If you're looking for thick, juicy pastrami sandwiches — the way they're supposed to be — look no further. California Pastrami has just what you want.

"We make a different type of pastrami. It's how they do it in California," said Joe Rodriguez, who started his business nearly two years ago.

It all began when he took a vacation to Southern California, where he grew up. "I took my son to have a pastrami sandwich, and he loved it. We got to talking and decided to make them in Santa Fe," Rodriguez said. For
17 years he worked in construction in Santa Fe, and his first sandwich offerings were at a construction site.

"I was doing backhoe work for the Buffalo Thunder Casino in Pojoaque and told the contractor about the sandwiches. He gave me permission to go ahead and bring in a concession stand," said Rodriguez, who looked for a catering truck, found a 24-foot one in California, and when he finished digging the trenches, began his pastrami business.

Following that gig, he and his oldest son, Joseph, built a smaller concession trailer 8 feet by 16 feet and equipped it with a three-compartment sink, deep fryer, grill, steamer and a refrigerator. Then they headed for the New Mexico State Fair. Later, they set up at the Santa Fe Rodeo, the Albuquerque balloon festival and other events. The business began taking off.

What makes the sandwiches so popular is the meat. Before Rodriguez even opened, he shopped for the right kind of meat and had different distributors send him samples. Nothing was good enough. He called his brother in California and asked him to look into it. A popular eatery in California called The Hat sells the famous pastrami sandwiches.

"They normally sold the meat by the truckload but offered to sell me 1,000 pounds," said Rodriguez. The taste was just what he wanted. Now he uses a cold storage unit in Albuquerque to store the meat.

Monthly, 4,800 pounds or more of pastrami are shipped in from California. Each sandwich uses a half pound of meat. "We've made 10,000 sandwiches so far this year. We go through about 200 pounds a week," he said.

Rodriguez and his two sons work the business. A year ago, California Pastrami opened a permanent stand on the corner of West Alameda Street and St. Francis Drive. He expanded the menu with fish tacos, Reuben sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers, chili dogs and French fries. Many customers are now regulars.

"We have people driving up from Albuquerque just to get a sandwich," he said, "and there are so many people from California living here now they go to great lengths to get the California Pastrami sandwiches."

Jim George at Alpine Builders said, "It's just down the block from us. They have a lot of selections and put a lot of attention into the food they serve. Prices are reasonable. We're always putting in an order from here."

Then there's Ted Itagaki, who was so taken by the food and the story behind the business that he created a three-minute video of the California Pastrami stand. "I eat there at least once a week and the quality of the food is always consistent. I haven't tasted pastrami like that anywhere else in Santa Fe," he said.

Many of the regulars suggested that Rodriguez open a restaurant, so he looked into it, found a spot, signed a lease and remodeled. Then the owner changed his mind. "I'm still dealing with this mess, but I'm also looking around for another place for a restaurant," he said.

Until then, people can get their pastrami fix at the stand. It's open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. On Friday and Saturday nights, the stand reopens from
10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. to catch the late-night crowd.

"What I like best about doing this is my product makes people happy," said Rodriguez.