Peninsula pastrami in January?

posted December 1, 2016 9:10 PM

Last week's Reuben thread gave me some ideas.

How about we get together at the Refuge sometime after the holiday vortex subsides? Admittedly, the vegetarian offerings are scant, but they aren't nonexistent, and maybe some of the advocates from the thread can be coaxed out to a meetup.

(Not to supersede the usual ice cream or anything. We can still totally do Burmese/Rick's too.)

posted by tangerine to Proposed (12 comments total)

I don't work super far from San Carlos, so depending on the timing, I may make it! (But if we get into mid January things start to get crazy again)
posted by aubilenon at 12:15 AM on December 2, 2016

Fellow vegetarian here who mostly goes for the company and not the food will be gone from December 13 to January 9th on a trip to New Zealand, then Christmas with the family, and then on a 10 day mediation retreat. Definitely feel free to meet without me and have oodles of fun!
posted by Mr. Papagiorgio at 8:29 AM on December 2, 2016

I work in the South Bay now but can make it on a weekend day or if it's later in the evening on a weekend.
posted by Space Coyote at 8:45 AM on December 2, 2016

D'oh! My recent move to downtown SJ (and increased commute) have reawakened my inner hermit. Sorry, I have to bow out of this one.
posted by invisible ink at 9:05 PM on December 5, 2016

Hi! I'd like to hang out IRL on a weekend in the daytime. I'm in Union City. Is that a reasonable distance? (New to the Bay Area, not sure where everything is yet) I'll tick "yes" for now :)
posted by kayray at 9:07 PM on December 7, 2016

Over the Dumbarton + 20min, depending on traffic. If you're taking public transpo, it might have to be a weekday. It looks like the Dumbarton Express goes from Union City BART along Decoto to Palo Alto CalTrain and Stanford. Transfer to the northbound ECR at the train station. For weekend travel it looks worse like you basically have to go from Fremont BART through San Jose.
posted by rhizome at 9:42 PM on December 7, 2016

So, I love the Refuge with an unholy passion. Their pastrami is amazing and their chopped liver is the best I've found on this coast. Also, the beer menu and dessert menu will actually kill you in very pleasant ways.

But they are always paaaaaaaaaacked, and they Do Not Accept Reservations. So this may be a thing that is difficult to accomplish.
posted by hanov3r at 3:59 PM on December 8, 2016

the one in menlo park doesn't seem to get as busy, and is a slightly larger location, if that's a better idea for people.
posted by koroshiya at 12:57 PM on December 12, 2016

I work in Foster City and have been to The Refuge San Carlos a few times--I am always interested in both beer and pastrami. The key to combatting the packedness is to show up when they open (5pm on weekdays).
posted by Kafkaesque at 3:05 PM on December 13, 2016

5pm on a weekday could get us into the original Refuge, but wouldn't work for kayray. And they aren't open on Saturday afternoons.

BUT! On koroshiya's advice I checked the Menlo Park location, and they are open from noon through 10pm on Saturday. Is there a Saturday in January that would work for people? I'm not sure I can do the 7th, but any of the others would work for me.
posted by tangerine at 11:10 PM on December 15, 2016

28th looks open for me.
posted by koroshiya at 5:19 PM on December 28, 2016

is anyone still up for this on the 28th?
posted by koroshiya at 12:28 PM on January 17, 2017