Quincy's and Max's Opera Cafe

The two restaurants featured this week were hand picked by my 2 bosses Larry (Quincy's) and Ron (Max's). Both of them are fans of the pastrami blog and I was happy to oblige their choices by sampling their favorite pastrami sandwiches.The Bay Bridge Closed on Thursday and it's been really quiet and sunny of in the City. It's made for the perfect opportunity to get out there and get some sun. With less people in the city, parking has been easy and it's made getting the pastrami sandwiches that much more enjoyable.

Quincy's is located on Market Street next to the Roaster's Chicken between 10th and 11th. It's a small hole in the wall that only sells sandwiches at lunch time...nothing else.


I left the office around 1 PM on Friday afternoon after preparing drawings for Ron to get my sandwich from Quincy's. I took my car since the parking lot was empty and like I said, parking was readily available. I parked at the corner of 9th and market, on the left side of the street and proceeded down Market a block to the spot. I started taking pictures and they kinda looked at me funny for coming in like a weird reporter or something. I guess that's to be expected.


This was my second time at the spot and my first time I got a pastrami on marble rye. This time they were out of marble rye, but still had some decent regular rye bread. If you can get it with the marble, I suggest that...it's a little better. Anyways for a pastrami sandwich on rye with Swiss cheese, tomatoes and mayo + a small plum it was about $5.25. That's quite a value! I really like the pastrami at this place, they keep it steaming in a crock pot and serve it straight out of the crock pot onto your bread...which keeps the pastrami juicy and tasty. The sandwich could be a little larger, but I think for the price it's one of the best value legitimate pastrami sandwiches out there. Enjoy the pictures of this beautiful sandwich.

The guy at the counter of Quincy's is a little cold, perhaps I can make a knock knock joke next time and break him down a bit. I told him I liked his pastrami and he just said "75 cents" and handed me my change back. Normally people say thank you and are willing to chat it up a bit. I felt like I had to keep the line moving and keep out of his business...he just wants to sell sandwiches, which is cool with me. A great lunch spot on Market Street!

I went to Max's on Saturday afternoon and I got a parking spot right in front on Golden Gate facing Van Ness Ave. I was already in a great mood and then I was surprised by pastrami perfection.


I got a seat for one as this was a solo mission, when the waitress came over I told her "I'm here for the pastrami." I looked at the menu and their was a page for pastrami lovers....god I love this place. It had suggestions of different ways to get your pastrami all authentic and good like the Reuben or with hot mustard. I know how I like my pastrami though and I just said it. "I'd like a pastrami sandwich with tomatoes and coleslaw. Do you guys have Russian dressing?" she replied that she would put some on the side for me and tomatoes would be added. If you make my pastrami like that, I'll love you long time.


The finished product did not disappoint and it was the best pastrami sandwich I had.....in a week cause I went to Miller's last Thursday. But still this is a superior authentic pastrami. My only small tiny gripe was the rye bread fell apart very easily...you can see in my picture the bread is already falling apart when it's served to me and at the end I pretty much had to use a fork....oh well it was still the BOMB!


The pastrami at Max's bumped down Moishe's Pippic to 3rd on my list and took away the position of 2nd best pastrami sandwich in the city of San Francisco...I'm still giving the slight edge to Miller's East on Polk Street, but I think next time at Max's I may ask them to grill the bread on the pastrami then I think it might be an all out battle which I had would have to taste them right next to each other to really tell the difference. Props to the man who can not eat meat anymore (Ron) for suggesting to me one of the best pastrami sandwiches in SF. The price tag was about 20$ with the opera tax, but it was well worth it, because of the size and quality.


On top of the pastrami sandwich this place is pretty good too. They have cheeseburgers, salads, and great desserts. I remember when they had a place in Palm Desert, CA (No, they did! A long time ago.http://findarticles.co...) I shared the gigantic eclair with my buddy and when we got to the car our stomachs were both bursting...but it was worth it. They have macaroons the size of your fist...literally!

I hope you enjoy the blog and good luck to people in the East Bay getting to the city tomorrow. I would suggest driving to West Oakland and paying the parking piper 5$ in the Privately owned lot...you can't park at the BART parking lot in the East Bay before 10 AM without a permit, which totally screws commuters. I wonder how many people are gonna get tickets because of that tomorrow? Thanks BART!

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