The Refuge — Restaurant in San Carlos

Eh.. I really hate to be the one outlyer when it comes to this place, but I am really not impressed. Despite all the glowing reviews boldly proclaiming this as "the best pastrami sandwich ever" I would have to humbly disagree. As I don't think their pastrami even cracks my top ten list.

Arrived here for dinner after spending the afternoon at nearby Filoli with a bunch of my family. For some reason my dad had a craving for buffalo wings ($9) so we got those as an app, and I must say they were quite good. Crispy, spicy and freshly-fried they were the one highlight of the meal here.

For our entrées everyone else ordered various things, but I got their infamous Reuben ($18.95) and my Chula got the Mole Burger ($16.50) w/ the Goofy Fries upgrade ($6). It should be noted that, despite the hefty price tag, the Reuben does not come with any fries as an accompaniment.

First up we'll start with the Reuben, and from all appearances it's done properly. Swiss cheese? Check. Sauerkraut? Check. Grilled Rye and Russian dressing? Double check. So while all the ingredients are there the taste just doesn't translate. The meat has no real flavor other than salt and beef. No smoke, no spices―and worst of all no fat?! I found their pastrami to be quite lean and insipid. I've had better pastrami out of my butcher's deli case. Sorry. Just my opinion.

The Mole burger was definitely a bit more interesting, as far as taste goes. Their fresh-ground beef patty is smothered in a peanuty Mole, bacon, pickles, jalapeños, cilantro and cheddar. All together it kinda worked and had a pleasant taste, but not one I'm craving the next day, or as I'm writing this. However, I did enjoy the cheesy goofy fry upgrade. The cheese had an almost Cheez Whiz®-like consistency, but a nice aged cheddar taste. The concomitant pastrami that accompanied it was kinda lost in the muck, but that wasn't a surprise.

This was my second time visiting The Refuge, and I wasn't very impressed on my original visit either, but figured maybe it was a fluke. But as the saying goes: fool me once...

In summation sky-high prices, sub-par food and lackluster service gives this plass a hard pass from...

Email to The Refuge-- Change in lunch/dinner hours, and losing a pair of customers...

Hi,

I understand why you're no longer open from 2:30pm until 5:00pm in San Carlos, but just wanted to let you know that my buddy and I have a standing meeting late in the week once every 3 weeks outdoors at 3pm at your restaurant.

We've been doing this for at least 5 years. We meet at your restaurant/pub because my buddy lives in SF and I live in the South Bay. And you've got good pastramis.

We specifically eat there, outdoors, and at that time, to avoid crowds. We both get a pastrami and side of liver. I usually get an order or two of garlic fries, and I get a soda and my buddy gets a beer or two or three.

We've both noticed how the size of the pastrami sandwiches has slowly shrunk (we understand costs and all that) over the years. And that we've most recently been paying more for less, but we had accepted paying $75 or $85 plus for our afternoon meal so we could hang out and catch up without the bustle and noise of crowds.

But, I recently received an email update from you letting me know that you will no longer be open during the times we had set for our get together. Well, just letting you know that we're now going to meet at a different venue. Maybe The Habit, Roam Artisan, Godfathers or the Grill House are all open at 3pm, and not too crowded. Looks like you made a choice, and we will find a new place to hang out going...

We love the Refuge, and we aren't even beer drinkers! Our go-to items are the pastrami sandwich (aka the Toasted Slaw #19) and the various Cheesesteaks (best I've found in the bay area, see below for detail). Someone there clearly cares about making great pastrami. We've had various other items from the menu (mac and cheese, and the pastrami chopped salad come to mind), and we've never been disappointed. The service is great, and they were always extremely kind to our dog, who was welcome on the patio.

As a native Philadelphian, I have to add some detail on the cheesesteaks. I don't know why it's so hard to get this right, but almost no one does. The Refuge mostly does, and as far as I'm concerned, nails the most important bits. The roll is a smaller version of what you'd expect to get in Philadelphia, and they get the meat right. In most ways, better than what I grew up with. Aside from size (they're plenty big, just not as huge as what I grew up with), the only authenticity issue is that the sandwiches are just a little fancier than what you'd find in Philadelphia. But not at all in a bad way -- it still feels like a cheesesteak, and they're terrific sandwiches, they just happen to be variants that don't turn up at your average pizza place in Philadelphia. My wife (also from Phila) favors the "Wit," which is actually pretty close to something you could get back home. I prefer the french onion dip, which is a...