House of Prime Rib
English restaurant · Polk Gulch
1906 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94109
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Highlights
Tableside salad, prime rib carved from carts, great martinis
Tableside salad, prime rib carved from carts, great martinis
"Where To Wait: Amelie Wine Bar or Bob’s Donuts Attempting a 4pm walk-up at House Of Prime Rib is a tale as old as time. The Nob Hill institution remains one of the hardest tables to score in the city, with reservations opening up a year in advance. When you put your name down (and inevitably get quoted at least an hour for a table), wander around the block to Amelie. The wine bar does $12.50 flights during Happy Hour, and has live music weekend nights. Or if you need some sugar to power you through your period of beeflessness, Bob's Donuts is also nearby and open 24 hours. Reservations open one year in advance (yes, you read that right). So if you’re a Type A organizer with an impressively stable lifestyle, reserve your ideal date 365 days ahead of time. If not, don’t worry, they take walk-ins nightly for the dining room and bar—you just might have to wait a few hours to get seated. Another move is to call ahead to ask if there are any day-of cancellations." - julia chen 1
"A meal at House of Prime Rib is controlled chaos—and that’s what makes dinner at this meat-centric place so fun. Servers push around giant carts full of prime rib and prepare salads tableside. Your waiter will plop massive spoonfuls of bacon bits and sour cream onto your baked potato at lightning speed, and constantly make sure your martini glass is full. Add giant bottles of wine and an old-school vibe, and you have a stimulating, borderline ridiculous experience you need to have for a birthday dinner at least once (as long as you can get a reservation). Reservations open one year in advance (yes, you read that right). So if you’re a Type A organizer with an impressively stable lifestyle, reserve your ideal date 365 days ahead of time. If not, don’t worry, they take walk-ins nightly for the dining room and bar—you just might have to wait a few hours to get seated. Another move is to call ahead to ask if there are any day-of cancellations." - julia chen 1, patrick wong, ricky rodriguez
"This Nob Hill institution looks like the offspring of a Renaissance fair and an English pub. The dining room has a roaring fireplace, cushy red booths, and giant bottles of wine by the door. And since a lot of the action happens tableside, you’ll experience sensory overload in the best way throughout the meal. Buttoned-up servers dress salads from overhead, prepare baked potatoes with bacon and sour cream faster than you can say “baked potatoes with bacon and sour cream,” and carve prime rib out of roving stainless steel carts. Coming to this place with a big group for birthdays or last meals before three of your friends abandon the city for New York makes for a guaranteed good time—so, take this as your sign to make the trip. Reservations open one year in advance (yes, you read that right). So if you’re a Type A organizer with an impressively stable lifestyle, reserve your ideal date 365 days ahead of time. If not, don’t worry, they take walk-ins nightly for the dining room and bar—you just might have to wait a few hours to get seated. Another move is to call ahead to ask if there are any day-of cancellations." - julia chen 1, lani conway, patrick wong
"Over half a century after opening, this palace of beef is still one of the most fun places to have a meal in SF, full stop. Salads are spun and dressed from as high as the staff can reach, perfectly pink slices of prime rib are carved out of a roving silver cart, and the maze of dining rooms is constantly humming from the crackling fireplace, clinks from cocktail shakers, and birthday groups getting progressively tipsier. If you live in SF, coming here at least once in your life is required. Reservations open one year in advance (yes, you read that right). So if you’re a Type A organizer with an impressively stable lifestyle, reserve your ideal date 365 days ahead of time. If not, don’t worry, they take walk-ins nightly for the dining room and bar—you just might have to wait a few hours to get seated. Another move is to call ahead to ask if there are any day-of cancellations." - julia chen 1, lani conway, patrick wong
"No San Francisco carnivore has truly lived before eating a juicy slice of prime rib off the cart in this ‘50s throwback, where the cocktails come with their own shakers, the salad is spun tableside, and the baked potatoes are always at least 50 percent sour cream. Open since 1949, the House of Prime Rib stretches across five rooms and 148 seats, and serves more than 500 diners a night." - Paolo Bicchieri
