I first met Dave, the proprietor of Dave’s Chillin-N-Grillin, next door to his sandwich shop at Swörk, where I overheard the baristas inquiring about his morning vegetable hunt. He was enthusiastically touting the Reuben he would be making that day and the girls were swooning over the famed avocado he had apparently purchased. Curiosity moved me to interject, and all parties involved were shocked and concerned that I was a student at Oxy, yet had never set foot inside Dave’s.
To be honest, I had noticed the shop before and wasn’t that intrigued. The tiny space and bright purple awning with loud yellow letters didn’t immediately evoke thoughts of freshness, and I thought if I really wanted a greasy sandwich, I could go to the Cooler. But with the coffee girls’ culinary coercions and the proprietor’s sunny demeanor, I knew what I had to do.
I couldn’t have been more wrong about the freshness—Dave wakes up with the birds every morning to shop for the freshest ingredients, meaning that the menu is subject to delicious changes every day. He was out of avocado the day I went but one could hardly notice with the excellence of the other ingredients. My grilled sandwich was served on fresh-baked wheat bread and was filled with thin shaved turkey, mustard, tomato and mayo, all heated up on the griddle right in front of you. Dave’s turkey is special—he will only buy it with no water added and if he can’t get the 0% turkey that day, turkey subs are off the menu.
With the daily selection of sinfully aromatic roast beef, meatball, pastrami, salami, ham, and sometimes even crab, I don’t know how any vegetarian’s will-power could survive. However, if you are one of the strong ones, he offers a Greek Veggie Sub, served on sourdough smothered in oil and vinegar with pepperoncinis, tomato, olives, lettuce, and a substantial spreading of feta cheese.
If you devour your sub as quickly as I did (two halves overflowing with turkey in about five minutes) you might need some help washing it down. Look no further than the selection of smoothies, sherbert chillers and ice cream milk shakes. We switched things up a bit on the Blueberry Banana Bash, made on my visit with mixed berries instead due to a lack of fresh blueberries that day. I know it sounds crazy, but this tasted clean, and that was what made it so delicious. Some smoothies can taste artificially sweetened but the incredible saccharine quality in this was pure and natural, never watered or juiced-down. It was gone in a time span similar to that of the sub.
Dave, a Boston native, is friendly and open to talking about anything from his business to his hometown. His shop has old school arcade games and art from locals and legends like Salvador Dali. The sandwich-and-smoothie agenda may seem limited but the selections within each category are vast and ever-changing. The simplicity allows them to focus on making the best quality products a starving college student could ask for, and at six dollars for my sandwich and 4.50 for a big smoothie, the quality far exceeds the price. So if you’re waiting for motivation to come from Dave in the Swörk coffee line, stall no more. You really aren’t an Oxy student til you’ve tried this stuff.
2152 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
Open Daily 11am-7pm
Cash Only
