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    Lou’s Cafe

    4.4 (126 reviews)
    Open 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

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    Recommended Reviews - Lou’s Cafe

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    Tuna Melt (no jalapeno)
    Denise Z.

    this is a popular low-key sandwich spot serving giant sandwiches at a reasonable price! i came around lunchtime on a weekday and it was pretty packed. it seems more suited to takeout or ordering online for pickup, as it can take a second to order in person since they're really busy! they definitely do their best, but just don't be surprised if there's a wait. it was also fairly warm inside the store, so i don't think i'd stay to sit and eat. i had the tuna melt, which was really delicious. it was saucy, cheesy, and balanced with a ton of fresh veggies, all on a pillowy soft roll. i wish there was a bit more tuna, but i tend to like a high ratio of filling to bread in my sandwiches. i really loved the quality of the bread and the refreshing crunch of the veggies. overall solid pick for a quick lunch or grab & go meal! i'll be back to try their other sandwiches!

    Veggie Sandwich with added turkey
    Tasha H.

    Great sandwiches and fast service. I love sandwiches with lots of veg so the veggie sandwich with added turkey was perfect for me. Lots of tastes and textures going on and not too much of any one thing. There's definitely a kick from the jalapeno sauce as well! Loved that the sandwich is toasted nice and crisp and the red onion is cut super thin. My only feedback is the bread is almost too much. It makes the sandwich really tall and it just feels like the ratio of bread to filling is slightly off.

    Ami-Cado Sandwich
    Roman N.

    Low-key quality sandwich spot in San Carlos. Stopped in here for lunch with a friend today and was surprised at how broad the menu was; I've walked by multiple times and always thought the place didn't look like much, but looks can be deceiving. I ordered the Ami-Cado, which came with pastrami, salami, avocado, Lou's special sauce, and your usually sandwich fixings. It came on a noticeably shiny piece of sourdough bread. The saltiness of the pastrami worked well with the sweetness of Lou's special sauce, and the lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles kept the sandwich from being overly salty. The sourdough bread had that satisfy crisp that only sourdough can have. It didn't look like a big sandwich, but the Ami-Cado satisfied my hunger. And the price point was awesome: around $12.50 before tax. If you want a good simple sandwich, Lou's is the spot. A little higher than Ike's in quality, I'd say.

    Faraz M.

    A great sandwich place, in my personal opinion, is rated by the quality of the meat, the bread, and the sauce that makes them unique. Not all places have all three of these boxes checked off and Lou's has 2/3. They have your standard deli meat, which wasn't a surprise. But their ratio of meat and the neatness in stacking makes a difference here. Each bite gets a nice balance of flavors and it's consistent as you progress. The French roll when toasted is so soft, chewy, light, and crunchy all at the same time. It holds the sandwich contents well and it absorbs their sauce nicely. Sometimes I order the sourdough instead for a little extra crunch but they have good bread regardless. Lou's special sauce is a little on the spicer side but it gives a nice zing to the sandwich as well. I wouldn't say that Lou's sandwiches are groundbreaking, but it's the one of the most consistent sandwich places I've been to. Also, I ordered the vegilicious once and it was indeed delicious.

    Risky Bizness Sandwich
    Lauren B.

    Ordered through grubhub. Food: Sandwich hit the spot. A lot of flavors but was good. Had a little heat from the pepperoncini. Wish there was more crab. Greek salad was good too. A lot of toppings VS lettuce ratio. Can't complain about that. I didn't get any updates about my order. It showed that they never accepted and the order came 10 min past the window. Other than that, food was good.

    "Double" Pastrami. Oy'vei. What a disappointment. Considering i paid EXTRA, this here, this here is a fail.

    Risky Bizness Sandwich

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    3 months ago

    Exceptionally crafted sandwiches with great service. Bread is perfectly fresh. Great selection of chips to pair with your sandwich.

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    7 months ago

    I used to really like this place until I got some bad meat (grey salami) I won't be back as that was a major red flag as to quality control.

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    1 year ago

    Delicious and very hot and flavorful southwestern omelette sammie. Wish I lived closer.

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    1 year ago

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    9 months ago

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    7 months ago

    Great sandwiches and very friendly staff always love going here my personal favorite is the Romas club

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    8 months ago

    Yummy sandwich, fast service, fairly priced. We enjoyed this spot on the go. Thank you.

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    2 years ago

    Favorite sandwich spot in San Carlos. I regularly order is the breakfast sandwich and Roma's Club ‍

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    MO’s deli & cafe

    MO’s deli & cafe

    4.5
    (74 reviews)
    1.1 mi

    Quick take: Great sandwiches…read more Ordered a Monster Turkey and a Roast Beef Royale. Very yummy sandwiches. I like the bread too. Highly recommend this spot for sandwiches.

    WHAT IN THE DELICATESSEN IS GOING ON HERE AT MO'S??!!…read more First, check out my pics, then absolutely get here as soon as possible to enjoy some crazy delicious sammies and other treats! Tiny little baby deli on the edge of Belmont and San Carlos border, nice peeps serving up some seriously nice quality deli goodness. Tiny shopping center on El Camino Real with baby parking lot, lots of street parking free on the boulevard. I ordered the Sanburger 2 and chocolate croissant. Words cannot do the sammie justice, except that it's a dang Big Mac, but no burger and healthy! Whaaaaattt???!! Yes, you read that right. I want to eat this sammie everyday. Recommendation, get the sammie as they serve it for the Big Mac replica effect. There are Sanburgers 1-5. The one I ordered is 2, roast beef. They melt the American cheese on the sliced roast beef, then placed on the sesame seeded bun with shredded lettuce, mustard, MO's special sauce and lots of lovin'. When I took my first bite, I said out loud, "Am I eating a Big Mac?!" Very creative are these folks. The chocolate croissant speaks for itself. It's fully loaded flaky croissant goodness and it's huge! Head over to Mo's for an excellent sammie experience! Plan for to-go as it is very tiny, however, there are tables and outside area, too. The location used to be a Subway for years. Very nice new flavor in town. I believe they opened in 2024. I will definitely return!

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    MO’s deli & cafe
    MO’s deli & cafe
    MO’s deli & cafe

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    Jiro Cafe & Bakery

    Jiro Cafe & Bakery

    4.4
    (132 reviews)
    2.1 mi
    $

    Hey hey hey! (Good old "Music Champ" or for those not familiar with that Japanese variety show,…read more"Fat Albert"!) Another legit Japanese bakery in the Yay? You bet! Jiro/Jirou Cafe & Bakery (Jirou Sabou/二郎茶房) is a Japanese cafe on Belmont's Las Pulgas and Carlmont. From what I have gathered as I did my prior scouting/dining scouting (I can't recall anymore), the place is only 3 years old. Seeing that I'm a San Jose/Milpitas cat, I'll type what this place has over Clover and vice versa. This is done not only so that I can recall what I ordered should I enter as I get off 101 again. This is also done so that Belmont residents, Frisco ones and those nearby can get an idea of what to expect when they can decide whether Jiro or Clover has the better batch of items. I felt awful for staying in for 3 hours of the 4 weekend hours of operation yesterday, but as I type up this review and remember to insert the usual "Yes guys, the ladies are cute!" statement, I did get more items before this place closed for the day. I blame/thank the music, especially an Utada Hikaru-san song. The staff's really terrific. The look seems random with a simple look wall and a white and pink stripe look wall that gives me shades of Anna Miller's, but it works because the place is really cute. I mean, there's a Kuromi decoration as opposed to the Too Short name dropped Kitty in Clover! Though there's a kiosk, there's also the ever important bottle of sanitizer and the register should you pay with cash. Okay, I better get the comparison paragraph pair out of the way. Let me show you something--I mean start with what Jiro has over Clover! (Yay "In Living Color".) As I typed in the last paragraph, Jiro has Kuromi. Beside that, there are items such as an iced houjicha latte with in house cream, Japanese sodas including my San Franciscan friend's melon soda that made him wish he's back in Japan, cat shaped bread along with multiple forms of cat decorations, Anpan Man pan with Jiro being the second place I have been to carrying them after Sac's Mahoroba, big savory sandwiches such as yakisoba sando, tonkatsu quesadilla, yuzu cheesecake, pan such as sakura pan, matcha panna cotta, Belgian chocolate brownies, juurokucha bottles (a non-caffeinated tea of 16 ingredients) and on the go snacks such as the Japanese animal crackers boxes. I can't forget the seating, an element Clover had before the pandemic mess. What Clover has over Jiro. Clover has the cooler Sanrio character. Regarding the foods and drinks, Clover has Italian sodas with the Torani syrups, ice cream for the French ones as opposed to cream or half and half, piroshiki/pirozhki, mini versions of sandwiches such as korokke/croquette and okonomiyaki/modan'yaki pan (savory pancake with noodles for the latter if you are not familiar with Japanese food), donut twists, strawberry sando, and Japanese strawberry shortcake. Regarding what I bought, I picked out items I can't get at the other Japanese bakeries I've been to in the sakura pan, the yuzu cheesecake and the houjicha latte. The latte's cream is so silky. The sakura pan is also good. As for the cheesecake, while I think Charlie's (as in the cheesecake place on Redmond) makes the most yummy cheesecake, Jiro's for me probably makes the least guilty cheesecake (a very good trait to have) because it's not that sweet, and yuzu's a good fruit to have. The flaws. Outside of the parking lot across the street, the place has really bad parking, as you can only park for 20 minutes in front of the cafe. You figure that there's the lot around the corner, but don't use it, as it's for the medical center. Also, there are limited hours of operation (11-5 Wednesday to Friday and 12-4 on the weekends). Neither flaw can't be helped I suppose, especially since Belmont isn't really a suburb you think of regarding Japanese food. If only there's a fruit sando or a korokke pan. Jiro is an amazing spot for me. While it unfortunately will never be my top Japanese bakery (I've known Clover's for around 20 years), it is a very good bakery never the less. To think, I found this spot on the fly after having lunch. If you live in Belmont, visit this place often because having a Japanese bakery is like having a Mr. Mays baseball card or for some of you, a shiny Pokemon. Get there early so you don't miss out on items. +/Jiro is a jiving cafe because of its adorable staff, brilliant visuals, and a grand list of Japanese pastries and drinks. -/Carpy parking and limited hours made me twitch.

    Not. Good. At. All…read more Nothing is fresh here, it's a little pathetic really. Pork kastsu sandwich: Nearly tasteless, luke warm, cold sauce, cold untoasted bun. I would prefer a mayo or thousand island dressing. No side. Expensive for what you get Yakisoba: Some kind of cheap microwave situation. No meat. Rip off. Came here because of the good reviews and feel duped. AVOID! Bad bad bad. Just horrible.

    Photos
    Interior: there are ~3 tables plus additional bar seating by the front window
    Interior: there are ~3 tables plus additional bar seating by the front window
    Crab sandp - more like crab salad over buns. Tasty!
    Crab sandp - more like crab salad over buns. Tasty!
    Hojicha latte

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    Hojicha latte

    Lou’s Cafe - sandwiches - Updated August 2026

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