Fat Sal’s
Salvatore Capek used to build restaurants. Three years ago, he started building sandwiches.
Capek and his business partners, originally from New York, opened Fat Sal’s Deli in an attempt to bring “fat sandwiches” to the West Coast, Capek said. “Fat sandwiches” combine a myriad of ingredients, such as meat, cheese, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, eggs and condiments, all in one sandwich.
“We try to combine everything that’s tasty and stuff it into one ridiculous, delicious sandwich,” Capek said.
Capek said he grew up eating sandwiches like this all his life, but he would make them himself.
Capek added onion rings to his beef sandwiches to create what is akin to the Fat Sal currently on the menu, and chicken parmesan to cold cut sandwiches to create the Fat Anthony, another popular sandwich on the menu.
Most of the customers at Fat Sal’s are students, faculty and staff from UCLA and the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Capek said.
“If you’re a doctor or nurse or x-ray technician (working the night shift), your lunch is at midnight,” Capek said. “People come in at around midnight and eat lunch.”
Fat Sal’s Deli has opened two other branches, in San Diego and Hollywood, this year.
Capek said students from UCLA who have graduated come and eat at Fat Sal’s when they come back to visit or go to one of the other locations.
“I was working at the San Diego store this past memorial day weekend. One (UCLA alum) came and asked, ‘Do you guys make the fat cordon blue down here?'” Capek said. “He was so excited that we did because it wasn’t on the menu here.”
Other customers have left their own mark on the menu. One of the sandwiches, the Fat Jaime, has been named by the only person to have eaten the “Big Fat Fatty” sandwich, a 27 inch sub that weighs 10 pounds.
But Capek said the best part is seeing people enjoy your food.
“We have a passion for the food there. We are foodies – we love food, we love watching people enjoy our food.”