Just Downstairs

This is a café of convenience and that’s how they survive. The food is of good quality and some of the sandwiches like the Officer and the CEO are nearing the level of some high end sandwich shops, but the prices and wait times leave more to be desired. Many patrons have found ways around those issues, by ordering online ahead of time and having an expense account that covers lunches. However if you are there just because you have back to back meetings that prevent you from going somewhere outside the building for lunch, then you have to be ok with paying a few bucks more for a decent sandwich. I will give them props for their breakfast sandwiches which are amazing and pretty good value, all things considering.

Pricey, and unprofessional customer service. Especially for those customers who don’t speak fluent English, DO NOT GO THERE. The employees are not appropriated you business.

Food is not that great for lunch at all. I get something here only if I have no time and its my last option. Its also waayyy over priced. Breakfast is okay.

Since I work across the way, this is my go-​to place for breakfast. I love the piña colada smoothies. They also deliver, which is a huge plus when you’re in a hurry. I always orders the Chinese chicken salad. This does not disappoint.

Convenience versus (mostly inconvenience and) annoyance.
It is nice to be able to order online, but that being said, my order is wrong more than 60% of the time. I love being able to swing by and pick up my bag of food, but it defeats the purpose if 1) it is not actually made or 2) the order is wrong, which is more than half of the time now. I don’t ever order anything complicated, just as it is on the menu, yet I have to take it back and get it corrected (or just eat a salad with no toppings?) most of the time. They almost always forget at least part of what should be included in the meal.
The people that work here are mostly pleasant, so this review is more for execution. Although they can seem slightly annoyed or confused when I take my food back because it is not what I ordered.
They have definitely gone downhill in the past year. :(I guess I will have to drive to lunch, or just walk further to Specialtys — which is cheaper, and on point as they are new to the area.

This place was once pretty tasty, but it has gone downhill a bit. I had the lunch combo with half a sandwich and a cup of soup. I have tried a couple of soups (vegetable soup and the potato & leek soup) and they are quite salty.
One thing that I love about JD though are their bagels. I don’t know where they order them from but they are delicious. I have had the spinach bagel with cream cheese and tomato and onions and it is perfect. Highly recommend :)

With my soon to come new job, I will be moving out of the Pacific Corporate Towers and the biggest reason why this will be so sad is because I will lose the convenience of having Just Downstairs just downstairs from my office (although I’m pretty sad about losing my 20^th floor ocean view desk as well). Many afternoons have been survived by an afternoon quick pick-​me-​up café au lait from here.
Otherwise I come here for lunch when I’m desperate and have no time to walk/​drive anywhere else. Some of my regulars are:
–Mediterranean Cous Cous salad: basil, feta, mint, dried cranberries & almonds w/​lemon citrus vinaigrette
–Roasted Quinoa salad: quinoa, cilantro, corn, black bean, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds & mango-​vinaigrette
–The Director sandwich: turkey breast, goat cheese spread, caramelized onion & tomato on ciabatta
–Mediterranean Chicken wrap: grilled chicken, cucumber, romaine, tomato, Italian dressing, red pepper hummus
Nothing special about the food but it’s not terrible.
Suggestion for avoiding the lunch crowd is to order online and pay and then pick up by the windor.

Just downstairs is just okay!
They have good lunch specials. Sandwiches are decent.
Beware do not order their soup, I’ve tried over three different soups and each time I want to vomit. It is that disgusting…

The sandwiches are surprisingly good. Not sure it’s one dollar sign for a 10 dollar sandwich! But it’s good to try one time. doubt I would come here every day. the pastrami sandwich is good but it’s also hard to screw up pastrami. it’s fatty meat for God sakes!

Summary Time:
–For some reason, the food is not altogether the most enjoyable.
–Conveniently located 20 floors beneath my office.
–Not conveniently located to everyone else in the world.
True Detective:
So I actually work below this place. Due to convenience, I classify and score my review in the positive category.
Now for the real reviewing. For some reason, maybe its the fact I’ve eaten everything here 20k times by this point, I just find the food to be bland or overly greesy. I can’t tell if its the meat quality or what. I just haven’t had many meals here that I can say are «lets go get lunch at this place!» quality. I like the peanut butter and banana thing they have going on here, that’s pretty good. I have to believe, in my heart, that there are better places to go eat for lunch (there is another place just downstairs of another neighboring building that is a lot more ritzy called Red, and plenty of food places in the area).
But those places, they will not be just downstairs…
FIN

Tasty and satisfying lunchtime fare. The tuna-​caper wrap, complete with a spinach tortilla, is especially .good. Service, you ask? Brisk and friendly.

It’s not gourmet, it’s not a restaurant, it’s nothing but what it needs to be, this is a great spot to grab lunch so it gets five starts within that category of «corporate cafeteria» if you will. The owner/​m, manager goes out of his way to make people feel welcome and the food is great. The outdoor eating is very pleasant. Clean, comfortable and service oriented. There are lot of chain eateries around this area like Chipotle, The Habit, etc… but they are usually crowded and noisy. I like coming here to take a true break. The caprese salad, wraps and burgers are my favorites, I’d pass on the meatballs. Lots of options.

I really love this office lunch spot.
If you have $ 10, you can eat like a superstar. I have heard they have really great salads but during my pregnancy, I am not feeling the leafy greens even though I heard their salads action packed with meat and veggies.
I love their Grilled Chicken Burger. One of the main reasons I am such a fan is they use a whole, juicy, thick and tender piece of chicken breast with a simple Hawaiian bun, lettuce, tomato, red onions and garlic mayo. Normally, you get fries but during the pregnancy, I am not a fan of fries. So I ask to sub out the fries for fruit and they always accommodate.
That one star is ding is they recently took away my root beer and replace with dr. pepper. I was so sad! During the pregnancy, I can only drink non caffeinated soda drinks and did you know root better doesn’t have caffeine. I hate sprint. With no root beer, i was a bit lacking the total satisfaction sensation!

Until last week, this was my work cafeteria, and I’m sad that I’ll probably lose my Duchess-​ness soon.
Overall, it’s pretty solid. It’s targeted toward Pacific Corporate Towers employees, and does well just by the amount of traffic there. You can order online to have your lunch ready to pick up, and if you download Foursquare, you get 25 percent off ALL the time. Unlimited wifi too! I used to come down here on lunch breaks to do work just about every day.
Pumpkin drinks are half off on Fridays!
The good: All of the food I’ve had here was great, The Client Melt was my fave — turkey, brie, and cranberry relish. Salads are good too. I also really liked the breakfast sandwiches… especially the veggie toast… cream cheese, avocado, cucumber, and tomato on a bagel. There is a separate Peet’s Coffee and Tea, and they also sell things like trial-​size medicines if you have a cold or headache and don’t want to leave the complex.
The bad: Because they have an apparent monopoly on feeding us business casual cube-​dwellers, they’re EXPENSIVE. The little cups of Sabra hummus and pretzels that you can get for $ 1.99 at Ralphs are $ 5.00 here. A small (and I mean small) pre-​boxed sandwich, which I usually got out of poverty, was almost $ 4. And the grilled cheese, which was damn good, was just a grilled cheese. Nothing special for what it cost.
The soup is pretty bland and overpriced.
The employees weren’t the friendliest. They were usually texting, and a few times, I waited in front of the register for a good several minutes while the cashier talked on the business phone. Even if it was an important call, no one acknowledged me, looked at me, or let alone put the caller on hold and told me someone would be right with me. None of them seem particularly happy.
I’ll miss Just Downstairs! Especially the Client Melt. Get it!

I have been here twice now. Get The Executive. It is delicious! I come to El Segundo every Tuesday and lately I haven’t had a chance to grab lunch before I get here. If you call ahead, they have it ready to go and you can order online. The Pastrami is perfect… perfect! It has this gooey cheese that doesn’t overpower the mustard or pepperocini. Everything works perfectly in concert with each other ingredient. Mmmmmmm!!!

Just Downstairs is Just OK.
I’ve tried a variety of their melts, salads — they’re all just OK, edible, but nothing to rave about. I go there just for the convenience. I doubt they would thrive without the location advantage.

I like this place. I come here often as I just need to go downstairs in order to enjoy one of their tasty $ 5.00 lunch combos, but I’m going to be honest, I’m not going out of my way to get here and the food is okay.
I do like the staff though. They’re always amazingly fast, friendly and helpful.

Except The Client Melt!!! That gets a 4. The only thing I can vouch for. (Other melts have failed me…)
Turkey, Brie, Cranberry relish, No mayo please!
Do a lunch special combo for $ 5 and mix any ½ sandwich with either soup or salad.
OH, the Breakfast Burrito from Peet’s is also pretty decent. =)

I have now had the meatball sub with goat cheese on french roll (the Officer) and the grilled turkey sandwich with onions on ciabatta (the Director) and I enjoyed them both. Reminds of Mendecino Farms. The food tastes fresh. The food can be a little on the heavy and greasy side but I think you can expect that with yummy cheese and grilled toppings on the hot specialities menu. I’m all about the hot sandwiches.

I lovvvve this place! «The Client» sandwich is my absolute favorite thing ever. «The Director» come in a close second.
I thought this place was efficient and clean. there’s nice bar tables and loungy chairs to sit. There’s a section where they sell Peet’s coffee and pastries, and a different section altogether where they make sandwiches. There’s a giant menu with a great selection of different things, but I really do love their sandwiches, which are spot on. They’ve got pretty standard fountain drink options, but also Sweet Green Tea though, which won my heart at first sip! I recommend it!
This place is convenient, fast, and tasty. Works for me!