types of cookies -- a chocolate chip spiked with a bit of cinnamon, and an oatmeal that is almost more like candy -- chewy and caramel-like, loaded with butter. Good pickles too.
The Downtown shop is more like a cousin than a sibling to the La Jolla branch. It’s a full sit-down restaurant with table service and offers a full menu of hot sandwiches, including a burger, in addition to the deli sandwiches. They also serve breakfast, which I haven’t had a chance to try but I have heard is very good. For some reason, probably because of the volume of their business, I don’t think the sandwiches are quite as good at this location, but they more than make up for that with the fact that they deliver.
Just recently, I discovered a new reason to love them even more: the “Café Chips.” When we asked what they were, they said “Like Lays, only we cook them here.” That’s right, house-made fresh potato chips. Oh my. They were still warm and perfectly crisp -- not a soggy one among them. Between that and the two oatmeal cookies they threw in this time, I might never go back to a chain deli again.