Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen

I paid $ 17 for a sandwich from here today.
Was it delicious? Yes. Did it have that homemade, Jewish deli quality? Yes. Was the establishment itself nice, with interesting décor laden with various family-​oriented and historical memorabilia? Yep! Was the sandwich worth $ 17? No.
I ordered a Reuben w/​corned beef and no swiss. Even when I tried to reason that because I ate half of it there and took half to go (plus my side of potato salad), I fell short, because each half would have been $ 8.50, which is the price of a decent (and much larger) sandwich from other establishments (such as Haight Street Market, or Rossi’s). Hell, even Ike’s, which I also regard to be a touch overpriced, at about $ 14, is a huge sandwich in and of itself, stuffed to the chops with quality and substantial ingredients.
I really hate not having any wiggle room to tip, and I did not today. I am really sorry to the guy who took my order and ran my food, I just don’t have $ 20 to spend on a decent tasting, albeit mediocre-​sized sandwich.
If you’re interested in a Jewish deli that is on par with Wise Sons but a touch more reasonable price-​wise, it’d be worth it to check out Saul’s in Berkeley.

I keep coming back when I have time. The LEO breakfast of scrambled eggs and salmon, with a giant bagel and cream cheese is a good breakfast to me. The restaurant is pretty tiny (only probably room for 15 – 20 people sitting inside) but they do a clean bathroom. Their coffee doesn’t stand out to me, but I usually get Phil’s Coffee from down the street and bring it in without a problem. When it’s nice out, they setup 2 tables outside, which adds seating for about 6 – 12 people, but the last time I walked by, a homeless person claimed one of the tables for himself… welcome to SF.
So the price is pretty high for breakfast, but they have something unique and tasty which I think is worth the cost.

The most amazing deli food in the mission. Highly recommend the chicken salad, lakes, and all of their breakfast items

Had a pastrami sandwich 14 dollars plus tax and the buck you put in the jar. Value for money none small sandwich, now I am exaggerating but it was like on mimi rye bread. Amount of actual pastrami was ok, a bit dry. Came with potato salad or cold slaw. I opted for the cold slaw. Again small portion. And a couple dill pickle spears. This really is just an ok sandwich. Folks are nice service ok. Next time I am in the neighborhood I will stick to a burrito.

Oh man!
Tried it again and things are just outstanding.
ordered the «downtown» and got the cornedbeef w/​coleslaw & matzoh ball soup… A+++

I liked it a lox.
I’m always on the hunt for a fresh, savory, traditional lox bagel. Wise Son’s Delicatessen made it, as one variation on the menu, open-​face on a bialy. Smoky, cream-​cheesy, caper-​salty, savory perfection. Delicious. I would come by again with a friend in an instant.
And the coffee is delicious.

A friend was visiting from out of town and this was on his to-​eat list. So I agreed to meet for Saturday brunch. The line was consistently out the door, I noticed the whole time we were there. I barted in as it’s only a couple blocks from the 24^th street mission stop but there seemed to be a good amount of street parking available in the area. We stood in line and ordered. Then kinda stood around waiting for a table to free up. Luckily we didn’t have to wait too long. The place is kinda tiny and there are not a lot of tables. They gave us a number and then they will bring out your food for you. Water and coffee is self serve. We split the pastrami & eggs and the corned beef sandwich with a side of pastrami cheese fries. The pastrami & eggs is like a scramble with the brined meat. It’s also served with a few pieces of your choice of toast (I got wheat). The corned beef sandwich is served on rye bread with a healthy dose of sauerkraut. My friend really wanted to try the cheese fries and it’s an option for a little bit extra. It could’ve used a bit more pastrami but it was a nice portion served its in own individual bowl and took up half the plate. Haha. We also tried to buy some bagels after to take to go but they were «sold out.» They had some for their entrees (sandwiches and stuff) but were not selling individual bagels to people. And they referred us to their bagel-​ery on Geary. It’s pretty far from this location so we didn’t go. Overall a fattening meal but oh so satisfying.

So disappointed.
There is pretty much no Jewish deli in the Bay Area, so I was beyond excited about Wise Sons. We were never able to make it for breakfast or lunch, so I was thrilled when they started serving dinner.
We took my dad while he was visiting, (he’s an old Jewish guy and loves Jewish deli, as do I .)
The matzo ball soup was sad.
I don’t know how it’s possible for a soup to have absolutely no flavor, but this one didn’t.
We shared the challah French toast, it was good, but very rich. I couldn’t have eaten a half order on my own.
I had half a chopped liver sandwich, (which I asked for on challah, instead of rye.)
It was fine, but not great.
My dad and husband had corned beef and pastrami.
Once again, just ok.
The best thing I had here were french fries.
Don’t expect traditional deli size portions, (which are CRAZY) but for the price, I excpected the sandwiches to be a bit heartier.
SInce it was the end of the night, the staff gave the last customers the remaining babka.
I have been lusting after this babka online for years…
I wanted to cry… It was dry and nothing like babka. Just a boring coffee cake.
Also, I should add, the staf made it very clear they were closing soon, and even turned people away before they were closed.
We felt rushed, and that never leaves a good impression.

TL;DR — Why so expensive?
–FEELS–
Busy, packed and tiny. I felt like my order would get lost in the mix. The interior is clean and typical SF café vibe. The one thing that bothered me was that inside is way too small to function as a sit-​down establishment while you also have lines out the door and people waiting for their to-​go orders. It all boils down to chaos.
–FOOD–
Pastrami: Meh. I like the thick cuts of pastrami that are messy and greasy. (Like Katz’s in NYC) The bread here is thin. The meat is thin. The sauerkraut is… THIN (can I even describe it as that? whatever. The sauce is. thin. Haha. But honestly, for over $ 10 bucks, this pastrami is sad at best. Yes, the flavors are kinda there (more salty than peppery) and what you really taste after everything is just salt with a hint of pepper. The kraut and sauce get lost in the mix. For the price to quality to wait time ratio, I wouldn’t bother coming back.

I work nearby and tried Wise Sons for lunch today — I chose their ½ sandwich + soup combo. I went with their cornerstone dishes — Pastrami sandwich on rye with matzo ball soup and potato salad on the side, sounded like a nice warming lunch. The pastrami was good but the meat was pretty fatty (I know I know, there’s probably no such thing as lean pastrami but this was particularly fatty and thus very chewy). The bread was fine, nothing to write home about. The soup — needed salt and flavor. The matzo didn’t taste like much, nor did the broth, and the chicken pieces were greasy and several had cartilage. The potato salad was pretty tasty.
All in all — meh. The combo was $ 14, so with tax and tip at $ 17 — I’ll pass on a return visit. There are better sandwich spots around the corner.

The line wasn’t that bad around noon on a Saturday. Order at the counter and wait for a table inside or outside.
Drinks:
— Mimosa carafe ($ 20): mostly OJ
— For Intelligentsia coffee, they have their own Wise Sons blend
Food:
— Latke: crisp, a bit under salted for me
— Bialy: good chewiness and flavor
— Pickles: good flavor, crisp
— Vegetable hash: the pea tendrils, spring peas, and asparagus were awesome, and the hint of lemon and mint were good for spring. The egg was nice and runny, and the potatoes were impressively crisp outside but not overly dry or oily. This dish was a great choice
— Semite sandwich: pastrami, mustard, and a runny fried egg. Unfortunately, there wasn’t very much pastrami, and the sandwich itself was floppy
Note: they wouldn’t do egg whites only for the scramble (they said it would take too long).
Turnover at the tables was variable. With a line of people waiting, we definitely felt pressure to get out once we finished our food.

Loved both the Club sandwich and the pastrami on rye bread. The pastrami was really tasty.
I also liked their chocolate babka — perfect with Philz coffee!
The lines here tend to get long, so come early!

As a native Californian who lived east of California for a decade, I quickly learned to appreciate Jewish cuisine, especially deli food. With some of my closest friends born in New York & New Jersey, it wasn’t uncommon for us to grab a bowl of matzo ball soup or noshing on latkes every time we hung out. Some of my fondest memories and most hilarious conversations involved pastrami on rye with a fat pickle. That said, I’ve been meaning to try Wise Sons for awhile — not only to satisfy these cravings but also to silence everyone who has told me to go here for the babka. And thanks to Trader Joe’s, Food & Wine magazine, and the scores of people who’ve been obsessing about babka lately, I finally went the other night with a buddy of mine from Boston.
Now, like a lot of restaurants that aren’t «mainstream» American, Wise Sons is often subject to harsher critique for its «authenticity.» While I’m certainly far from a Jewish deli aficionado, I appreciate Wise Sons for what it is. It’s essentially a place that takes everyday Jewish delicatessen specialities and fancies it up a bit to suit the *new* Mission ‘hood residents and former Upper West Side, Murray Hill, or Brooklyn yuppies now residing in the Bay Area.
At any rate, Wise Sons delivered. I had the Downtown Special which includes a ½ sandwich of your choice (pastrami, corned beef, chopped liver, or trout salad) with two pickles, matzo ball soup & either potato salad or cole slaw. For $ 14, I honestly didn’t think this was a bad price. Perhaps some folks might disagree and think this is overpriced, but I thought the portion was fair for San Francisco prices. The pastrami was pretty good though I honestly would’ve liked a little more grease (per the norm of my experiences with New York pastrami sandwiches). The matzo ball was tasty. It had little noodle strands and chunks of chicken. The broth was clean but delicious. Overall, solid, but I’ve had slightly better. The potato salad was actually a stand-​out. It wasn’t sour nor mushy nor too mayo-​y. My friend and I also split an order of two potato latkes served with applesauce and sour cream. I must say these were quite unique and not your typical latkes — and that’s not a problem. I loved the texture; it felt more like a breakfast potato hash. At the same time, that could be worthy of critique. It didn’t quite taste nor feel like the latkes of my childhood or even my East Coast adulthood. But, the fact of the matter is: it was tasty! Period.
Service: attentive and friendly. Ambiance: steady, but not crowded or noisy (at least for a Wednesday night around 7:30). It seemed like a lot of folks ordered take-​out (presumably neighborhood residents). Lastly, if you want their famous chocolate babka, come early! I had a feeling this would happen, and alas, it did: they ran out! Granted, I came 90 minutes before closing, but I hoped they’d have a slice or two left. Oh well. They had cinnamon babka, and while Jerry Seinfeld infamously said once that cinnamon babka wasn’t a lesser babka, I’d have to disagree. Cinnamon is delicious, but for babka, chocolate rules. So, I gotta come back specifically for that!
Overall, Wise Sons is reliable, delectable, and from my standpoint, it’s worth returning to. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but thank you Evan & Leo for bringing San Franciscans a taste of the Jewish treats of the Northeast.

I was fooled! This is not a deli. –Sad
Having worked at Stage Deli in LA for years, a traditional NY Deli, I was hoping Wise Sons was a diamond in the Mission… I was soooooo wrong.
It’s an over priced upstart SF eatery masquerading as a traditional Jewish delicatessen.
I paid 14.00 for the worlds saddest Cornbeef on Rye and a ‘hip’ looking diet cola.
How can you call yourselves a Jewish deli if you don’t serve brisket?!? Weak.
Save yourself a trip and go to house of bagels on Geary… at least they have NY Seltzers! It’s Definitely NOT ‘Nate and Al’s’; Hell, even Mel’s Drive In is a better deli than this place!
Disappointed on every level. UNBOOKMARKED.

This place is great service was phenomenal. I got the seminite breakfast sandwich crispy pastrami fried egg Swiss spicy mustard added avocado as our server (Nathan’s) suggested. Top notch. Thanks Nathan

Husband ordered the club sandwich– wish I could tell you how it was.
I ordered the challah French toast — also wish I could tell you how it tasted because it comes highly recommended.
Turned away 2 hungry customers at 8:48 pm AFTER we placed our orders and AFTER were told we could still order by an employee? Unfortunate way to run a business, gone is the day of sit down and stay and take a load off. Wise sons is not welcome on Fillmore — and just lost a long time customer. I’ll take my 30 bucks to support to deli board.

Who knew the deli was good out in San Fran? Coming from out of town I heard of Wise Sons from a Podcast about jewish deli food.
The food was top notch, the pastrami was great (but nowhere near Mile End in Brooklyn). The lox was amazing and the bialy it was served on was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The matzha ball soup tasted just like bubbe’s!
The system in which they seat people could be streamlined. Full waiter service with a seating list would probably be more efficient then w/​e it is they are attempting.
While not the best deli in America, it is certainly the best in Nor Cal. Definitely worth the trip.

Perhaps my immense enjoyment of this place had to do with my notable level of inebriation from doing S-​bombs and hot sangria in the Richmond followed by rounds of hefeweizens at Urban Putt, but nonetheless, Wise Sons provided a scrumptious and satisfying meal that I won’t soon forget.
Admittedly, this place made my list of places to try after hearing that it’s one of Marky Z’s Mission haunts. No shame. That didn’t make the Semite Sammy any less delish — especially with the home fried potatoes on the side — to go along with the crispy pastrami, fried egg, toasted challah, pickles on the side — just enough grease, starch, protein, and fat that any drunk person could ask for. Please do yourself a favor and look at the photo of this bombshell dish, and order it next time you’re in the ‘hood. Zuck would be proud.

Chocolate Babka– #46 on the 2015 7×7 100 Things to Eat Before You Die list.
3.5 stars but rounding up. We placed an order for their special Hanukkah treats for the office, and I decided to also pick up some food for later, so called ahead to place my order. By the time we got there around 11am on a Friday, my food order was ready, but I had to wait a bit longer to pick up the Hanukkah order. There wasn’t a line to place orders at that time, but at least half the tables in the small dining area were already taken. By the time we left in 10 – 15 minutes, they were definitely getting busier. We tried:
–Pastrami Cheese Fries (Topped w/​Swiss Bechamel, Russian Dressing, Chopped Pickles, $ 9,
): I would only order this for dining in since it was difficult to re-​heat this with all the toppings. I loved all the toppings (especially the pastrami, bechamel and russian dressing) but thought the fries could have been crispier.
–Number 19 (Pastrami w/​Russian Dressing, Cold Swiss, Slaw, Rye Bread, Served w/​Cole Slaw, $ 14.50,
): The pastrami was really good, but I didn’t like their bread, which I felt was too dense. I’m more partial to softer bread versus the super hard rye. I don’t know if I would get this sandwich again.
Hanukkah Items:
–Sufganiyot (Glazed Donuts Filled w/​Strawberry Preserves, $ 11/​Half Dozen): By far one of the favorites of the employees. The donut was fluffy but had a good chewiness, and the tartness of the strawberry preserves was a nice contrast to the glazed donut– recommended!
–Babka (Chocolate or Cinnamon, $ 12/​Half Loaf): Just ok for me– the bread is way too dense for my liking. It did taste better after I microwaved it for a bit though. I liked the chocolate more than the cinnamon, which seemed drier to me.
–Apricot Rugelach ($ 13/​Dozen): Yum– this was really good. The apricot filling went well with the buttery cookie– recommended!
–Cinnamon Walnut Rugelach ($ 13/​Dozen): Just ok– the cinnamon walnut mixture made the cookie taste dry overall, and I liked the apricot a lot more. Skip.
–Mandel Bread ($ 13/​Dozen): Kinda of like biscotti, but more dense and not as crunchy. The flavor fell a bit flat for me, and this wasn’t my favorite– skip!
This is one of the few delis that had special items for Hanukkah (that I was aware of), and it was definitely worth it ordering them from here– people at work were raving about the items, and there were barely any crumbs leftover. I will definitely be back in the future for more pastrami (without the rye bread) and hopefully sufganiyot and apricot rugelach! Parking was super easy during the time that we went, but street parking can be limited, and it is all metered.

4 STARS
I had the turkey club to go: ⁴⁄₅ STARS
Ate it after a a hike, and loved the pastrami substitute for bacon. Huge portions, potatoe salad was delicious too. BF loved his pastrami sandwich.
Need to come back and try MORE

Walk in, order at the counter, take a seat. Simple enough, but there were a couple things about Wise Sons that lead me to rate it only 2 stars:
Here’s what we ordered —
Dine-​in:
Egg and Cheese breakfast sandwich add crispy pastrami for $ 2.50 ($ 13.50 total)
Latkes with Sour Cream and Applesauce
To-​go:
4 pack of bialys
.5 lb of lox
cream cheese
So why only 2 stars?
1 — Miscommunication/​Delay with our order. Our 4 pack of bialys to go was not given to us with our dine-​in order, despite the cashier telling the kitchen to put together the bialys when we ordered. After our meal, we talked to the cashier who was pretty unfriendly and unapologetic, then waited another 8 minutes or so before we were given them. During those 8 minutes, the four of us were asked to step aside and wait by the entrance, where there isn’t a whole lot of room to begin with. This leads me to…
2 — Their unofficial seating policy. As we were ordering, one of our group of four sat down at a table, and one of us overheard one of the staff telling another staff member to go tell our friend that she couldn’t sit until our party had ordered. Luckily, we intercepted and told them that she was with us. While we ate, we saw another man being told to leave until his party had ordered. It’s fine to have a seating policy like that, but perhaps there should be a sign, to prevent customers from feeling embarrassed or put out, and to save staff the hassle of monitoring this.
3 — Sloppy presentations. Our $ 22 worth of lox was wrapped in thin brown paper. The next day, when we went to make our delicious lox, cream cheese, and bialy, we found that the lox had dried out on the sides. Gross. Dine-​in presentation was fine for a deli, but I noticed that a single order of latkes had the applesauce, sour cream, and chives lovingly drizzled on top. Our order of 3 latkes came with the applesauce and sour cream on the side, in paper cups.
I’ve never had an authentic NY bialy, so I’m not judging the food on authenticity. I thought my breakfast sandwich was just ok. The bread was a bit dry and looking back on it, I would have rather had the lox. The latkes, however, were crispy and delicious.

New York style bagels and bialys in CA?
That’s unpossible! (channeling my inner Ralph Wiggum)
We ordered via Post Mates one Saturday morning and hoped for the best. We were not let down.
Me: Egg & cheese: bialy with avocado, cheddar and perfectly scrambled eggs with a side of hashbrowns.
Him: The Semite sandwich: crispy pastrami, swiss, mustard, and fried egg on rye.
Us: half a loaf of chocolate babka, because, you know, it’s not the «lesser» babka, two everything bagels (because we *needed* to try both for our «research»).
Conclusion: delicious breakfast and highly impressed. I may or may not have done a happy dance after I finished my bialy. We were stuffed after eating our sandwiches. The bialy? perfect sourdough-​onion goodness. The babka: moist, light, chocolaty layers… and, surprisingly, it kept for several days. Bagels were slightly crisp on the outside and had a chewy, yet soft inside AND, they were not GIANT bagels, but the perfect size. Now that we’ve tried Wise Sons, this will be a hard addiction to break. We’re weak, so, this won’t be a problem.
It’s the best, Jerry, the best!

After seeing Wise Son’s on check please, my boyfriend wanted to try it out. We arrived right before noon and the small place was starting to get busy. We got a Reuben Sandwich with potatoe salad and Pastrami cheese fries. With the bill coming out to be just under $ 27, which I thought was pricey, we were glad we stuck to tap water.
Despite that, I thought the potatoe salad (or choice of Cole slaw) complimented the Reuben sandwich. The potatoe salad helped calm the saltiness of the Reuben sandwich. Though I liked how thin the pastrami was cut. Initially I was really enjoying how crispy the pastrami cheese fries were (well done) but I have to admit, I did get slightly annoyed at how much effort it was taking to bite into it. If I had to choose, I enjoyed the Reuben sandwich
Overall, I thought the food was good but I didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary.

I was watching Check, Please and saw the episode about this place. I wanted to try.
Come early or be prepared to wait.
Food: I knew the kids weren’t that hungry so I ordered mainly for the two Adults. Got the pastrami reuben with fries (extra charge for substituting rather than having potato salad) and the pastrami fries with the works (extra, of course) such as pickles and fried egg. And one cream soda. That was $ 33. I later ordered two potato latkes which was $ 4 each.
The latkes tasted authentic but wondered if it would have been more crispy because it wasn’t hot when it arrived. Small serving of apple sauce (looks homemade) and sour cream, had to portion that out.
When it arrived, it certainly didn’t look like it did on tv. I don’t care for how thin the pastrami was cut. It’s too thin. I really didn’t get a feel for the pastrami texture that I normally have at a deli (around ¼″ thickness). I also think slicing it this thin made it dry. I only needed ¼ of the whole sandwich because, quite honestly, I didn’t think it was worth the hype.
The pastrami fries were good. The gravy/​sauce was a bechamel sauce. Fries were nice and hot and the kids ate all of those.
Service: Luckily I got there right before 12. I was expecting one more adult and three kids and wanted to snag a table but they said that I needed to order first. Not really family friendly from the start. There is only person that you can order from and expect to wait. At the time, they were training someone at the cash register. I think it’s really poor judgement on management to do that during the lunch rush. Before and after would have been a better choice for themselves and shown consideration to their customers who are on a tight schedule.
Ambiance: It’s tiny and packed.

OH MAHHH GOSH!!!
Let me tell you about their French toast! WOW!!!
So, I was in town visiting my brothers. I usually stay with my brother M, since he resides in the mission! What better place for food!
We decided to grab «brunch» on a Sunday late morning.
We ordered the corned beef hash and an half order of the French toast.
We sat outside, since inside was full of patrons. Luckily, we found a spot in the shade (since it was already 80s at 1130am, which is abnormal for the bay)
They brought out our food. The entrees both looked amazing!
The French toast is the BEST I’ve ever had in my life! It melts in your mouth!
The butter had orange zest mixed in. We topped our French toast with strawberries.
The corned beef hash came with an sunny side up egg on top and mixed with home style fries. Perfect mixture of tastes.
I was extremely delighted with the brunch we shared. Another bonding experience with my eldest brother.
Thanks for an amazing morning and meal!

I wasn’t that impressed with Wise Sons $ 18 for a Corned Beef Rueben and an Iced Tea is just too much. The skimpy Kraut on my sandwich had me feeling like I should’ve opted for a Burrito and $ 10 bill in my pocket.
Oh that guy that made Facebook was there…

This place makes the BEST reuben sandwich I’ve ever had. I’m not sure what was in the sauce, but I think that brought the whole sandwich together. I was in a rush, so was pleasantly surprised when the server was efficient and the food came out quickly.
The only downside is the cost. I have a hard time paying $ 14.50 for a not-​so-​large sandwich. Yet, it is San Francisco… So what do you expect?

When a $ 16.40 sandwich seems normal, you know you are on your way to becoming a San Franciscan. (I say on my way because I know the angst that some true SF locals have against gentrification; before anyone throws rotten tomatoes, let me state a disclaimer that I do not live in Downtown nor work for a tech start-​up.)
As a quasi-​vegetarian I was drawn to the smoked trumpet mushroom Reuben, but seeing that there wasn’t much Unilocal rave about it and that Wise Sons boasts about their house-​made pastrami, I stuck with the classic Reuben: pastrami griddled with sauerkraut, Swiss & Russian on rye. Mmm, perfection. The housemade pastrami definitely stood out, with its intensely smokey and almost ham-​like flavors that reminded me very much of Schwartz’s famous smoked meat sandwiches in Montréal. The fresh rye bread was distinctive as well, though I personally prefer dark rye. As a whole, the Reuben was a delightful sandwich. The heaping piles of pastrami may be disproportionate in strictly conventional sandwich terms, but were good for highlighting the deli’s specialty. This was further accented by the touch of sauce, sauerkraut, and cheese which added nice overtones of sour, pickled, savory flavors as well as crunchy, soft, wet textures. Flavor and texture explosion!
Friend got the Number 19 and was happy; it also came out way more quickly than mine since it’s a cold sandwich.
This bring us to the elephant in the room: is it worth paying over $ 15 for a sandwich? (plus pickles and a side of green or potato salad) If you are a foodie with your mind set on trying all of SF’s delicacies, yes. If you don’t care much for SF specialties and house-​made pastrami, I think two meals of super burritos would be a better use of $ 16.
I guess $ 16 sammiches are just an extrapolation of the oft-​cited $ 4 toast irony… oh SF. Such is my love-​hate-​but-​really-​love relationship with this city.

Disappointing. For some reason, I was expecting a much better sandwich. Maybe I should’ve ordered something different.
I got the CORNED BEEF with cheddar and pickles on rye. For $ 13.50, I was definitely expecting a pretty sizable sandwich, but it was honestly a really sad portion size. And there was nothing particularly special about it to justify that price. It was literally just bread, some meat, two slices of cheese and some pickles. The corned beef was incredibly salty and the rye was too chewy around the crusts.
I’ve also tried the SMOKED TROUT SALAD ($ 11.75). The tuna’s pretty creamy and rich and on the salty side. Honestly not super special either.
Apparently some of their other food is on 7×7’s lists of things to eat, but I’m not sure I’m convinced to come back to try them.

My friend and I actually stumbled across Wise Sons whilst walking through the Mission district. She recognized the name as a must-​try on an SF foodie list, so we perused the menu and promptly decided to eat breakfast here.
We shared the open-​face lox sandwich for $ 12.75. It comes with thinly sliced red onions, and organic cream cheese (can’t taste the difference, but cool). Interestingly, it comes on bialy, rather than the sour dough or bagels I am used to. According to wiki, it is baked rather than boiled before baking, and has a depression in the middle rather than a hole. Then, the depression is filled with ingredients such as diced onions, garlic, poppy seeds, etc. Compared to a bagel, the texture of bialy is softer and sinks as you take each bite. It kind of reminds me of communion bread, but thicker and moister. A very interesting combo that was strange at first, but grew on me with each successive bite. Would definitely order the lox again.
Downside: The lox does not count as a sandwich, and is therefore not eligible for the stamp card. To me, this is preposterous and a weird technicality because the price point for the lox is higher than anything from the sandwich list. Just saying.

Loved the special with the half-​sandwich, matzo ball soup, and side.
Pastrami on rye was perfection.
I liked the matzo ball soup but I had to add salt.
I wish the choices for free sides weren’t just coleslaw or potato salad. Not a fan of either but not willing to pay extra to sub something else. I ended up eating my friend’s roasted potatoes from his sandwich order. They make amazing potatoes here – super crispy!
Service was great! Came for dinner on a weeknight around 615 and there were plenty of empty tables. Nice that they added the dinner service.

I always love an excuse to come to this part of the Mission and eat at Wise Sons. There was no wait at around 6:30pm on a Thursday night. The service and food were great like always.
THE COST:
SPECIALTIES & NOSHES
* Potato Latke (w/​sour cream & house apple sauce. $ 4) — 3.5 stars
pic:
Nice and crispy, though a tiny bit on the dry side. Always a good side. In retrospect I wish we’d put salmon on it — didn’t realize that was an option on the menu.
SPECIAL
* Braised Brisket ($ 18) — 3.5 stars
pic:
The meat’s really soaked flavor, and the mashed potatoes were creamy. I did think the meat was a little tough and the sauce was a little salty. It also didn’t seem like too much food.
SIGNATURE SANDWICHES
* Club Sandwich (smoked turkey, crispy pastrami, avocado, red onions, iceberg & horseradish mayo on toasted challah, w/​fries. $ 13, sub a salad for add’l $ 1.50) — 4 stars
pic:
For something so simple and plain (my stomach was having issues so I couldn’t get anything too oily), this was surprisingly good! The toasted challah bread was fantastic — it had a nice sharp crisp, and though it was thin, it held the sandwich together well. In fact, I liked that it was pretty thin because otherwise it would’ve been a huge sandwich. The mustard was super sharp, which I loved. The turkey was great — the texture seemed really fresh. And in my mind the crispy pastrami was bacon so this was like eating a BLT.

My friend lives very near to Wise Sons and when she mentioned it was one of her favorites I said let’s try it. On this particular day I was feeling Matzo Ball soup. I had the matzo ball soup and it was just what the doctor ordered on a cold day in San Francisco. The matzo ball was huge and the soup was quite tasty. There are little bits of chicken in the broth and a few vegetable pieces also.
I live on the other side of the city where there are no Jewish delis, and I would come here for another bowl of matzo ball soup, even if it was out of my way.
I can’t judge the customer service because she picked this up to go, but if I had to guess I would say they are very friendly because she comes here quite often.
If you’re feeling like soup on a cold day, head on over here and get yourself a big bowl of matzo ball soup.

It has taken me three visits to Wise Sons to try all of the items I wanted to sample, but it is finally done. One reason for this is that this place makes the 7×7 list every year and each time it is for something different. From what I can tell, this is the most well known jewish/​new york deli in the city.
Sandwich — I have tried the pastrami by itself, but I think the better option here is to get both pastrami and corned beef in the same sandwich. Both are good, with a moderate amount of thick cut slices. It is served on some rather bland rye bread with cold slices of cheese. I’ve never been to the famed New York delis, but I imagine this is trying to emulate this style and I can only assume that there are improvements to be made. Certainly a more quality bread and maybe even melting the cheese on the meat would help.
Pastrami fries — This was quite good, with the cheesy sauce and pastrami shavings smothering a crispy batch of fries. Good, but not great.
Matzo ball soup — I feel like my jewish grandmother would be upset hearing me say this, but this soup is so not impressive at all. It is basically chicken noodle soup with some doughy bread floating in the middle. There are a number of things on the menu that I can understand making the 7×7 list, but this is definitely not one of them.
Babka — I took home both the chocolate and cinnamon versions to share and I have to say that the cinnamon one was far and away better than the chocolate one. The chocolate version was just way too dense while the cinnamon one was light and flaked apart nicely with a well balanced crumble on top.
Overall, I liked Wise Sons a lot. I don’t think anything they do is the best around but there are a lot of quality items on their menu. I am ok with the sandwich making the top 100 list, I am not ok with the soup getting anywhere close to it and I wish they would swap out the cinnamon babka with the chocolate one. Regardless, Wise Sons is «A-​OK.»