House of Prime Rib @ San Francisco

If you’re craving prime rib in the Bay Area, look no further than House of Prime Rib in Nob Hill. It is constantly rated as one of the Top 10 places for Prime Rib in America.

House of Prime Rib, founded in 1949, is a delightful San Francisco tradition for both residents and those coming from out-of-town. Joe Betz, House of Prime Rib’s current owner, bought this legendary destination in 1985, and transformed this restaurant into the undisputed king of San Francisco steakhouses.

From luxurious carved-to-order prime rib rolled out on carts to chefs spinning salads to extra-large martinis with sidecars, every meal in the restaurant’s old-school dining room decked with ruby-hued booths is rollicking and unforgettable. Despite the difficulty in getting reservations, House of Prime Ribs is a rather large restaurant, boasting several dining rooms in addition to the crowded bar area. 

Inside House of Prime Rib’s secret room for San Francisco elites is a converted wine cellar. Over the years, this private space outfitted with a modest table and speaker setup, has welcomed the likes of the Pelosi family and the San Francisco 49ers, among so many others. It’s charming but in a messy, haphazard way.

A reservation at this super-popular restaurant is a must, and the waitlist can be months in advance. Even if you have a reservation, you may still have to wait between 30-45 mins for the table to turn. So we spent some time at the bar for some pre-dinner drinks. I ordered a Manhattan, made with bourbon and sweet vermouth with a garnish of maraschino cherry, and they gave me the whole cocktail shaker to top up the martini glass.

We finally were brought to our table, and we promptly made our choices of the cuts we wanted. I was quite disappointed with the cold bread and butter, that were propped onto the table with the knife stuck into the bread.

The Salad Bowl

A colourful mixture of healthy, crisp, seasonal greens prepared at your table, tossed in their unique house dressing (which tasted like thousand island btw) using the spinning bowl on ice method. And yes, there’s the cold fork as well.

The beef, which is aged for three weeks and seasoned with coarse salt, comes from corn-fed cows in the Midwest and are carved at your table to your specifications from their unique stainless steel serving carts. In fact, the iconic restaurant goes through upwards of 5,000 pounds of meat per week, which means that the shiny steel-domed “meat zeppelins” that make the restaurant so fun have carted around millions and millions of pounds of prime rib over their long life. 

King Henry VIII Cut

They have four portion sizes on their menu: the King Henry VIII Cut (the restaurant’s largest portion), The House of Prime Rib Cut, The English Cut (often deemed the restaurant’s most flavourful cut), and the smallest City Cut for “lighter appetites”. I ordered the bone-in King Henry VIII Cut which is an extra-generous thick cut of prime beef, for king-size appetites. I ordered a side of mashed potatoes, a generous, steaming helping of the American favourite tubers served with thick brown gravy.

The English Cut

Darling asked for the English Cut, thinking that she will have two slices and give me the third. Some feel that a thinner slice produces the better flavour as you drown the thin slices of prime rib in the au jus. Here it is shown served with a side of creamed spinach, a “light” dish of garden spinach whipped with fresh cream and pieces of bacon. And if you want it “lighter”, you can actually asked for sautéed spinach instead.

BTW, you can have the best of both worlds by ordering the King Henry cut English style. You’ll get the thin slices like the English Cut, but the quantity of the King Henry VIII. The best part? You’ll also get to gnaw on the bone when you’re done.

Creamed Corn

Though it’s technically off-menu, the creamed corn will sometimes be recommended by your server — it’s that delicious. My server did not offer it, but as I am so used to dining at Lawry’s, I asked for it as part of my muscle memory.

Baked Potato

Darling ordered her steak to come with a superior sized baked Idaho potato that is served piping hot with butter and sour cream, with a liberal sprinkling of chopped chives and bacon bits. And you can add the baked potato fixings (sour cream, chives and bacon) to your mashed potatoes. We don’t actually recommend you do this—sometimes less is more—unless you really love bacon.

Servers will always bring out house-made horseradishes with your prime rib: a cream-based horseradish (house special but too rich for me), two mayo-based versions that range from mild to medium-spicy, and a super spicy cured horseradish from Beaver Brands (my favourite).

Yorkshire Pudding

Straight from merry olde England, the prime rib roast au jus with Yorkshire pudding is a classic English that steals the limelight from the main attraction. Light, airy batter baked to a golden brown dome in a cast iron skillet, with a fluffy interior to soak up those savoury beef juices.

Prime rib is comparatively expensive because it’s a highly desirable, highly delectable cut of meat that’s known for being very juicy, flavourful, and tender. The chef here constantly seeks out the finest of beef ribs, which he judges for quality and perfection in firmness, texture, colour, and the presence of flecks of white fat in the red lean. The result is a really delicious piece of meat, perfectly cooked, tender and moist.

If you order the larger cuts (King Henry VIII, The House of Prime Rib, The English Cut), the servers will ask you when they see your finished plate if you desire “another little taste of beef”. They will happily oblige with another thin slice of prime rib. But for a slightly different experience, order the end cut for your seconds. You’ll get a crispy, salty, well-done slice from the end—it’s marvellous. You’ll have to get lucky though, there are only two end cuts per prime rib, so they’re rather hard to come by.

If all of this dining pomp and circumstance sounds familiar to Lawry’s (or for that matter, Tam O’Shanter), that is very much by design. The restaurants are basically identical — it’s just that Lawry’s did it first (11 years earlier), and has done it more famously every year since. However, House of Prime Rib is better in a way, food is a little tastier and the drinks are more generous. The atmosphere is livelier, but the service is too hasty and rushed. If you want service and a classier atmosphere, go to Lawry’s. If not, House of Prime Rib is my new favourite.

House of Prime Rib
1906 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94109, United States
Tel : +1 415-885-4605 (Reservations)

Visited Aug 2024