Deli Board Expands With Mid-Market Spinoff Called The Board

Popular SoMa sandwich shop Deli Board is expanding its reach with a new location called The Board, giving owner/mastermind Adam Mesnick more room for his meaty creations. The Board will open at 1077 Mission (between 7th and 6th), the former home of short-lived Mexican restaurant Fenix. There, Mesnick will provide a light remodel — “the space is basically turnkey,” he says — before opening in January.

The Board will be a physical manifestation of Deli Board’s daily online specials listing, offering a menu of rotating soups and sandwiches like the “board cheesesteak” (onion, white American cheese, Board sauce, and cherry peppers on an amoroso roll for $14) and the “a.sobel” (Romanian pastrami, kosher salami, turkey, white American cheese, muenster, cherry peppers, and thousand island dressing on a French roll for $17).

Deli Board’s menu has been in constant flux, with about 200 sandwich permutations offered over the last eight years. For the flurry of diverse influences from Jewish to Italian, Mesnick cites his native Cleveland. But by now, “Deli Board sandwiches have kind of matured,” and “there’s not much I can do except upset people [with changes],” Mesnick says.

Going forward, Deli Board will solidify its menu, while The Board will maintain an experimental style. Mesnick hopes to provide faster service and a lower price point at the new location: As he’s often reminded, Deli Board sandwiches are pricy, but hey, they’re humongous, and a good deal cheaper than other options on the the Eater 38, on which Deli Board holds a spot. At The Board, customers can expect “a Chicago style hot dog off a flat grill for 6 bucks, or a cheesesteak or a brioche breakfast sandwich with sausage egg and cheese for $11,” says Mesnick.

The Board’s three-year lease on 1077 Mission is longer than the lifetime of Fenix, which shuttered after just a year in business there amid a rash of similar closures. Mesnick wasn’t immune to those changes. Last October, he closed Rye Project, a previous Deli Board expansion which served as his hoagie-focused 1058 Hoagie before that, though he made it to the end of his five-year lease before choosing not to renew.

There could be more changes ahead for Deli Board. While there are years left on its 1058 Folsom Street lease, documents show developers seeking authorization from the Planning Department to demolish the building that houses it. But solidifying his menu and expanding puts Deli Board in a position for more growth, Mesnick hopes.

“The meat and bread combination we’ve got is really something special,” he says. “I can say I’m an ordinary guy who created an amazing product.”

• Deli Board [Official]
• Fenix Returns to the Ashes After a Quiet May Closure [ESF]