Yesterday I visited the new Guy’s For Lunch. This is a deli run by Guy, his wife, and three daughters located on Pleasant Grove near Foothills, between Top It Off Frozen Yogurt and ZS Indian Market. They opened just a few weeks ago and I’ve been looking forward to checking it out. They are open from 11-3 Monday-Saturday leaving me a limited window to stop by, so I took the opportunity when it presented itself for lunch on Saturday.
I arrived a little before 12:30 and the place was fairly busy. The nice, new and clean dining room is small to medium-sized. There are a little over half a dozen 2 -4 seater tables, most of which were occupied, and a long counter with stools running along the wall towards the back that added a lot of compact seating. A couple small tables out front rounded out the dine-in options. As soon as you enter you are in front of the ordering counter and the kitchen is right behind it. To the right is a menu on the wall and a drink cooler with non-fountain drink options.
I took a minute to skim over it and had a small struggle in choosing either the Hot Pastrami (thinly sliced with swiss and spicy mustard on sourdough) or the Pulled Pork (slow cooked with Guy’s spicy BBQ sauce on sourdough). All the sandwiches are $7.99 and come with chips and a pickle. You can also add cream cheese [$0.50], bacon [$1] and/or avocado [$1]. I settled on the pastrami and ordered a soda [$1.49] to go with it. Of course I added all three extras.
Once paid up, I moved over to the counter where no one was seated and filled my soda up near the back. About this time I noticed that most of the cars in the front parking had left so I stepped outside to get a quick shot outside while there was nothing blocking the view. When I came back in I noticed a little plate at my spot at the counter. Guy (the one and only) popped out the kitchen and said “potato salad shooter!” and gestured to it. He had dropped these at at least a couple tables for people to try. I thought this was really cool. The single bite was positioned on a fork and ready to go. It was nicely chilled and freakin’ delicious. I’ll probably be ordering this on my next visit [$1.95 for a regular order].
It was just about 6 or 7 minutes for my sandwich to arrive from the kitchen. In-between the two halves was crisp pickle slice. A bag of “Dirty” brand cracked pepper & sea salt potato chips rested at the back. A decent amount of the thin pastrami was the bulk of the sandwich (perhaps not as much as I had hoped, but I had to take a step back and realize A. I was not a Beach Hut, and B. I was not paying Beach Hut prices). All of my additions were hidden underneath. Some bacon and a bit of avocado peeked out from a corner here and there.
The sourdough was nice and crisp around the edges with a soft middle and and good flavor. The swiss was a bit on the light side and I didn’t really notice it very much. It even kind of blended in with the mayo and I didn’t realize it was there at first. There were about 4 slices of bacon under the pastrami which were tasty. The cream cheese did it’s job and added it’s smooth flavor and texture to the whole thing. I was mostly disappointed by the avocado, which was pretty thin and didn’t feel quite worth the $1 adder. The pastrami was pretty great though. It was loaded with rich, smokey flavor. I decided to look back on my Beach Hut comparison yet again because this beef was delicious and definitely holds it’s own at a lower price. Side by side with the pastrami, in terms of deliciousness, I would say was the spicy mustard. It was great and the heat kind of snuck up on me by the end of the sandwich.
The chips were good, exceedingly crisp and quite salty. I even ate the pickle, which I often ignore, and enjoyed that as well. Overall a satisfying lunch, but I will likely avoid the avocado next time. As I was finishing the last couple bites Guy swung by once more, this time with a pulled pork shooter. Good lord, this was ah-mazing! It sold me on returning sooner rather than later because I have to have that pulled pork sandwich now. The BBQ sauce was rich, sweet and spicy and left me wanting more, much more. I haven’t even had the sandwich itself and I’d already recommend it.
Website: http://www.guysforlunch.com
Eating Through Roseville 
Sean — I used to live in Roseville and still get to visit every few months, so I really enjoy your reviews.
Does Guy make his own pastrami?
Steve
Thank you! I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes the pastrami but I’m not certain. I’ll ask next time I stop back in.