Pastrami and The City

[Cynsa]

The 'hounds collective knowledge grows...

Golden Gate Meats at the Ferry Bldg.
Carnegie Delicatessen Pastrami @ Costco
M&L Market (14th St. @ Market St.)
Quincy's (1408 Market near Van Ness/Civic Center)
Moishe's Pippic, 425 Hayes St.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16...
Memphis Minnie's on Haight St. (Wednesdays
)East Coast West on Polk St.
California Street Delicatessen at the JCC
Ak Meats/AK Subs on Clement St.

where else?

Do You Remember When? David Gringrass of Hawthorne Lane made lamb pastrami?

[niki rothman]

Recently, House of Bagels (north side Geary/14th.) started serving huge Carnegie Deli style sandwiches. The pastrami is the best I've ever eaten and I've eaten a lot of Pastrami. $11 a pound.

[Gary Soup]

If you are including places that sell it in sandwiches but not necesarily by the pound, the new kosher place at Embarcadero 4 has pastrami sandwiches. Don't know who makes it, though.

[Robert Lauriston]

SF New York Deli's pastrami is lean and presliced thin. Similar to the Carnegie I got at Costco. Okay for the neighborhood but not the fatty, freshly thick-sliced meat of my dreams.

[northofboston]

What is Embarcadero 4?
I just moved to the area (from 3000 miles away) and am dying to find a good kosher place for a sandwich.

[Robert Lauriston]

Don't get your hopes too high. If you don't keep strictly kosher there are better places.

Embarcadero 4 is the office building just north of the Hyatt Regency.

http://www.embarcaderocenter.com/ec/i...

[northofboston]

I don't keep kosher, but in my mind, that's the best place for a real sandwich. Is it worth checking that place out or are there better? I need a pastrami sandwich. Badly.

[mrs bacon]

I really like the pastrami at AK Sub (Clement St. or SoMa locations). That said, it's a sub shop, not a deli. As far as good deli sandwiches, I consider Katz's the best I've ever had. On the west coast, I do like Langer's. One must also consider the bread issue: I have not had really good rye bread anywhere in the bay area. And don't get me started on places that bill themselves as east coast style delis and then inquire whether you want lettuce, tomaotoes and sprouts on your pastrami sandwich!

[jillyju]

Saul's, the not-really-a-New-York Deli in Berkeley, has Neiman Ranch pastrami that's very good. I don't recommend anything else there, and I make no claims to it being anything near to a real New York sandwich.

See the thread here: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[nosherboy]

I thought great pstrami was a New York or an L.A. thing, until I tasted David's pastrami at Dean & De Luca in soho New York and found out it's from San Francisco. It seems that Dean & De Luca in Napa Valley has had it for years, and it's available in San Francisco at Ferry Plaza Golden Gate Meats. Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft restaurants in New York and now San Francisco uses it in their pastrami sandwiches. Great depth of flavor not like most commercial pastrami.

[Melanie Wong]

Here's last year's post on David's pastrami and availability.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

Do you know if wichcraft is using the belly cut?

[Gary Soup]

Is that the David of David's Restaurant in the Theater District? That place drew me like a magnet when I first moved her from New York in 1962. It must have been something that reninded me of NY.

[oakjoan]

I was shocked that Gary was praising David's until I noticed it was from 1962. I don't even know if it exists anymore, but if it does, stay clear of it unless MUCH has changed. An awful place on Geary.

[Robert Lauriston]

David's Old World Pastrami has nothing to do with David's Deli on Geary St.

http://www.allenbrothers.com/Product....

[kevin]

i'm always up for hofbraus,

is tommy's joint, the beer hall type joint with communal tables on van ness?

[Zach Georgopoulos]

It's not NY style, but I find the thick, fatty, hand carved pastrami at Tommy's Joynt to be the best around. I usually get it on a roll dipped in au jus (yes, sacrilege, I know). Sometimes it can be a bit too salty.

[rworange]

Yeah, I'm with you on Haufbrau type places serving decent pastrami and the closest to switching off the craving button in my brain. That reminded me that I had a very satisfying pastrami sandwich at The Chick-N-Coop. It was over a year ago though ... reminds me I have to try that pie shop across the street some time.

ANYWAY, googling to check if it was still open, I found this Wikipedia article about California-style hofbraus, open and closed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofbrau

Chick-N-Coop pictures

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3760/2345/400/P3250010.jpg

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3760/2345/320/P3250007.jpg

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/37...

[Nancy Berry]

I often get a pastrami sandwich at Tommy's Joynt and then take it into the amc 1000 Van Ness for a movie matinee feast -- yes, they let you take food into the theater. I get the sandwich on a french roll rather than on their rather mediocre rye bread.

[Melanie Wong]

Someone (maybe Kuisine) mentioned the fatty pastrami at Smart & Final. When you check out Quincy's, you might also want to try Ted's on Howard near 11th.

Ted's Market & Deli
[phone]
1530 Howard St
San Francisco, CA 94103

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

And, Max's Opera Cafe and The Grove.

[dordogne]

What's the skinny (or the fatty) on Carnegie Deli pastrami at Costco? Frozen? Vacuum-packed? Only in 5-lb quantities? Most important, how's the taste and the fat/lean ratio?

[TomSwift]

It is vacuum packed in two bags, each a pound IIRC. Your're supposed to microwave in the bag then open the bag but I find that putting some meat in a baggie with a few drops of water, then microwaving, yields a nice steamed result. It is sliced thinner than I would prefer. It is very, very close in flavor and fat content to the pastrami at Langer's in Los Angeles (touted by many as the best pastrami in the USA). For the price (about $11 for 2 pounds, I think) I don't think it can be beat.

[oakjoan]

Close in flavor and fat content to Langer's???? "When in doubt try Langer's Hot Pastrami", pastrami? Did I read you correctly? Hmmm, I wonder if I'd be missed here at work if I immediately took off for a couple of hours.......

[Nancy Berry]

Each bag is 12 ounces, not 1 lb., but it's still a good deal and the pastrami is delicious.