11 January 2005
474 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA

Jonathan
Atmosphere: Dark, dismal. I immediately loved it. Round counter = good. Wood paneling = even better.
Attitude: Depressed, minimal eye contact. nothing really there. Would have preferred a cutting insult about my mother or my face.
Food [general]: Egg salad sandwich good, but not great. small portions. Excellent fries. cole slaw entirely too mushy. Potato salad some kind of nouveau dill crap.
Pickles: Good to fair. Good because it’s the best pickle I’ve had north of LA. Fair because it can’t hold a candle to Canter’s little guys.
Dr. Brown’s black cherry: Check.
Prices: $9.95 for that?
Summary: Don’t think I’ll ever go back… and it’s still miles above Saul’s.

Elliot
Atmosphere: Feels old, which is nice. feels a little less authentic because it’s attached to a hotel, but that’s not a huge detraction. What feels weirdest is that there are dining rooms that are seemingly “off-limits.” There are elements of the overall ambiance that made me feel like David’s is indifferent as to whether or not they have customers. The lighting is bad. The bar, however, is a round island in the middle of the main room, and is very charming.
Attitude: Poor, but uninspiringly so. when i asked our waitress for extra pickles she provided two pickles for the three of us.
Food [general]: Pastrami is decent. it would do in a pastrami emergency, but it’s a bit greasy. They ship it in from Chicago.
Pickles: Not sour enough for my tastes, and a little soft.
Prices: Incongruous. The food isn’t good enough to justify the price tag. $50 for three people? There are places that can pull that off – David’s is not one of them.
Summary: Eh. Better than many other sandwich options around Union Square, and I imagine I’ll end up at David’s again, every so often, for that reason only. As a genre deli, it’s not awesome.