The Skinny on Skinny Dave's

The people behind Little Fatty have a pretty terrific sandwich shop they recently opened in Westchester, diagonally across the street from Ayara Thai. Skinney Dave’s sandwiches mostly run from $14-16 and I have greatly enjoyed all the ones I have tried thus far. The banh mi (with smoked banana leaf ham) was very good, the Cuban solid albeit not quite traditional, the Italian was excellent (hefty, with a really good giardiniera), but my favorite might be the “Short Cheek” (a combo of short rib ad beef cheek with a horseradish mustard and a cheddar cheese sauce). Bags of chips seem high at $3. Hours are 10-3, seven days a week, so a great lunch option if you are in the area. Limited, outside seating, so best to plan on getting to go.

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David Kuo has another hit on his hands!

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The sandwiches here are wonderful. Being of a scientific bent, I got a simple Chicken Salad Sando (as an… ahem, control) to compare with others I’ve had. And to my utter amazement, this ranks in my top 5% of sandwiches. Flavorful, with great filling-to-bread ratio. And the bread! I mean, just the frikkin’ croissant Chef Kuo used on this thing should win an award on its own.

Then I tried the Short Cheek - Delicious. Can a sandwich be comforting? 'Cuz every bite of this is like enjoying a hearty stew and warm bread, except it’s all in the same mouthful. Both sandwiches are huge bites! Beverage-wise, the gorgeously purple “Forbidden Horchata”, brewed with black glutinous rice, is fantastic as well. (Didn’t even have to open my backup can of Hey Song Sarsaparilla to wash it all down!)

With its proximity to LAX, I can imagine myself stopping at Skinny Dave’s for a TSA-approved brown bag to bring onboard before my flight. This place is dank.

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Sounds Highly Recommended! Good report @J_L!

I hardly ever post anything here. But I’ve been to Skinny Dave’s twice this week and I was going to make a quick recommendation because I really liked it.

So, I’m here to second (third? fourth?) New Trial’s recommendation.

I’ve tried the turkey meatball and the Short Cheek and had a bite of the Cuban and the chicken salad. All pretty excellent. (This might seem counterintuitive, but I liked the fact that the sandwiches weren’t gigantic. They were just the right sized.)

I’ve not been to the Thai place that NT mentioned, but I did notice there was a bakery down the street that had a line to get in a few doors to the west. Maybe worth a look? (There’s a also a cool record store right there – I bought some vinyl yesterday after lunch.) And the street that SD is on also has a Farmer Market on Sunday.

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Thanks so much @PaulF! I hope you are well! I am in that area a lot still and now am so excited to try it out!! I love meatball as well as chicken salad sammiches…. This sounds amazing!

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This post was perfectly timed as I needed to head to Armstrong today… so lunch at Skinny Daves (in addition to mushrooms from the farmers market!) LOVED IT.

We had the Cuban Sandwich. As mentioned, all the traditional elements aren’t there. It was missing ham, the mustard was on the light side (Will ask Heavy Mustard next time), but the bread was SPOT ON and the fillings it did have made it for an as close as you can get around town. Would order again for sure.

It was a little warn today, so while I would have typically ordered a meatball sub… I instead opted for Tuna. I LOVE tuna salad. I can’t stand Tuna melts. So I panicked a little bit when I picked up my sandwich and it was warm! But it’s because they toast the croissant and they serve things to you SUPER fresh and warm (Which made all the difference with the cuban), the actual tuna salad was very nicely chilled and once complately unwrapped the sandwich just came together so wonderfully! The Tuna salad was delicious. It was good quality tuna and plenty of it. It had the unique addition of shaved fennel. At first you take a bite and it’s a little odd. But then when you realize what it is, it works so well. I also love the pickled onion. I may have to try this with my own tuna salad.

Finally, I HAD To try the Mac and Cheese and the Forbidden Rice Horchata. I really enjoyed both. Their Mac and Cheese was like a classed up version of El Pollo Loco’s MnC. It was super creamy. Good cheese flavor. A hair salty, it could have used some chili flakes, peppers or hot sauce to cut the richness. Will ask to see if they have some next time. The Forbidden Rice Horchata surprised me. Like the Tuna… at first it seemed a little odd. But I loved the overall flavor. Very refreshing… even with a relatively heavy sandwich like the Tuna. Will definitely order again.

As I mentioned, I’m over here often so I can’t wait to try more of these sandwiches. They are a little pricy, but the quality and flavors are certainly there. In fact, I loved this meal WAY better than one I had at Egret a few months ago.

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Update on the menu–sad to say, it has been completely revamped. Gone are the superlative short cheek, the impressive Italian, the credible Cuban, etc. In place thereof, the menu now just offers a variety of banh mi ($12 each). The reason appears to be that Skinny Dave’s was not getting enough business so they decided to change the focus and lower the sandwich prices in the hope of attracting more customers. I had the fried chicken banh mi and, while it was certainly good, it lacks the allure of the late, lamented options.

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that sucks about the negative news @NewTrial

OH no!!! I am so sorry to hear this. It’s tough with most of Playa Vista still out and the Farmers Market taking over the street every week on the weekends. Still, I love Bahn Mi and it rounds out the sammich options in the area with Orleans and York and Mikes not being too far away from them…

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Total bummer to hear.

I still want to check it out, but that is disappointing to hear. That neighborhood could use something fun so i hope it lasts

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I think with the right mix for the current nabe it could do well. The Ramen Joint continues to do pretty well on that block…

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Okay… had to make a quick run over to Amazon Fresh (damn Cranberry Tuna and Rockenwagner Bachelor Loaves has me by the nose) and so I went over to check out the Skinny Daves in their new reincarnation. I have seen this happen to many restaurants. So much ambition! Too much reality. It can really change the vibe and quality of the offerings… Super sad. But even though the menu had changed a lot… the Vibe and honestly, the way they are catering to who they see as their customer is still hitting it! The menu didn’t shrink… it evolved. Definitely more Asian forward (Which is great. The area is getting a way more Asian with Silicon Beach just a short drive away) and they are not only offering sandwiches, but a few salads and take away items. My eyes completely delighted over the offerings and I kinda wanted OOE.

We love Bahn Mi. One of the things we did way more often during the pandemic than not is drive to Westminster and go to Bahn Mi Ba Le for their amazing Bahn Mi that could be eaten standing up leaning on our car. For this trip, we leaned a little traditional… and then not…

House Bahn Mi - Cold Cuts with Shredded Pork and Chicharon

Salsbury Steak - Beef Patties, Gravy and Crispsy Onion

First, these sandwiches did have a 15 minute ride back home (I picked them up after the Amazon trip) and so, I’m not sure if the bread suffered a bit… but we were still really happy with the bread. It was soft and held the sandwiches well. It was not crisp however. Will be having the next go around there.

Now, the fillings, were plentiful and quite well prepared. I loved the house for the cold cuts. The mini Salisbury steaks were a delight. However, we felt that both sandwiches are quite overdressed. Too much Mayo. So what ever the Chicharon or Crispy Onions had to offer, was lost. The gravy on the Salsbury steak as well. Next time, I would do no Mayo on the Salisbury and Pate, light mayo on the House. But if you are not into ‘saucy’ Bahn Mis (I recently had this issue with PRD’s bahn mi pop up due to the grilled Jalapeno and Onion action), be forewarned.

We also got the Chinese Chicken Salad… we LOVE CCC and our current favorite is from HoneyBird. Well this is a serious contender. We LOVED the chicken. It seems to be darkmeat and it’s cooked PERFECT. It’s incredibly succulent and we loved that we could toss the salad at home to get the freshest experience. The dressing was also really good… a touch unique with maybe a touch of Sesame paste?

Finally, I got one of their To-Go options for worklunch. It was so hard to pick… But I got the MaPo. It’s vegetarian and their use Meiji Tofu, but a lot more firm than most renditions…

At first, I was a little concerned because of how saucy it was. I wondered if it was thin and not going to pack the punch. But OMG. did it ever. Honestly, this is in my top MaPos (Including homemade which I love). It has just a hint of MaLa, a good amount of heat, but not too much for lunch. I thought I was going to miss the ground pork, but the mushrooms are so tasty… NOPE. They REALLY nailed the recipe on this one. PRD’s is different… and quite good. I prefer this one, just because it’s a bit lighter with high flavor payback and not as salty as others.

All in all, a great second first impression on what they are able to pull off in their tiny space (No indoor seating still and still just a few tables outside) Further, although I am not one to scoff at paying for quality and living wage and was fine spending what I did for our first go around – but know other might have – all this cost less than our initial visit, but a bit. We are sad we didn’t get to try their meatball and will miss their excellent Cuban. But we love this type of food as well. And for meatballs… we always have Sunday Gravy nearby so nothing really lost, all gain.

–Dommy!

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Thanks for the update.

One thing I’ll miss about the meatball sub is that they were turkey meatballs, which I like.

Funny you had the MaPo. That’s our dinner tonight – but it’s one of those dishes we think as “homemade” so it never occurs to me to order it when we’re out. Now I’m hungry and want to go home from the office.

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Let us know what you think! This style of MaPo might not be for everyone… I can’t wait to try the Curry (Going to make my Own Katsu) and also the Braised Pork Belly which maybe good on the No 18 Kadema noodles from Sun. Love having short cuts like this close by.

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Ha. Misunderstanding.

The MaPo we had last night was homemade. (It was really good, btw.)

I’ll report back when I try the SD version.

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HA!! Yes… we make it often too… both from the pouch or from the fancy stuff from MaLa market… lol!!

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https://la.eater.com/2021/8/2/22606112/favorite-best-dishes-la-los-angeles-eater-editors-aug-2021

Skinny Dave’s made LA.Eaters best things we ate this week.

I like the banh mi, too. I was originally disappointed that they did away with the old menu, but now I’m fine with it.

BTW – There is a bakery down the block about two stores away what always has a long in front. Will have to check it ou.

In non-food news: There’s a cool record store right around the corner. i’ve been banh mi-ing when I buy vinyl.

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The record store and a nice used book store with a kitty you can give pets. The bakery is great for classic baked goods. We have a couple of Carrot Cake and Chocolate Cake fans at the office, and we always have get their cakes there. It’s tied with Angel Maid in terms of favorite birthday cakes…

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