House of Prime Rib - San Francisco

1906 Van Ness Street, San Francisco CA 94109
(415) 885-4605
Parking: street and valet parking
Hours: Mon - Thurs 5:30pm - 10pm, Fri 5pm - 10pm, Sat-Sun 4pm - 10pm

Last Visited: June 30, 2011

Food: 4 to 5 stars
Atmosphere: 3 to 4 stars
Service: 4 to 5 stars
Price: $$$

The House of Prime Rib is legendary in San Francisco.  Located on Van Ness Street, I've passed by it for years.  They're about serving well-marbled prime rib in the English tradition, carved at your table. Even the dining area is decorated in English style - very cozy, classy, and very traditional with large elegant paintings and decorations, lots of dark wood, and candles.  Established in the 1940s, it's an institution. 

Getting reservations to this place can be quite tricky, so book early.  It's a little more flexible if you're able to visit during a weekday.  I managed to get a reservation within 48 hours since I took the earliest time available.  When I arrived, food service hadn't started yet, so they seated us in the bar area and we were given Japanese rice crackers in a little carafe and asked if we would like a drink.  While it was nice to be given a snack to start, I do wonder how Japanese rice crackers fit into the English tradition.  Either way, you won't be thinking about that for very long because once you start your meal, you feel like you've entered into another world and experience.

Before getting started, it's important to know that unless you're a kid, dinner is going to run around $50 per person or more if you choose to order drinks or dessert.  With that in mind, the expectations are high, but House of Prime Rib really is a cut above the rest.

A server took us to our seat and asked how my name was pronounced.  What a nice personal touch!   He was very pleasant and after learning that it was our first visit, he told us to be sure to let the waiter know.  Once we were seated, a round of hot bread on its own cutting board arrived with a knife standing straight up in the middle of the bread.  The waiter arrived and asked us if we had been before.  When we told him that we had not, he gave us the full explanation about the various cuts and that every cut except for the City Cut came with an additional helping that had to be enjoyed at the restaurant.  Everything else was simple - a choice of creamed corn or creamed spinach and a choice of baked or mashed potato.  Salad comes with all meals.

Here is what is on the menu:

- City Cut - A smaller cut for the lighter appetite - $35.45
- House of Prime Rib Cut - $37.85
- English Cut - Thinly sliced prime rib - $37.85
- King Henry VIII Cut - Extra generous thick cut of prime beef - $39.85
- Children's Prime Rib Dinner - $11.45
- Fresh fish is also available

The salad comes layered in a stainless bowl over ice and the waiter may do a little show for you. While some servers are fairly low key about it, our server enjoyed spinning the bowl and adding the seasoning salt at the table and taking the tureen of cherry wine vinaigrette dressing high up in the air and drizzling it into the bowl.  The salad contains chopped egg, chopped beets, pimentoes, and romaine lettuce.  After drizzling the dressing, he tossed the salad and divided it between the cold salad plates and warned us to leave room for the main dish.  If you enjoy a slightly sweeter salad, this is really good and refreshing.  For those with a small appetite, you may be overwhelmed by the quantity of the salad.

While we were enjoying the salad, a server came and brought us hot corn bread that had been cooked in a pan with molds shaped like corn.  The bread was delicious.

We both ordered the House of Prime Rib Cut.  The picture above shows what it looks like.  The picture below shows the same cut with mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, and Yorkshire pudding.

The prime rib comes on a large metal cart with a round cover.  When they unveil the prime rib, you see several large mounds of meat standing before you.  A separate area within the cart holds the creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, and gravy.  The chef slices your prime rib, pours on the au jus, and serves you this wonderful cut of meat.  The meat was super tender and I loved how the edge was extremely juicy.  

The mashed potatoes and gravy seem fairly standard.  The creamed spinach is very flavorful from lots of timy pieces of bacon - probably what doesn't get used from the baked potato toppings.  We preferred the creamed spinach over the creamed corn.  As we started in on the prime rib, the skillet containing the fluffy Yorkshire pudding arrived and each skillet holds two to three servings depending on how many are at your table.  The server divided the Yorkshire pudding and placed it on top of the meat. The creamed corn was creamy and served on the side, but not the best that I've had.  Just okay.  It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but the baked potato is pretty massive.  They load it with bacon and offer you butter, sour cream, and chives.  Of course, I had to have them all.  The potato is enough to be a meal in itself, especially for those with smaller appetites.  Those pieces at the bottom of the plate are all real chopped bacon bits.  Delicious!  It's so full of flavor. 

Throughout our meal, our server checked on us at least once and the owners of the place came by to see how we were enjoying our dinner.  While some may think these older gentlemen are due for retirement, you'll find they seem to enjoy wandering and checking on their clientele.

If you still have room for dessert, that's available on a separate menu, but I ended up taking a portion of my prime rib and potato home for the next day.  The prime rib leftovers made an awesome sandwich and the rest of the potato left me stuffed.

House of Prime Rib is a great stop for delicious prime rib.  Nobody should ever go away from this place hungry.  Service was impeccable, leaning heavlily on the formal side at the host's desk and bar, and along the lines of what you get on five star cruiseships.  Our server, Manolo, was professional and friendly. While it's not a place I can afford to go to everyday, House of Prime Rib is worthy of a stop if you're in town, celebrating a special occasion, or just love a good prime rib.