Tommy Pastrami New York Delicatessen

This sandwich just doesn’t cut it for its $ 10 price tag. It’s just meat, bread, and a pickle in relatively small portions and for that much it’s hardly a value.
Doesn’t taste too bad, but for the money there are zillions of better options. The location is right off the trolley stop so if you’re waiting to pick up public trans and starving I’d say go for it, but wouldn’t exactly recommend it otherwise.

Great BBQ Brisket. A bit overpriced though.

this place is just O.K.
the prices of the sanwhiches do not match the size of them at all, if i’m paying 9 bucks for a sandwhich is better fill me up!
Expensive: –1 star
lack of food portion: –1 star
food taste: –1 star
Friendly and clean place +2stars
its a ok place if you don’t have anywhere else to go.
2 stars to me means i would never return, so don’t!

Two stars, and I feel like I am being a bit harsh — but I would have given an extra star for service, if there was any. I used a $ 25 coupon. The girl at the register took 18% (normal for this type of coupon) which came out to be about 6 bucks. OK, not a problem — I don’t really mind giving you a tip, but how about doing something for it? The place was empty — you could have at least brought me the sandwich, or smiled, or done SOMETHING. Whatever, like I said — it would have earned the place an extra star — but I guess it’s my own fault for expecting good service after a 6 dollar tip at a deli.
So…what I was expecting was a «jumbo» sandwich. Heck, for $ 10 bucks, it should be. What I got was kind of lame. A somewhat dry 8″ french roll, lukewarm dry pastrami, and a cold slice of cheese (that cost extra). Not at all good.
Let me qualify this review by adding that I have worked in a few deli joints in my time, and I have come across some really good sandwiches. At one place, we used to make our pastrami, piping hot, dipped in a nice mustard water broth, served on a fresh chewy roll, with melted cheese on top. It only cost 6 bucks.
The reason this place gets two stars, and not just one, is because they serve up a good hot dog for $ 2.50. A nice Nathan’s pup. Toppings are 50 cents extra (each). I enjoyed it… good job. I’m picky when it comes to dogs.
Best of luck Mr. Pastrami… You’re going to need it.

The only thing I get here is the two hot dogs for $ 5… Last time they didn’t even have krout for the dog and as I’m walking out the boss walks in with a big jar of krout FAIL. I got the pastrami before and it was dry and taste less… They stack it high alright but just in the front… they leave the back of the Sami w/​just bread. Don’t grab this un priced chips on the side cuz that tinny bag will cost u $ 2.25!

I’m gonna give ‘em a small bump.
Gift card in hand, I ordered an Italian cold cut sandwich and a «Philly» cheesesteak to go.
Now, except for Hawaii, Alaska and maybe some of the Pacific Islands, San Diego is about as far from New York as you can be and still be in the U.S. Like San Diego, Tommy Pastrami «New York» Delicatessen – nevermind the name – is also about as far from New York as you can get when it comes to delis or deli food.
All that aside, the Italian sandwich was absolutely packed and stacked with fresh and tasty cold cuts on a very nice fresh roll. The «Philly» cheesesteak (again, no relation to a real cheesesteak) was nicely cooked, loaded with fresh meat shavings and topped with melted cheese and roasted red bell peppers. I have to admit: Both sandwiches were very good. And I do love their thick pickles (insert pickle, er, pun here).
It’s not a New York deli, and hardly a deli at all, but the food can be pretty good, if you order right.

I work nearby so it’s a good place to go when I am too lazy to walk to Little Italy or Horton Plaza.
I usually order the pastrami half with fries or the trio salad. I usually end up taking half the meat out of the pastrami sandwich because there is just too much meat. The mustard is what makes this sandwich, it provides the much needed flavor. The trio salad is really good and could feed me for days it is so huge. The fries are really good too.
I have also tried the chili cheese fries, chili and the chicken soup with matzo ball. Loved the matzo ball in the soup. Breakfast is okay. You get a lot for your money.
Prices aren’t bad. Food downtown is usually expensive, so this is relatively priced well.
I also like that they have a order online feature on their website. Which means I don’t have to wait long for my food.

Great NY-​style deli in downtown San Diego. I had a corned beef (on rye, of course) and a Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry sode and it is so good. What makes it better is the kosher spicy deli mustard to put on my sandwich. It’s also good that they stack the meats high enough to open my mouth wide. Like City Delicatessen in Hillcrest, this place is expensive.

I tried Tommy Pastrami for the first time this afternoon. After seesawing back and forth between the Turkey Sandwich and Chef’s Salad, I approached the counter and ordered a Nathan’s Real Beef Dawg combo — hot dog, side item and drink — for the low price of $ 4.35. Three cheers for awesome deals!
Tommy Hot Dog (er, Pastrami) Is Not Bad!
What A Hawt Hot Dawg: Nathan’s Hot Dogs are famous and I can understand why. Served hot, juicy and topped with a mountain of raw Sauerkraut and Onions, I enjoyed every bite of that vertically challenged sammich. My chosen side item — Coleslaw — was just okay. It had way too much mayo for my liking.
Great Service: Friendly staff. Quick turnaround time.

This is a good breakfast, lunch spot, and we can leave the review at that. But let’s look at the reality of it. It’s supposed to be a New York deli. Not really. If you squeeze every bit of ethnic soul and deli culture out of a real New York or L.A. deli, that’s the beginning of a Tommy Pastrami. As a franchise appealing to a broad populace that would be frightened by the words kishka and varniskas, yes, it’s fine and it’s poised for success.
But I’m reviewing Tommy for what it bills itself to be: a New York delicatessen. Now their website does describe the atmosphere as a «quick casual environment,» and it is. There’s no smell, sights, or atmosphere of deli ethnicity at all. Although you can buy meats, pickles, and salads by the pound, they are kept in back, not on display.
So … no deli atmosphere.
How about the service? The help is very nice but uninformed about the details of the food and, again, this part of the review comes down to deli culture. The help just has no deli in their blood. They may as well be working at The Pork House in Whiskey, Arkansas. There’s no sense of the history or the meaning of the food they’re selling. Although the staff I encountered were very nice people, you’d rather have a rude person who knows what they’re talking about.
Now the food. Some negative and positive surprises. The hot dog is not recommended. The hot dog itself was good. The bun however was rubbery. It had been frozen, placed in the microwave, or both. It’s possible that the hot dog itself was microwaved. This is really too bad because no real deli, or no authentic hot dog stand, would violate a hot dog with a rubbery bun. It’s also too bad because San Diego has minimal, if any, hot dog scene.
The people here don’t know what a good hot dog is. They know what a good hot dog is in L.A. and San Franciso, but San Diego is lost. There is an opportunity for Tommy Pastrami to show San Diego what a great hot dog is. But they need to smarten up. When I asked the order taker whether their hot dogs were skinless or with a casing, he didn’t know. Hot dogs are important. Staff should know and care about them instead of throw them onto a microwaved bun.
I also ate a potato knish which I didn’t like. It was microwaved too. It was a pile of mush and toughened by the microwave. A mess. They don’t understand what they’re doing in the kitchen.
On the positive side both the cole slaw and the chopped liver were very good, even excellent. See what happens when you don’t throw stuff in the microwave?
Now for what you’ve been waiting for: the pastrami sandwich. It’s not bad but not great. I enjoyed it more than the pastrami at the other delis in San Diego or at Grab n Go subs. So it might be among the best pastrami in San Diego. Was it microwaved? I don’t think so. It was tasty and nicely greasy, but don’t even try to compare it to real deli pastrami because it doesn’t come close. The rye bread is good but lacks substance; it’s franchise rye bread, a cross between real rye and Wonder bread. I enjoyed my pastrami sandwich only because it’s the best I’ve had in San Diego. The pickles were very good. They also have a good selection of Dr. Browns sodas. Their Diet Cream soda is a great product.
This is probably the best deli in San Diego. Tell them not to microwave anything, that’s my advice.

A little pricey, but then again everything is in Little Italy area. Sandwiches are delicious and that mustard is so tasty! I’d recommend getting the pastrami sandwich or corned beef. The steak one seems like there isn’t a lot of steak on it and both friends that tried it said they wouldn’t get it again because it lacks meat.
Great place to get lunch!

The people here are so nice!
I had a bunch of things from Tommy Pastrami — various kinds of sandwiches, breakfast, burger, hot dogs, soup… etc. (It’s across the street from where I work, and always liked everything).
They definitely do very good sandwiches. Although I like to get the «lite» version of sandwiches because they definitely pack of the fillings.
However, my favorite thing is actually their MATZO BALL SOUP, which thankfully, is offered every day! Granted, I’m not Jewish so I’m not an expert, but I love it anyways!

I was feeing a good sandwhich today. And a coworeker offered to take me here. THey always have a long line so I thought it was becouse of great food. I was wrong!
I ordered a halfer cornedbeef. I added provalone cheese. on french bread.
So this is a hot sandwhich, or should be. it was cold, and the french bread was a french loaf. Maning it was so big I couldnt bit into it. I took the top off and it was still to much bread.
I know I can be harsh on places I eat. But this was not somewhere I would eat again.
The cashier was outside and asked how we liked it. I told her what I thought. her reply was next time get the bun toasted.
Dont think there will be a next time.

I was treated to this place by a co-​worker. He was there during thier construction and they gave him a menu before the place had opened. I was anticipating this opening for awhile.
To the point… If you are expecting Carnagie Deli, you will be dissapointed. Also, if your a fan of The Hat, the pastrami does not compare. While it is good, there seems to be a flavor missing.
We had the Italian and the skyscaper… both were great. But it is simply just another deli sandwhich. Don’t get me wrong… it IS good, but I would like to try thier breakfast to see if that puts them a bit higher on the Unilocal chain… Would I go back? sure… Will I go out of my way to go back… ummm… no, sorry…

I heard this place had a long wait, but there was no line today (1:45pm). I guess people already figured out this place is pretty «meh.»
I ordered a regular pastrami sandwich combo w/​onion rings and a drink. $ 15.50. WOW. Alright I thought, maybe the sandwich is just huge!
5 minutes later I received a completely unremarkable, regular sized pastrami sandwich on a french roll. The meat was fine, but for that price I wanted about 3x the pile. The bread wasn’t warm or anything, just kind of dry and spongy. My onion rings were undercooked and had raw batter underneath the fried exterior.
Maybe I’ll try their $ 2.50 hotdog or something next time. If I wanted overpriced, mediocre food, I’d rather go to Burger Lounge. I really don’t think people are willing to spend $ 14~18 on a sandwich combo for lunch. We’ll see how long they last. Little Italy has a lot of lunch competition, wake up Tommy.

I visited Tommy Pastrami today with my three coworkers today. We all though the restaurant was ok, but a tad overpriced for ok.
I ordered a halfer Pastrami sandwich with a pickle. I also ordered the chili on the side. The sandwich had pretty good rye bread, flavorful mustard, and an ok, but not great, quantity of pastrami. The pastrami was pretty good, but a little dry.
The chili was a poor choice. Th chili has pastrami in it, which is an interesting and enjoyable twist to chili. Unfortunately the chili was very watered down. It was almost like bean and pastrami soup rather than chili. I would rate the chili only 2 stars.
The service was rather slow. I ate about 5 minutes after my coworkers were served. The server handed me the chili and failed to give me a spoon.
Overall its ok when compared to delis that feature pastrami sandwiches. I think Grab and Go is comparable and slightly less expensive.

Home taking care of Baby Reagan today and was looking for a new Sammy place and it happens so that Tommy was mentioned in Thrillist this week.
5 Stars for the awesome corned beef sandwich-​just like the Jewish deli’s from back home in Chicago.
–1 Star for long lines and slow service. Must be a better way to get customers through the door.

Disclaimer… I am no food critic… my pallet is just as complex and different as everyone else’s. Now on to the review:
I had the Philly Cheesesteak combo today with coleslaw. The coleslaw was a disaster… bland is being kind. I was bummed since I’m a huge fan of coleslaw. The Philly was also bland in flavor… maybe they ran out of seasonings? It may be unfair to judge this sandwich based on my experience with Pat’s and Gino’s, but bland is bland. I had to dip it in my coworker’s jus just to get some kind of flavor profile working. I am Finn’s disappointed pallet.
The service was fast and the prices are fair for the amount of food you get. The owners/​managers were on hand for suggestions and friendly conversation. The cashiers were smiling and handled the lunch rush well and with patience… the downtown crowd can be overwhelming.
I was happy to see they serve breakfast sandwiches with a fried egg sandwich as a choice… I will be back tomorrow to try that instead of my usual Brueggers. I will amend this review after breakfast tomorrow.
You will leave full, but unsatisfied.

I completely agree with the other reviewer below!
I was introduced to this place by my lovely co-​workers at the office. They were kind enough to leave me a Tommy Pastrami menu flyer posted in my «cubsicle» wall. At first, I was just going to ‘pass-​by’ and see the place from the outside. However, when I arrived at the front of this place, hunger over took me so I decided to step inside and place my very first order.
I had the ‘halfer’ pastrami. This samich more than filled me up. The pickles were HUGE, crispy and tasty, and the side of hot mustard sauce made my meal worth the $ 4.95 plus tax I had paid. I must have been excited or just plain hungry because I totally forgot to wash my hands and I just remembered that I was opening doors and pushing elevator buttons and just plain getting my hands all dirty prior to arriving at this place. Note to self: bring hand sanitizer.
I highly recommend Tommy Pastrami. Come very early to avoid the 12 noon lunch rush. I arrived here at this place a few minutes after 11 AM. and already 3 people ahead of me at the front register counter and about four more people waiting for their orders along the side.
Bottom line, this place is as OG as it gets. I hope to try their «Philly» on my next trip — which is tomorrow! This place would get an extra star if it had free wi-​fi!
I’m giving this joint a 5 star. I had the beef brisket ‘halfer’ on rye (note to self: get the damn french roll bread!) for lunch today with my lovely co-​workers. Also, I had a chance to check-​out the bano and it was «DEUCE» ready and super clean. I hear they may have wi-​fi in the very near future. That’s great for me, b/​c those bastards at the Westin Hotel no longer offer free wi-​fi for the folks hanging out at the lobby.
I actually met Mr Tommy Pastrami. He was serving up Pastramis — he is defintely a Brooklyn type of guy that you don’t want to «eff» with. Overall, he’s a cool cat. It’s nice to know that ‘suits’ can also get down and dirty and he is most def hands-​on, and I can appreciate that.

Opened today — H O T _​P A S T R A M I ! ! !
the GRUB:
— seriously stacked hot pastrami on in house baked rye bread — the original (pictured) was 7oz of pure meat mayhem… add slices of provolone cheese, sides of pickles, steak fries and a diet coke… awesome!
— beef brisket /​hot roast beef on a french roll was sooooooo tender and meaty… and the AU JOUS — killin me, it was PERFECT. best french dip in DOWNTOWN. yup. i said it.
— a bowl of homemade chili with pieces of pastrami and beef brisket mixed right in there too… so good and SPICY too!
— Nathan’s Hot Dogs for that authentic big apple eats
— Matza ball soup and Brooklyn style Kanishes too. u kidding me there, tough guy???
— next stop: the Sky scraper: 2 meats ie corned beef and pastrami totalling 12oz (¾ lbs) piled high on rye, NY style baby.
the JOINT:
— new. fresh and clean. modern industrial red brick look.
— plenty of seating inside and out.
— trolley /​train station close
— friendly family owned staff
the SQUEEZE:
— not bad. the original hot pastrami, made a combo with fountain drink and choice of side came out to be $ 13.00. totally worth it IMO
— bring quarters for the meters, or take the trolley in
— cash and cards accepted
FINAL SAY:
Man, i was waiting for an authentic NYC style deli to show up in Downtown San Diego. Thanks Tommy, for bringing it home.