I have eaten at California Sandwiches for some 30 years and to be honest it has gone downhill in quality for quite some time. Mind you the prices have shot up considerably because of the franchise of the name. As an Italian sandwich it is decent but no where near the best I have had. As for value for the dollar... forget it. Ridiculous!! 10 bucks for a bun and very thin chicken breaded and fried ... add any toppings and it is beyond stupid in price. The pictures make the sandwich look huge but that is just the bun. In all honesty, you can buy a whole cooked chicken from any super market and you got at least a couple meals. Cut the chicken breast and put it in some sauce for 10 mins and you got a great Italian sandwich for less than 3 bucks.
Service is adequate, but just a few months ago my friends strong armed me into coming to this California Sandwich location (it is my least favourite for quality) and at 8:30 they ran out of buns so they gave us micro buns ... They charge like big time players but run the place like the stooges.
If you have never eaten Italian sandwiches before then you will likely like this place and not know the difference but with a tiny bit of effort you can get way better sandwiches elsewhere without all the massive expense. WAY WAY overpriced and over rated.. but based on the line ups at some of these restaurants I am certainly in the minority.