Tommy's Joynt, Frisco CA 7.24.10

Pastrami Sandwich

Corned beef

The philosophy behind this sandwich and dinner plate place is simple, it's all about the meat.  Just to name a few turkey, brisket, corned beef, ham, turkey, pastrami, and roast beef are their specialties.  Did I get it all?  I feel like I missed one.  Surprisingly enough there's no chicken, but who cares, the others more than make up for it.  So the things I tried is first the pastrami sandwich.  Let me just say wow.  By the way, all the meats are cut up right in front of you on their table and there's no such thing as an industrial slicer, just good ole fashioned hand and knife.  The pastrami is sliced thick, as compared to the uniform thin slices most sandwich places will give you.  And let me just say, thicker is better (that's what she said).  For obvious reasons, thicker slices just allows you to concentrate on the meat and its flavor much better.  In addition, your sandwich does not come with anything else but mayo, mustard and bread.  No lettuce, no tomatoes, no onions, no pickles, and that's because they want you to taste the meat and boy do you!  All of that other stuff is just going to get in the way.  The other dish I had was their Saturday special, which was corned beef and vegetables.  I felt like I was in Ireland, even though I've never been, I felt that's how Ireland would taste in my imagination.  Corned beef was cooked perfectly, seasoned well, some may not like it cause its on the saltier side but I like things on the saltier side (that's what she said).  The accompaniment of cabbage and potato were great and the broth I could just drink like water.  But I would have to say the surprise stand out was their clam chowder.  And I say surprising because that's not what they're known for.  That was what my niece had, and thank god she's five and had a smaller appetite cause as soon as she was done, we were all over that thing.  Come to think of it, I don't think we even waited until she was done.  Unfortunately I can't exactly put it words what sets it apart from many clam chowders.  Maybe it's cause it tastes like it's made in house and stays away from a can.  Maybe they put a secret ingredient but what ever it may be, I'd say it's comparable to Boudin's.  Maybe even better than Boudin's because Tommy's is a mom and pop joint.  To me, I think those are the best eats.  But lets just say it's so good, I didn't even get a picture of it *gasp*