Wise Sons

Wise Sons Deli Confronts Rumors That People Eat There

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Wise Sons Deli has been long famous for their building-wrapping lines and also their challah French toast.  But it turns out their reputation for long waits and slow service has been detrimental, so they took to the Chronicle to clear up their linephobic would-be customer's misconceptions:

When Wise Sons opened last year, the place pretty much had a permanent line. And like many restaurant openings, things got smoothed out over time, but it’s hard to shake those first impressions and stigmas.

“One of the biggest misconceptions: People say, ‘you’re always busy, there’s always a line, I can never get in.’ It’s not true anymore,” says [owner Evan Bloom]. “There’s a line at times. But how do you let people know that they can come in for breakfast? And that the restaurant is not as crazy as it was the first six months — and the food comes out fast. We continue to grow as a restaurant and as first time restaurant owners…”

According to Wise Sons' Leo Beckerman, their interview with the Chronicle was conducted while Beckerman was “plunging the toilet,” which, honestly, is one of the most beautiful statements about the level of respect the Chronicle commands these days.

Anyway, feel free to read on if you find yourself plopped down on the toilet and hunting for something to look over.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Wise Sons Jewish Deli: Not Kosher, But Most Definitely Hipster

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Kosher Jews (or, if you are familiar with the comedic stylings of Larry David, Woody Allen, or Lower East Side grandmothers, “Good Jews”) are bummed—bummed!—that the premiere Jewish deli in the Mission is not kosher, as the taker of the above photo observed, “fffuuuucccckkkkkk bacon this sucks.”, nevermind, we're idiots (and, in my case, vegetarian, so please excuse my bacon-pastrami-prosciutto-italllooksthesametome ignorance).

A few weeks back, Grub Street also got curious about the lack of kosher certification and spoke to the owners of Wise Sons to get their thoughts on the matter:

[While] we know that keeping kosher hasn't been important for some of the biggest, most long-running Jewish delis in the country (Katz's, Canter's, Langer's), we thought we'd ask co-owner Evan Bloom for this thoughts on the issue. “For us Jewish Deli has always been a cultural eating experience,” he says. “Judaism and kashrut [Jewish dietary laws] are not intrinsically linked though we do choose not to serve shellfish and pork.”

Uh, isn't bacon pork? (We're still idiots). Well, no matter.  In the Grub Street mini-interview, Evan goes on to explain that their meat is more “ethically raised” than the kosher equivalent at the same price-point, so they opted for the animal-welfare over certified kosher.

Anyway, should you find yourself born a goy, or just unconcerned with 'keeping kosh', might I recommend trying their challah french toast?  It'll change your life, and by change your life, I mean you won't stop eating it until you balloon 20 pounds and people cease finding you sexually attractive.

A worthy cause of obesity, if I do say so myself.

[Thanks Ben!]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen Opening Next Week!

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Yesterday, our pal Jenny snapped these two pics of the recently uncovered Wise Sons Deli storefront.  What we see here for the first time is all the boring stuff like counters and prep areas for sandwich making and what not.  But the good stuff is on it's way.  Oh yes.

Grub Street is saying they're opening next week (after a Thrillist-Groupon RSVP-only-style soft opening thingy this weekend) and, from the looks of it, will be dishing out some pretty incredible foodstuffs.  There's no menu up yet, but they've been taste-testing French toast recipes, making “deli burgers ground with pastrami on challah,” and let's not forget about that chocolate babka.  And while that all looks perfectly delicious, I'm personally looking forward to replacing my daily intake of liquids with vats of vegan matzo ball soup.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Former El Tonayense space to become a JEWISH DELI

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

I know we're all still mourning the loss of our dear friend/salsa bar El Tonayense, who was rudely evicted from their 24th n' Shotwell location after their relationship with their landlord went sour.  But, our loss also appears to be our gain because Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen is moving in.

For those of you who haven't spent a considerable amount of time on the east coast, Jewish deli's are home to bagels that actually taste like bagels, piles of lox, and, of course, cute Jewish boys and girls.  Wise Sons is no different: their menu is packed full of vegan and non-vegan matzo ball soup, latkes, pickles, and crazy sandos, among other staples.  And just look at their chocolate babka:

Cinnamon babka not available, with respect to Jerry Seinfeld.

Unfortunately we're going to have to wait until “early 2012” for them to finally open their doors/stuff our faces/tell us we don't visit often enough in exaggeratedly nasally voices, but that cake is worth the wait.

[h/t Inside Scoop | Second photo by Tablehopper]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: