Rusty M.
Yelp
This the place to go and get quality corned beef in SF. They cure it on the premises, and it puts anything you are going to find in a national chain to shame. Lots of restaurants around town serve Roberts Corned Beef, including Tommy's Joynt and Lefty O'Douls, for example. You can get brisket or round, and know that it is being made, phosphate free, right there on Bryant Street. I have been lazy and bought a Shenson's or other corned beef at the market, and been supremely disappointed. Try it once, you'll take the time to get it over and over again.
Just to be clear: this is not a restaurant; you are going here to buy corned beef to cook at home. It is basically a butcher/meat curing facility.
Here are the tips:
1) Don't park in the Trader Joe's/ Bed Bath and Beyond Lot and saunter across the street. You will get a ticket. Park at the meters, or at least don't be obvious about your destination if you use the lot.
2) Be prepared to ask for what you want. After you enter, a bell rings, and a guy in full industrial butcher regalia (white coat, hairnet, gloves) will come out of the back and ask you what you want. I have taken to asking for a "retail sized" corned beef after being asked if I wanted a 20 pound brisket! Tell them the approximate size you want, whether you want brisket or round, and spiced or unspiced (spiced has pickling spice on the meat in the package). The guy will disappear for 5 or more minutes, then come back with your packages. They get weighed, you pay, and you are out.
3) Cash only--be ready.
4) Heartbreak potential: they are open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m, but are closed from 11:30 to 12:30 for lunch. I rolled in there at 11:40, fed the meter and nearly cried when I saw that I could not get my stuff!
5) Want to stand in line? Go the day before St. Patrick's Day. No line at any other time of year, in my experience.