Gold Finch Modern Delicatessen — Restaurant in San Diego

So I know this place is in its first week, but given the founders group behind Goldfinch, I’d expect much better. As someone who grew up on LA Jewish deli food and has had a copious amount of it in NYC as well, I knew to not saddle Goldfinch with those expectations. Comparing this place to Greenblatts, Langers, or Katz’s is like asking if The Godfather is as good as Roadhouse. So let’s go.

First, the bald gentleman with the sleeve tattoos couldn’t have been less affable even if he tried. His reaction when I told him the chicken salad has bone/cartilage in it was pretty classic and memorable though: “I’ll let the chef know” with a half-forced-smile so painfully formed you would have thought the lead singer of Quiet Riot was coming to his house to take his teenage daughter out to prom. I get it, you have a Harley Davidson tattoo and you have to give off that 1% MC vibe, but cmon man…you’re at a posh deli on a La Jolla biotech campus.

Second, the egg salad was by far one of the worst things I’ve tasted in a very long time. You’d think it was the liquidity for me. But no, it was the very strange aftertaste that I couldn’t quite pinpoint, maybe a citrus, maybe some sort of very weird oil, but whatever it was, it made it godawful. And I looooove egg salad. I love egg salad more than I would love watching the lead singer of Quiet Riot take the aforementioned gentleman’s daughter to prom.

Third, the fried artichokes. Oh the fried artichokes. They weren’t hot. Heck, they weren’t even warm. They also weren’t even seasoned. (This is another issue with Goldfinch as a whole. I don’t like my food over seasoned or over salted, but I mean, I like maybe a couple grains of salt in my food. Give me something!). Next, they were mushy. And then, they were so small that you had no choice sometimes but to accidentally eat the leaves that clearly you shouldn’t because they were either undercooked or hard or inedible. Just bad.

I’ve already mentioned the chicken-cartilage-artichoke-salad. Pass.

The pate, surprisingly, wasn’t bad. Although I wanted chopped chicken liver if I had my druthers, this actually tasted like the CCL you would order from Katz’s.

My friend said his pastrami was fine. The side salad was….dun dun duuuunnnnn….bland.

I’d need to have people I trust go here and rave about it for me to...

I am going to be a bit pickey in this review because price, location and context matter. The ambiance of the location is hipster modern sterilized, the giant glass strut supported door was neat and evokes super high-end good truck vibes. The food... Oh boy the pretenses needed to truly appreciate it are Jewish deli, Jewish home cooking and Thomas Keller's French Laundry. Went with some folks and we had a good assortment of things. The corned beef hash wrap was a Jewish breakfast burrito, the flavor balance is there the over easy eggs well one was over hard and one was over medium. I know I'm picking nits but for the price and location I was disappointed. The schmaltz cooked potatoes were a fantastic touch, again however the ingredient distribution of the wrap made one side a 10 and the othe a 7. The half half Ruben was fantastic and was a classic Ruben in every way was the platonic ideal of a Ruben I would have liked a full pickle instead of a bread and butter but I am going to chalk that up to different grandmas. The schnitzel was a superb example of a classic Grandma pounded and fried in schmaltz chicken cutlet you can really see the amount of man hours that went into it. Now let's talk about the side salads these were phone it in its not like they expected anyone to really eat them it's arugula some gem lettuce a sliced in half cherry tomato and some very acidic balsamic vinegarette you got so close to perfect and then slapped that in the plate, like up the oil add some salt and pepper heck a sprinkle of bulk parmesan from a plastic bottle with a green cap and you would be hitting it out of the park. The one thing they are not exactly in control of the clientele if you are not a biotech bro wearing an outfit that cost more than one of the employees monthly salary you are going to feel a little out of place and expect the conversation around you to be some of the most filter bubbled conversations you have ever heard. TLDR it's in the edge of perfect in a weird location with an exclusive clientele and a great take on modern Jewish comfort food. And parking is San...

APRIL 2024 UPDATE Second visit--Convenient and ample free parking in the garage below with elevator access to the restaurant--clear directions abound making it an easy transition. Clean and modern, with attentive service, owner an active participant. Inside and outside table options (but under the MCAS Miramar flight path with occasional related distractions). I've travelled extensively and still don't care for the food (artsy-fartsy, bland). My more Continental friends loved it and guessed the menu to be "Mediterranean-like" with custom creations and alterations. Nice place, well laid out and expertly managed. "Jewish deli"-like, but modified to meet modern tastes. I didn't recognize many of the entrees and found my plate to be not to my liking but my other two companions raved about their fare and pledged to return. Portions were generous and fairly priced. Give it a try and decide...