When Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen debuted in the Mission back in 2011, first as a pop-up and then a standalone restaurant, it was as an upstart — part of a new wave of delis on both coasts where a younger generation of Jewish Americans embraced old traditions like smoking whitefish, slow-brining pickles, and hand-carving pastrami.
Now, nearly a decade later, Wise Sons is opening its newest location, a counter-service spot at 1700 Franklin Street in downtown Oakland, from a bit of a different position: It’s an established powerhouse in the Bay Area Jewish food scene, with a half-dozen shops spread across San Francisco and as far away as Tokyo — especially after the company’s acquisition of Oakland’s Beauty’s Bagel Shop a month ago.
That’s not to say that the debut of the new downtown Oakland Wise Sons, a former Beauty’s location that quietly opened for takeout this past Sunday without any formal announcement, comes without its own share of excitement: The restaurant is the company’s first East Bay location and comes equipped with a full kitchen, unlike Wise Sons’ bagel shops. That means a whole new customer base will now have easy access to the company’s much-vaunted pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, matzoh ball soup, and other Jewish deli standards — plus a handful of Beauty’s favorites and brand new dishes like a smash burger and a kimchi Reuben.
“We just threw the open sign on to try to get everyone trained before we get too busy,” co-owner Evan Bloom tells Eater SF.
Bloom describes the new downtown Oakland location’s menu as a composite of greatest hits from all of the different Wise Sons restaurants: the original Mission District delicatessen; the standalone bagel shops; and the brand’s newest acquisition, Beauty’s, whose original Temescal location will keep its name and remain largely unchanged.
Again, the East Bay hasn’t ever had a Wise Sons, so even the restaurant’s most venerable staples will be new to some customers: the hot pastrami and corned beef sliced to order for sandwiches on Wise Sons’ house-baked rye bread, the pastrami breakfast burrito, and the challah French toast. There’s a full lineup of bagels that are boiled and baked in Oakland at Beauty’s — an adaptation of the original Beauty’s recipe that’s still getting tweaked, Bloom says, to work in a non-wood-burning oven. Also taken from the Beauty’s menu: its popular mushroom, egg, cheese, and spinach breakfast sandwich; its fried chicken bagel sandwich; and its cult-favorite chocolate chip cookies.
Among the splashy new items is Wise Sons’ take on the thin, crisp-edged smash-style burgers, which Bloom acknowledges have been trending for a while now — “but they’re also just really delicious,” he says. Available only at the Oakland shop, the Wise Sons’ version features two crispy patties, melted cheese, pickles, and pastrami jam — a tangy-sweet condiment similar to bacon jam, made by slowly cooking down the end pieces of pastrami with plenty of onions, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar.
The other headliner is the shop’s new kimchi Reuben, which replaces the Jewish deli standard’s sauerkraut with kimchi (a version made without oysters or other shellfish to keep it kosher-friendly, Bloom says) and replaces the Swiss cheese with American — a classic Korean-American touch. Bloom says the sandwich is an homage to his own family, as his wife is Korean American, and kimchi is a regular part of the meals they enjoy at home.
For now, the restaurant is only open for takeout, but Bloom says he loves the space itself, with its lovely exposed brick and a layout that’s especially conducive for to-go business. They essentially didn’t change a thing; they’ll switch out the old Beauty’s sign, of course, but for now, even that’s still up. Because of that, a lot of people passing by might not even realize that there’s been a change, Bloom says — though “a lot of people in the neighborhood are curious.”
Wise Sons Downtown Oakland is currently open for breakfast and lunch only, Monday through Friday 7 a.m.–2 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m.–2 p.m. Walk up, call ahead at 510-947-5842, or order via DoorDash or Caviar. Online ordering will be available soon. See the full opening menu below: