When co-owners Cash Caris and Anahita Cann first opened Pyro’s Pastrami, they always dreamed of expanding their small pop-up into a full brick-and-mortar location. It turns out they weren’t alone.
The popular pastrami pop-up has been taking Oakland by storm ever since they were featured on Vice as Oakland’s Best Kept Secret. The sandwiches lived up to the hype and the small sandwich shop quickly cultivated a loyal following. Customers flocked to their Jack London Square pop-up location to get a taste of the authentic pastrami sandwiches that some say rival even the best that New York has to offer.
Beginning in July, Caris and Cann started a Kickstarter to help alleviate a problem they never expected to have: they were too successful. The demand for their specialty pastrami was skyrocketing, and customers would line up around the block to wait as long is took to get one of Pyro’s sandwiches. Sometimes Pyro’s would even run out of pastrami early on and would be forced to cut the lines short. The exploding demand called for an expansion and their fans couldn’t agree more.
Pyro’s loyal fans, dubbed “Pyromaniacs” by the owners, were happy to pitch in to help their favorite sandwich shop open up a new location. The Kickstarter for Pyro’s offers a series of special rewards for contributors, ranging from a virtual pastrami cooking lesson to a private dinner party hosted by Chef Cash himself.
The Kickstarter lists a goal of $34,000 needed for rent, renovations, and the kitchen equipment necessary for bringing Cash’s dream of brining 10,000 pounds of pastrami a month into fruition. Pyro’s has an even bigger vision for expansion and is hoping to one day go international within 15 years, though considering that the plucky young pop-up only began in October 2020, that target might not be far off.
Fortunately for the pyromaniacs, the Kickstarter project has already raised over $40,000 and is still going. This means that Cash and Ani have been able to secure the lease for the new location, though they are keeping quiet on where specifically in Berkeley they plan on opening. For now, they can confirm that they’ve secured a space with over 2,000 sq. feet and are currently planning for a grand opening November 2021.
