i’ve never heard of this person before but man, that was a really rhetorically disingenuous review/rant.
i feel like part of the issue is that folks feel the shifting value proposition most acutely when we go out to eat. something that used to cost less, now costs more – and wages for most folks have not kept pace.
Prices have gone up all over, but not many pastrami (or any) sandwiches cost $30 or more. Langer’s, the gold standard, is $25.50. Daughter’s is $26.50.
I think it would have been a smarter business decision for Grigoryan to start with a price in that range and work backwards to portion it accordingly.
i don’t think that’s wrong.
and this isn’t richie gaines’ job either, but before we say anything about what a sandwich is worth, shouldn’t we pick up a sandwich from each place, peel off the beef, and weigh it? what are we getting for the money? langer’s may not have increased the price much, but has the quantity gone down?
@EattheWorldLA Simply outstanding 
I cannot like your post enough. Since I usually was required to talk to them before writing an article, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had chefs/restaurant owners sit (or stand) across from me and vent about their issues and problems.
Not vent at, or against, me, just venting about the restaurant business and their woes in general. And I get it. Their family and friends have heard it all before and are likely either sick of it, or tune it out. I just let them go, provide an empathic ear, and then they apologize for “going on a bit” and we get down to the interview. The stress is palpable. And almost all of these came before the Pandemic and all that’s happened since. I can only imagine how much worse it has gotten with toxic (anti)social media, “influencers” and rising costs.
Between this post of yours, and your mention about giving places a bit of time before writing about them, we are on the same page on our approaches
Neither had I, prior to the posts over the last few days.
This may not be a popular take, but I think someone saying “F-ck the traditional style” is actually potentially quite different from someone saying, “F-ck your traditions.”
And I do not think that randomly picking on businesses who, AFAIK, have nothing to do w/ any of this makes things any better (unless he had perhaps informed them ahead of time that he was going to do this).
I do not disagree at all w/ the idea that influencer culture (regardless of industry, TBH) is really destructive. But I also have to say that, 1.5d ago, I was kind of sad that I hadn’t had a chance to try this sandwich. But, I dunno, after seeing/reading more, I’m not really interested in trying the place at all now.
Edit: So part of the prob with me not being social-media savvy is that I hadn’t realized who was the influencer vs. who was the chef in the recent posts until, like, a minute ago, after re-reading some of the posts here.
::face palm::
Sorry, folks.
Argh.
At least I discovered that the strike function is working properly again… 
I thought so too but I think because English isn’t the guys first language it might have gotten misread and blew up the whole thing
Choice is good.
Okay, so is the general consensus that the sandwich is worth $30, if you spend like spending $30 on a pita/sandwich…???
I’ll be honest, it’s hard for me to ever imagine a $30 sandwich/pita feeling worth it. I can imagine them being great or even amazing, but worth it I’m not so sure.
I mean, a ~$30 burger is pretty accepted in the modern LA dining scene, why would a sandwich be any different?
& beef is just expensive. He isn’t making excessive profit on that sandwich, it looks like a good amount of meat.
it’s 38
It used to be 25~ when it was a pick up window. I think the economics of running a sit down restaurant screwed everything up. he should run the window exclusively for the sandwich at a lower price point to subsidize the sit down location.
$38 is 50% more than a Langer’s pastrami on rye. If there’s a more expensive sandwich in the LA metro area.it’s probably in Beverly Hills.
I wonder if he is pricing the sandwich to try to steer customers to other items on the menu instead that might otherwise get ignored. When I lived in New Orleans in the late 70s, Preservation Hall had a sign that read: “Traditional Requests $1. Other Requests $2. ‘The Saints’ $5.” I can’t recall a visit when there wasn’t at least one person willing to shell out the $5 to hear it,
Reducing this to “just a sandwich” is really doing it an injustice, and that framing is setting it up for failure from the start. It is not “just a sandwich” in the way that a sandwich from All About the Bread is, or even in the way that Bay Cities is. You aren’t stopping in here for a quick lunch (they aren’t even open for lunch!). The competition for this item is not a quick work lunch sandwich.
I have a feeling that if this were served as a plate of Australian wagyu basturma brisket with a side of homemade pita, homemade pickles, and homemade sauce, the discussion around it would be a lot different even though it would be the same ingredients and (marginally) less labor. If you are inclined to try this item, I’d encourage you to just think of it as any other dish you get at a restaurant rather than “just a sandwich.” There are tons of dishes I’ve had that are in the $30-$50 range in LA that are not all that complex or sophisticated, but they don’t get the same criticism because they are not “just a sandwich.”
The basturma brisket sandwich is easily worth it for me. It may be worth it for you, too, and it may not be. Either way is fine. But I think it is not fair to call it “just a sandwich” and dismiss it on that basis.
(FWIW, the Connie & Ted’s lobster roll was $39 as of the most recent menu I found online. A baco from Le Draq is $19 and probably half as large, at best, as Yerord Mas’ basturma brisket pita. A pound of brisket from both Moo’s and Bludso’s is well over $40. I don’t know if there’s a pound of meat in the Yerord Mas dish, but there is a lot and it’s Australian wagyu and includes homemade pita, sauce, and pickles.)
So this is a plated dish constructed into a sandwich? J/K.
I’ll see myself out…
FWIW, i want to eat this and all the other things on the menu
This place opens until 10PM. There is a chance in hell I might actually be able to make it out there one day in the not-too-distant future!
Is it an item that tends to run out (like, should I call ahead)?
