Tommy's Joynt — Restaurant in San Francisco

I had a tourist that was looking for a good place to get dinner on a friday night. He was by himself and he told me that everywhere he tried to go required reservations and asked me if i knew any places that he could go, preferably a steakhouse. This was super bowl weekend so i already knew the restaurants were full. I asked him if he liked hof braus. He told me that he wasn't familiar with hof braus, so i described Tommy's and told him that it was within 5m away. I showed him pics and videos of the place and he slightly smiled and told me to take him there. When we pulled up i told him to take a quick look inside and let me know if he wanted to stay or take him somewhere else. Between you and i, i already knew he was going to stay. You see i knew that he was gonna smell the food before he stepped in the door, and also see the meats being carved to order right at the counter, and then notice the line of people patiently waiting their turns to get one of those wonderful plates. After he peaked in he turned around to me with a smile and gave the thumbs up 👍 Came back tipped me well got my phone number and told me he would call me later..

You need to understand that Tommy's is one of my favorite restaurants in san francisco. Beef is my weakness. And they're in there carving brisket roast beef pastrami and corned beef. Sandwiches or plates. Mashed potatoes vegetables stuffing beans and/or salads. Whatever your flavor. Turkey right off the bird or smothered wings over rice. However you want it its gonna be good and hit you right in that spot. They got buffalo chili spaghetti and meatballs and occasional specials too! For those that like to indulge they have over 100 beers in the selection and that's no typo. Been coming here for years and have yet to leave disappointed. For about $25 i know that i can leave from here full and happy. And that's what its all about. Its also why i never hesitate to bring people here when they're in the area and open to suggestions.

When my man finally called me later he was about 2 mi away down van ness and finally ready to go back to his hotel room. When i picked him up he told me he would've called me earlier but felt like he needed to walk off the dinner he had and decided to just check out the neighborhood a lil bit. Asked him what he had and he told me the pastrami. Nuff said. I just nodded. Took him back to his hotel and he thanked me and tipped me well again. He also asked if i was working tomorrow night lol he wanted me to show him...

Tommy's Joynt has been our go to place for Deli dinner and Beer in San Francisco since 2011. On average we visit them once to twice a week. We love their atmosphere, their friendly staff and their succulent Deli meats right out of the kitchen. Our favourite dish is Pastrami with mash, Beef Brisket and Corn Beef with Cabbage. The portion is big and it comes with a sourdough roll and side salad of your choice. The place was lively and they serve abundant choices of draft beers. Their pitcher was a good price too. We always order two dinners and a pitcher of beer, then Irish coffee to finish the night. Their staff looks happy and they have lots of regulars including us. We would sit and chat with the bartenders or even other patrons for a few hours. We haven't visit for two years because it was closed during the Pandemic and we seldom visit the city anymore. Feeling nostalgic we went back to visit our favourite bartender and have our Pastrami dinner. The place was eerily quiet. The busy kitchen seem to be closed down which doesn't bode well. They have way less staff than before and they don't look like their happy old self. The deli counter looks bare compared to what we were used to, which used to contain mountains of piping hot juicy meat. We ordered our favourite Pastrami dinner and was very disheartened. First of all the dish was served on paper plate! The meat taste different, it is dry, mushy and grainy. The texture and taste is so much inferior from what we were used to for the last 12 years. It is stale and old. I couldn't even finish mine. We learn that instead of cooked inhouse, they order their meat from a supplier now supposing to save cost. On top of that the abundant choices of draft beef was reduced to a few. And they don't sell pitches of beer anymore. Even before the Pandemic we learn that Tommy's Joynt was sold and has changed hands. It is very sad to see such an old famous establishment gone completely in the toilet. I hope the new owner read this and would try to return this gemstone to it's previous glory. Sometimes it's not all about cost. When you cut cost to the bones, your customer will notice and they will go away and never come back. Good quality and value gives you good reputation and sales will grow. Good luck but we're not...

I found Tommy’s Joynt on Yelp when searching for places that were open around 10 pm in the Nob hill area. It had a solid 4 stars rating with over 2500 reviews so I thought it must be pretty good so I decided to give it a try. Upon reaching the place I felt that the place was showing its age and needed a facelift. The setup seemed to be like a hofbrau or cafeteria style where you start at one end get what you want and pay at the other end. My experience with hofbrau’s has not been too good with the one in Redwood City being almost repulsive and the one in San Mateo being slightly better.

Anyway, as it was pretty late I decided to push ahead and got the Pastrami dinner plate ($13.43) which comes with a choice of mashed potatoes or vegetables and beans or salad, bread and butter. I went with the mashed potatoes and beans as my options paid in cash and was on my way.

I got a big container with the meat and sides. The mashed potatoes had a weird smell that prevented me from eating more than a couple of bites. The beans felt that they had been sitting for a long time but were edible unlike the mashed potatoes. The pastrami was decent but it was a little too lean and lacked the thick bark that adds to its overall flavor. Overall this was just about passable.

Pricewise it was not too high considering that it was open late and the amount of food that was provided, even though most of it was average. A couple of days ago I had the pastrami sandwich from the Deli Board in SoMo and found the meat to die for so maybe my frame of reference was just off (those sandwiches are touching $20 so they are significantly more expensive when compared to this place). Tommy’s is not bad for a late-night meal. What you will get will not blow your socks off but will get...