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Category: Steakhouses
Neighborhood: Nob HillMon-Thu. 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Fri. 5:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
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Steak. The Food of Kings, the Man's MAN'S Meat, the Toughest (reputation not texture) Food on the Planet and dare I say, the Mike Tyson of Entrees. I'll always think of steak as the first grown-up meal I ever had. Being old enough to order the same thing my dad did at a restaurant was (and still is) a big deal. If that doesn't scream adulthood, I don't know what does.
If you hate the sight of blood dripping off your steak or if you order your steak Medium, Medium Well and/or Well Done, then we are NOT friends. You do not know how to eat a steak, and someone that would purposely sabotage an awesome experience such as a steak dinner isn't to be trusted. Now, if you love the sight of blood dripping off your steak or if you order your steak Blue, Very Rare, Rare and/or Medium Rare then we are not only friends, but we are also going to watch the special midnight showing of Twilight: New Moon when it comes out on November 20th.
Before we get started, let me just say that I've been to a few Steakhouses in my time. Morton's (In San Francisco/Dallas/North Carolina), Ruth's Chris (In San Francisco/Las Vegas/Los Angeles/North Carolina), Tad's, House Of Prime Rib, New York Prime(In New York), LarkCreek Steak, Laury's (In Las Vegas), Houston's (In Dallas), Izzy's, Barclay Prime (In Philadelphia), Bern's Steakhouse (In Tampa), San Mateo Prime and Sizzler (Sorry, I had to give them a shout out). Keeping all of that in mind, I am happy to report that the best steak in the United States is at Harris' in good old San Francisco, California. YEAH I SAID IT!
So why does Harris' rock so hard and why are they better then all of these other steakhouses? I'm glad you asked.
The Staff - They were quick and efficient. You can always find a server when you needed one, but they weren't too overbearing.
My waiter rocked and was very professional / knowledgeable about the menu.
I was also stoked with the service of the valet guys. They made sure to have a cab waiting for us as soon as we left the restaurant (yeah, I got it like that).
The Vibe - There is a real old-school vibe to the restaurant. It's a classy joint without the stuffiness that normally comes along with a place like this. The decor is what you would expect from a steakhouse, but I really enjoyed the overall ambiance of the place.
The Food - Okay, this is what it's all about right:
Appetizer - I decided to go with the Oysters and the Sweetbread. The oysters tasted really fresh which is always important when it comes to seafood. There were 6 oysters total which had 3 different sauces applied to them. They all tasted AMAZING, but I liked the mignonette sauce the best. For those of you that don't know me (and for some of those that do), I'm a huge carbivore (carb eater). I know, I'm so out of style. That being said, I actually ended up enjoying the sweetbreads more then the oysters. I know, I'm weird. It came in a large, 3 piece portion and they were seared with a nice sauce.
Entree - The 49er cut (Medium Rare) which is basically a huge boneless New York cut. What can I say, I'm a proud Cali kid and represent the Bay to the fullest.
Sides - My entree came with two sides. I went with a loaded Baked Potato and the Sauteed Mushrooms. Just like the steak, the sides were AMAZING. The mushrooms were dope and the baked potato complimented the steak perfectly.
Bottom line, Harris' steaks tastes like Johnny Depp's acting career. Massive and awesome. In other words, if you want a good steak, don't come to Harris'. If you want a steak that will make you feel like how you did after your first kiss, if you want a steak that will melt in your mouth, if you want a steak that is so good it will make you want to slap your momma, then you need to eat at Harris'.
When it comes to food, I'm usually incredibly easy-to-please (hence my Yelp tagline). However, I do have a weakness for good steak. In particular, filet mignon always does it for me. After having the best filet of my life at the Metropolitan in Seattle, I've been just slightly underwhelmed by the (still very good) steak I've had in SF. Bob's, House of Prime Rib, Boboquivari's, and Ruth's Chris are all spectacular, but in my book, barely miss the mark. It's not a surprise then that I was excited to finally give Harris' a try for the very first time.
Overall, Harris' was wonderful. I usually loathe pretentious four-dollar-sign restaurants, but everything about Harris' made me feel immediately comfortable and welcome--from the incredibly attentive and hospitable service to the extravagant, yet charming decor that adorned the walls. Most importantly, the food was delectable. The crab cakes with beurre blanc were out-of-this world - without question, the most amazingly delicate, savory crab cakes I've ever tasted. Even the baked potato that accompanied my steak was top-notch - it's hard to cook a baked potato that one can say is far superior to any he or she has ever tasted, but Harris' manages to pull it off.
The only four star part of my dining experience - and undoubtedly the most important part - was the steak itself. I ordered the filet mignon Rossini - a petit filet with grilled foie gras and black truffle, cabernet sauce. Although the steak was really good, it probably ranks as the third or fourth best steak I've ever had (surprising only because of Harris' premiere reputation). Although I ordered my steak medium, the first filet I was served was an overcooked medium well and the second filet I was served was an undercooked medium rare. Thus, it was hard to fully appreciate the steak when it wasn't cooked the way I wanted it to be. Furthermore, the grilled foie gras was delicious, but not as great as I've tasted elsewhere. By the end of the meal, even though I had a really good steak, I guess my expectations were too high because I left just a tad disappointed. I expected the best steak of my life and got something that was delicious, but not worth the almost-$100 price tag.
Despite this, Harris' undoubtedly provided a dining experience I won't soon forget. I am inclined to give it another shot and likely will when I have another $100 to fork over for dinner (i.e., not anytime in the near future).
What a disappointment. The hostess (tall blond generic looking woman) tonight who greeted us (or actually, didn't really greet, just led us to our table) at this so called 4.5 star Yelp rated restaurant was indifferent, no smiles, no warmth, possibly the coldest hostess I've ever had. And for it to be at this supposedly "high class" restaurant? Unacceptable. I must mention that when she led a group of men to their table later on, she was all smiles--so I should give her some credit ;)
The appetizers were completely average. Had the crab cakes--had better ones by the wharf, nothing special. The french onion soup was better, and maybe even worth what we paid. The soup of the day, a shrimp bisque, too creamy without the delicacy that the better bisques should have.
I had the pepper steak--and I will say this, the steak was very good, definitely good quality, but I would not say the best quality. The scalloped potato sides was decent, very rich, and the vegetables were less than impressive. The sauteed mushrooms were enjoyable, and the creamed spinach was good--but not necessarily better than the creamed spinach from Boston Market (yes, I compared it to a fast food place).
The steak Diane was good, however, my boyfriend had asked for medium rare, and only half of the mignon was medium rare, the other half medium.
Here's the thing, it's good steak when it's cooked correctly (which apparently is inconsistent), skip all the sides and appetizers, and even then, I'm not sure the steak's worth as much as they ask for. I personally wouldn't go back. If I'm going to enjoy my steak, I gotta have the appetizers and sides to be great to go along with it.
And service should be exceptional, and it really was brought down by the hostess. It's not the worst food in the world, but it's entirely questionable if it's worth $65 a head without wine. Go to Gary Danko's. Phenomenal service and impeccable food--worth every penny there.
Amazing! Just AMAZING!!!
How can you not love a place that welcomes you with a bunch of meat in the windows?! The sweetbreads were delicious. The filet mignon with foie gras was delicious. The desserts were delicious. Everyone else in my party got something else and they all said their dishes were delicious.. so you have to try this place.. it surely won't disappoint you.
This is one of the top steakhouses that I have ever tried. The only bad thing is their side dishes are not really that good. If they would have Morton's steakhouse sides I would give this place 5 stars.
For starters I would suggest their onion soup. Any cut of meat that you get is great.
Adding Harris' Restaurant to my growing but still limited list of 2nd best steak restaurants after Peter Luger in Brooklyn. If the steak itself didn't trump all other aspects of a restaurant for me this would slide in front of PL. Very sophisticated old charm cigar room libraryish decoration that can't be mistaken for anything but a serious steak restaurant. And I particularly loved the little dining room by the bar to the right with live music. Classy all the way. Porterhouse was done just right but could have been bigger. But then again, they can always be bigger.
So, I have always wanted to dine at this restaurant. Being a San Francisco native, I am almost embarassed to say that I have never dined at this well known waterering hole. God knows I have driven by the Harris's Ranch numerous times on my way back and forth from SF to LA. But even that experience was not enough to deter me from coming here w/hubby for his birthday.
We started out with the sweet bread appetizer, which tasted more like chicken than bread. Nonetheless, it was delicious. I ordered the petite filet and hubby ordered the filet mignon rossini, which is foie gras and truffles. Let me say, the quality of the steak was good, but I felt as if though my expections were not met (mind blowing good). Service was impeccable, which was to be expected for an establishment of this kind.
Would give this a 3.5 star if I could.
I decided to have dinner here for my birthday this weekend and ended up being really happy with the whole experience!
I had to make reservations early because of a show we were going to later that night. The hostess sat us right away and they weren't annoyed that the last person in our party was a little late (I've had that happen elsewhere, where we won't get seated if there's someone missing).
The drinks were delicious (prosecco and martinis) and we ordered the an appetizer from the specials list: steamed mussels in a tomato sauce with white wine and lemon. Amazing! The mussels were gigantic and cooked to perfection.
Of course as a main dish I had the prime rib (regular cut - I'm petite). I love my meat red and nearly raw but I ordered it medium rare. It was delightful. The portion was big and came accompanied by creamed spinach and a huge baked potato which is dressed at the table with butter, sour cream and chives.
For dessert, I ordered the seasonal crisp which ended up being pear. It was delicious and came with a side of vanilla bean ice cream and whipped cream (topped with a candle - of course). Our waiter was highly professional and knowledgeable about the menu.
I was also very happy with the valet guys who flagged us a cab pretty quickly and we made it to the show right on time!
My husband wanted some steak for his birthday, so we decided to give this place a try. I like the clubby old-school steakhouse look, but at least they don't go overboard with it so it doesn't look too stuffy. We had reservations for 7:30 but arrived around 15min earlier, but they seated us right away anyway.
Hubby got one of their "King Eider" martinis for his apéritif and it looked pretty cool. They serve it in a small-ish martini glass but they give you a tiny carafe in a little ice bucket for the rest of it...this is pretty nice, especially for people who like to nurse their drinks since it guarantees that your martini is always perfectly chilled even though it's a large portion. I only had a small sip since I was DD for the night and it tasted really good too.
For our appetizers, we started off with the oysters and the sweetbreads. The oysters tasted really fresh, and came 6 oysters and 3 different sauces...they were all good but I like the mignonette sauce the best. The sweetbreads were even better, we got a pretty large portion (3 pieces) and they were seared with a nice sauce. They were cooked perfectly and I gotta say a lot better than what I've had at some French restaurants!
For our main course, I had the filet mignon rossini and hubby got the ribeye. My filet was cooked perfectly medium-rare, and they gave a really generous portion of nicely seared foie gras on top. It came with a really nice red wine sauce, though I couldn't really taste the truffle that was supposed to be in the sauce. I'm not a big potato person, but I LOVED the scalloped potatoes that came with my steak...it kinda tasted like mac&cheese but with potatoes instead of the mac. Very yummy. Hubby's ribeye was also really good, it had those nice little pockets of fat that ribeye steaks do, and had some nice beefy flavor from the dry-aging. We had some mushrooms on ths side, which I thought was a little too peppery but the hubby liked it.
For dessert, I had the chocolate cake and hubby had some sort of fruit crisp. They were both kinda meh, but then I didn't really have great expectations at this sort of place anyway. It satisfied the urge to have something sweet at the end of our meal, that's all.
From looking at the website, I was kinda scared that they wouldn't have much of a wine selection, since it only indicated their banquet wine list which wasn't much. However the wine list they have at the restaurant was much more extensive. We wanted to try something new, and settled on a Bordeaux-style blend from Napa (Robert Craig "Affinity"). It wound up being really good for the price, and went really well with our steaks. Their wine markups didn't seem too bad, especially comparing to other restaurants in this price range. Our bottle was less than 2x of the retail price, as opposed to the 2-3x markup you see at some other restaurants.
Service was pretty good, you can always find a server when you need them but they're not all over you. One thing that was pretty curious was that the bathrooms had some sort of malfunction (water started coming up from the drains!) and we were surprised with their swiftness in dealing with the situation. Probably within the hour, they had everything cleaned up as if nothing happened, so we thought they dealt with the problem really well.
We don't go to steakhouses often, since it always seems so easy to just cook steak at home (as opposed to fancy French dishes). However, I felt like we got our money's worth here, in terms of the ambiance, getting pampered, and perfectly cooked steaks. Hubby likes the ribeye at Ruth's Chris better, but I like the filet here more (might have something to do w/ the foie gras on top). We've only ever been at Ruth's Chris during DAT though and pay so much less that it's probably not a fair comparison. It's not as fancy-shmancy as Alexander's but I actually liked their steak here better, and it's a much better value overall due to their larger portions.
Definitely recommended if you're looking for a good steak in the city.
Sometimes you want to escape the uber-sustainable, uber-organic, ever-changing-menu locavore scene that has taken over San Francisco in exchange for a minor lapse of old school decadence. The beef comes from out of state (Kansas and Nebraska) and eats corn instead of grass (which I'd personally prefer if I were a cow). I have no idea what it is injected with and as I far as I'm concerned, it's high grade yummyness! The menu is very low on innovation, but high on presenting excellent traditional steakhouse fare..
Foie Gras: I'm normally not one to talk about portion-to-price ratios, but I have to deviate. This was an insanely large portion of foie gras with two large livers, practically three times a traditional appetizer! And the quality did not go down with the supersizing since the searing was perfect with the tender and fatty insides intact. The toasted brioche was nice, but could have been a tad thicker so it isn't reminiscent of morning toast. The orange marmalade added a good sweet contrast, but I feel the chef could have been a little bit more adventurous with a seasonal and/or non-traditional local fruit.
Steak Tartare: Apparently they process a filet mignon to order and then add in the traditional spices. I'm normally biased against machine processed tartare, preferring hand chopped, but the quality and freshness of the steak was so good I easily forgot. Heck, this ranks in my top list of San Francisco tartares so I can only imagine how divine it could become with textured hand chopped pieces. The crostinis are no frills, but do the job of starch support.
Porterhouse: No innovation, just perfection. Super fresh and high quality of my favorite cut (because you get basically two different cuts in one). Cooked perfectly to your specifications. No need for fancy sauces or even anything but the beef.
Onion Rings: I liked that the batter was flaky rather than the fast food sheath of fried dough. The onions didn't seem to be any exotic variety, just a simple yellow. Would have been better if they concocted a sauce more exciting than Heinz ketchup.
Potatoes Au Gratin: So even though the steaks are so good they don't need any accompaniments, you can be overly gluttonous and indulge in this creamy and cheesy delight. The top has a healthy dose of gratinéed cheese crust and each layer is a firm, yet supple blanket of thin potatoes with just the right amount of cream in between.
Baked Alaska: For those who think fried ice cream (a la chain restaurant) is declasse, then Baked Alaska is the answer for discriminating palates. Though an old trick, the seared meringue encasing the sponge cake and frozen ice cream is always a pleasant cross section of textures and flavors. I, personally, would want them to swap out the banana ice cream because it's really not one of the tastier ice creams out there. And besides, the caramelized banana slices on the side will give you your monkey-food fix!
Peanut Brittle: Not on the menu, but at the entrance. First of all, it's great to see a restaurant offer alternatives to the generic plastic wrapped peppermint hard candies or those germ-ridden bowls of candy coated chocolate mints. This is the real deal, probably made in house because the ratio of sugar brittle to whole peanuts was off, made a much better munch out the door.
After our dismal "welcome" at House of Prime Rib (see my review there under Atrocious Attitudes (or below)) we walked down the hill to Harris'.
OMG! What a completely different experience. Pleasant, nice, comforting, considerate - I mean, absolutely everything you would and could possibly want in a dining experience.
The food was phenomenal, the wine recommendation out of this world and our server, Michael, was the most top-notch professional I have ever encountered in restaurant dining.
No hesitation - just go!
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Here's my review of House of Prime Rib:
Atrocious Attitudes
RUN! Don't walk to Harris' Restaurant up the block!
We came to House of Prime Rib sober, very nicely dressed and wanting to have a nice evening with a celebration dinner.
One of my friends ordered drinks with the bartender Jennifer and cracked a very nice joke. She scowled. My friend said, "I was just trying to butter you up." Her reply was that she "got the memo."
She proceeded to falsely accuse my friend of having called her a bitch and had a fellow employee get the manager for her.
The manager, in the grandest failure of customer service, was extremely patronizing and condescending. To add insult to injury, he proceeded to talk "homey" - "You are staring me down."
Because of the tremendous amount of business they do they have entitled themselves to piss-poor attitudes and customer service.
As a born and bred San Franciscan I am ashamed that this represents to many people what fine dining might be in this great City.
Honestly, I was not at all impressed by the steak here. It was good, but I felt like it was a bit too expensive for what it offered. If I had my choice, there are several other steakhouses that I think provide a better steak.
Nice atmosphere, and the porterhouse was huge. House mashed potatoes were awesome. Good stuff.
The rib eye is fuqing great
AAAAAAAMAZING. delectable. delicious. charming. great staff. food is to kill for.
everyone at my table loved what they ordered: we ordered: steak diane, prime rib executive cut, filet mignon, pepper steak, and shared a bottle of the heights cab. we left feeling stuffed and happy. the ambiance is great. the creme brulee was probably the best i've ever had in my entire life.
you MUST try this place, even if you're not a huge fan of red meat, like me, because now i'm in love.
I came to Harris' with four other close friends, as a farewell dinner for one of us. We shared all the food, as we don't want to carry leftovers to the airport. For starter, we had their steak tartare. It was probably one of the best ones I've ever had. We also had gulf prawn cocktail, and steamed clams. I think these are some steak house classic starters, and Harri's certainly excelled in these dishes.
For main, we ordered the porterhouse, prime ribs, lambs. As expected, they are perfection. I always like to order the porterhouse in a steak house, and Harris's was almost as good as the one I had in Peter Luger. It was cooked to the way I like my steak. The prime ribs was again one of the best ones I have had. I enjoyed it way better than House of Prime Ribs. Very tender, juicy, and memorable. The lamb, was good. It was again cooked perfectly medium rare. The portion was kind of small and it was not as excellent among the three, but it was still very delicious.
Definitely one of the very best restaurants out there. It's perfect for dates, family dinner, special occasions. I'd love to go again.
Every time I come here, it hits the spot. Everything I order is good. Super flavorful, cooked the way you want it. The price is reasonable too. Dinner for 2 is just $150 [drinks included...for lightweights]. Perfect spot for a quick weekday dinner w/ good company.
GREAT Filet Mignon. Any steak fan will love this place. I was tempted to try the $170 Kobe but the $44 Filet was more then enough to keep me happy. Big wine list for those of you into wine.
Dinner reservations for 2 at 7PM and we were seated immediately. I ended up ordering the prime rib (executive cut that is) and my BF ordered the porter house- both were HUGE!! We also ordered the crabcakes which came out pretty good as well. My prime rib came with a side of garlic spinach (with an added piece of hair in it....) and potato scallops (a bit salty but nonetheless good) and his porterhouse came with a baked potato and veggies. We barely touched our food- the BF wasnt feeling too good and I was just overwelmed by the size of my entree.
To top off our meal our waiter brought out a mini icecream dessert for my BF since it was his bday and we also got a crabcakes on the house due to the hair in my spinach..
Overall great restaurant with excellent customer service, specifically from the bussers- our waiter was not as attentive and we found ourselves having to wave him down on several occassions. Our glasses were constantly refilled and our plates were taken away promptly.
Good food, generous portions and excellent service from the bussers.
i've been here on two occasions. my boyfriend loves this place & because of harris's, i think he's addicted to steak...
i could not get enough of the appetizers. the crab cakes were perfect and the clams were made with the perfect sauce. i LOVE seafood so i'm glad they had this in their menu
the steaks are AMAZING. the filet mignon was okay, it wasn't as amazing as the other ones. this may have been due to the fact that it was such a thick cut and i asked for medium well -______-... definitely trying medium rare or medium next time. it was well seasoned though. my boyfriend had the porterhouse, medium rare, and it literally melted in my mouth. seriously orgasmic! haha. the second time i came, i had the prime rib... nothing spectacular, it was delish, but i can get this at home during the holidays or anywhere else. if you go here, get steak instead, it won't disappoint!
the scalloped potatoes were pretty good but i didn't enjoy the spinach that much... it had a weird taste to it...
as for the service... i was a little disappointed. i expected the service to be outstanding but it was just average like any other restaurant. despite that, i'll probably be back. i think i may be falling in love with the steak. haha
OM NOM NOM.
First off, a big thank you to my girlfriend for taking me out to dinner for my birthday here.
Steak.... I actually have no idea what to say about this place. It's delicious, like most of the places my girlfriend takes me to...
The girlfriend talked me into getting the porter house and the crab cake. OM NOM NOM. The steak melted in my mouth, it was like oh god, I really don't know how to describe it.
GO HERE FOR STEAK. NOW. REALLY.
... side note, the bus boy that cleaned our table was oddly amusing to me. Why so serious?
First off I should know by now not to hype myself up when trying new restaurants.
To start, Harris has excellent EXCELLENT service. We were a bunch of semi-rowdy (beer, manhattan, bourbon, scotch around the table)twenty-somethings in a room full of (mostly) white hair but our waitress treated us like first class citizens.
Wine:
The wine list was not as thick as some places I've been to but being the amateur wine drinker that I am, I was still confused and overwhelmed by the selection. My husband helped by saying he wanted Cabernet so that helped limit the selection to 2 pages. Our waitress was really enthusiastic and helpful in helping me choose a bottle of wine that would suit everyone's entree. I believe we finally settled on a 2006 Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon (our waitress favorite) and it was really delicious. Nice color, soft texture and just the right amount of fruitiness without being overly sweet. Very easy to drink.
Food:
- the complimentary toast and cheese spread is really good. Taste just like cheese-it crackers
- the toast & salmon spread starter was also really good. It came with my 3 course meal.
- My 3 course meal for $55 consist of ceasar, buffalo New York steak, and chocolate tart. The ceasar was good but couldn't finish it because it was a really large plate.
***and now why my review for this place is only 3 stars***
1. I was warned that my buffalo new york steak would be very lean. It was very lean and just too meaty for me. Plus it was huge 12oz. I ate maybe 1/3 of it and got full. It was also drenched in some mushroom bourdeaux sauce (?) and made the dish very salty. My meat was cooked right - medium rare but it was just too lean for my taste. I didn't enjoy my entree very much so I can only give this place an A-OK.
2. had several bites of my husband's filet mignon and it was also very tough. Doesn't melt in your mouth the way Ruth's Chris does.
3. Had a bite of my friend's Rib-Eye. Better. It was good. If I do go back I would probably order that cut.
Other food:
- mashed potato. Very good, buttery, garlic-y.
- veggies: snow peas. Crunchy. Sweet.
- chocolate tart: not bad. However it was forgettable.
- Foie Gras: pieces were huge! and cooked...so the texture was a bit weird for me. I think I prefer raw foie gras better.
Overall I wouldn't come back often. I do believe in second chances so hopefully the next time I come back I will get my order right.
We arrived early for our reservation so we started off with cocktails at the bar. The bar area was pretty crowded and loud but we managed to have a conversation. We then were seated in a big comfy booth in the main dining room. It was quiet and we were able to converse without raising our voices or overhear others.
For starters we shared a dozen oysters. They came with three sauces; my favorite was the champagne sauce. We both ordered the Filet mignon as our entrees. They came with a side of snap peas and a choice of baked or scalloped potatoes, my date recommended the scalloped potatoes so I went with that. I ordered my filet to be medium rare and it was cooked perfectly. The meat was very tender and flavorful, the snap peas were crisp, and the scalloped potatoes did not disappoint at all. I'm salivating just thinking about this meal.
My date said this is one of his favorite restaurants and he goes there often for the amazing food and calming ambiance. I'd have to agree with him, I did find myself very at ease there(especially great on a first date) and I loved the food. I can't wait to go back and try the filet mignon rossini.
Keeping this one brief.
I've been a guest at some of the top steak houses in the US so was a bit disappointed by my visit here. Looks like Gary Danko or Masa's would have been a better but I'm happy to say that at least we gave it a try.
For a top of a line steakhouse, one has expectations. My simple request? Keep up with the times. Sure, I'm all about the environment because it adds to the experience. But when you see paint chipping from a wall, bathrooms that are two decades behind, and wood varnishing that needs to take place, one starts to wonder. I do, however, have to say that the lounge was quite comfortable and the perfect place to mingle with a good social and younger crowd.
Our service was good and the environment not too noisy. There was a dull drone as dinner parties took to their own decibel level and most of the clientele this evening were the 40/50+ crowd. I like to eat my steak when it is not too noisy so it was perfect. I ordered the Rib Eye, requested rare. This came accompanied with sauteed sugar snap peas and a baked potato. While the peas were pretty amazing, they were a bit heavy handed with the oil as it left a slight slick on my plate. The steak? Pretty good, even though I found it slightly more gristly and fibrous to my liking. The last Rib Eye I had was at Ruth Chris and that had literally melted in my mouth. This one took a little more effort. Otherwise, at $43, I would not order it again.
At $9 a bowl (and it was a large large bowl), skip the potato with black truffle soup unless you and your stomach are most inclined. Otherwise, it was a pretty dense and extremely rich soup, made even worse with the delightful pieces of bread that kept on keeping up with my empty bread plate. The waitstaff here are spot on.
Two other orders in my party:
Prime Rib
Rare. Amazingly soft and tender, despite my friend's statement that Morton's gave them a larger cut that covered the entire plate. I was nonetheless impressed with my sample. It melted in my mouth.
Filet Mignon Rossini
Rare. A good thick filet (could have been slightly larger) topped off with grilled foie gras and black truffle, drizzled with a cabernet sauce. He was quite pleased with his order and even though I'm against the harvesting method of foie gras, my first ever taste of it now makes me understand why one would order it. It was a pretty amazing nibble of the exotic and the rush of flavors on the palate: So so rich.
Last but not least of all, was our dessert. Our party had done research on Yelp and we decided on the Baked Alaska and was not disappointed. A lovely and cute display of flamed meringue piped around ice cream in the shape of a mini bee hive. Flanked by caramelized slices of banana and drizzled berry/chocolate sauce. I savored this, with each creamy and sugary decadent bite, It was enough to set me into a blissful food coma.
Overall, for a large tab, we were happy and left with more than half in leftovers. However, we did agree that the steaks were not entirely out of this world. I did appreciate that you could walk in off the street in sweats and pick up a few choice cuts for a simple dinner at home. Something I noticed while waiting in the lounge. Now that is an option I'm willing to try one of these days :o)
It is funny how life turns out. The guy that I used to date works here as a bus boy, while I come in and have dinner with my family. I ordered the Petite filet mignon (Rossini style) with steamed whole Maine lobster and the Spinach Salad with bacon, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, pine nuts, and a soy vinaigrette.
+: No reservations seated right away. My entree was good! The lobster was to die for! They have the option of having it in the shell or having just the meat, so to avoid the mess I wanted it taken out of the shell! I don't normally eat red meat but I just ate it for my cousin! The filet mignon was gooddd! The salad was normal, I expected it to me amazing since it costs $10.50.
-: the price, but it is good quality food. the lighting was soo dark. the service was okay, but I would expect happier service people working here since the food here is expensive!( these are the reasons why my 5 star turned down to a 3 star). also the valet people broke my uncles key insert on his car.
You want a steak come here...you want prime rib go to the house of prime rib.
A great institution with great steaks, you'll pay for it though =)
Went here to celebrate my cuz's bday. The filet was excellent and the onion soup was great! The house pinot (napa) good. We ordered the american kobe ribeye for my cuz (just to try) and realized that it's not really all that good. Not sure if it was poorly prepared, a bad cut, something else, but definitely overpriced at $70. Te filet is a much better deal at $50. Also, the house potatoes reminded me of the boxed Idaho mashed potatoes -- not very good. The waitress came off as snobbish, but the busboy saved the day by being very courteous. Overall, an ok experience, but not somehting I'm dying to repeat.
I have to give this restaurant fewer stars due to the fact that they would not break down our lobster in the kitchen.
The beef there is sublime, but the service can tend to suck.
We were fully prepared to buy a total surf 'n' turf extravaganza, but they refused to fix up our lobster in the kitchen.
We ate there pretty regularly, and my little San Francisco family and I were staples there for Thanksgiving, but they would not cut up that lobster for us.
Too bad.
We went to the Pan-Pacific from there on forward for Thanksgiving.
came here on a whim cause we couldn't get into one of the super packed house of prime rib across the street. it was rather later in the evening and harris' wasn't too busy. our party of three was seated instantly.
service and steak were bother amazing. our waiter was very attentive. it was obvious he was making an effort. i ordered the filet mignon and it was possibly one of the best steak dinners i've had. the portions didn't seem too big at first but turned out to be quite filling. the three of us enjoyed our meals very much and left satisfied.
definitely worth the price for the quality and service.
My favorite restaurant in the world. Extremely old-school without being stuffy. This place is comfortable and the food is outrageously good.
Harris steakhouse is hands down the best steak in the bay area,very sheek inside with a friendly and knowledgeable staff each waiter/waitress knows there cuts and will thoroughly explain them to you in detail. My girlfriend and I went last october and we both really enjoyed there filet mignon which is cooked to perfection its so tender you can litterly cut the meat with the side of your fork, dinning here can be very serious though so i advise you to have your table manners up to par, what i really like about it the most is that there is only one Harris unlike Mortons and Ruth Chris which are chains. In the end Harris steakhouse overall word is PERFECT!
PS. DO NOT ASK FOR STEAK SAUCE they might take it in offence
came here today @ 8pm for a party of 2. An additional star because they weren't fussy about the way how i dressed. We were seated across from ex mayor willie brown! :) we had a bottle of reiseling, oysters and foie gras for appetizer....omg foie gras was sooo good.. my grl friend had the executive prime rib while i had the peppered steak. I thought my steak was okay, however, it was cooked perfectly :) ill definitely be back to try something else!
What in the hell is that smell?!? Up until a couple of weeks ago, Harris' ranch was nothing more than a stink about 100 miles from the Grapevine on I-5. Now that I've worked up your appetite, let me tell you what I really think about their restaurant in downtown San Francisco.
An excellent and rather traditional steak house. Environment was classy, offering large tufted brown leather seating, and a dramatic wood bar. It was old-time class, and I was eating it all up.
The service could have used a bit of improvement: roll replacement, friendliness, frequency of table check-ups. At one point all of the starters were brought out except for one (one guest had to wait a few min for hers). Finally, their sugar caddies filled w/packets resembled one you might find in a diner. Steakhouse or not, when dining at a restaurant like Harris', it may have been nice if they offered bowls with those fancy rustic sugar cubes. Hey, it's the little things that count, right?
With all that being said, Harris' still earns my 4. Their wine list was overwhelming and magnetic. The wedge salad was incredible (dressing always changes, but this night it was a ranch with cucumber and dill... mmmm). The preparation was spot on. Steak was cooked perfectly, and buttermilk mashed potatoes were excellent. I didn't eat dessert, but others seemed to really enjoy their baked alaska, vanilla bean creme brulee, and berry crumble w/vanilla bean ice cream.
I would have given 5 stars but I had an issue that has kept me from going back there. It's been a few years and still haven't returned.
Let me start by saying, by far, the best filet mignon anywhere! I've tried them all and none comes close. So juicy and tender, just melts in your mouth. I love their lamb chops with the mint sauce too and the clams.
I used to dine here every other month and it was a place to go for special occasions. The service from the front of the house staff was always polite and professional.
So, here's the problem. I had dinner there for two and the bill came out to $100ish. I paid with a CC and left 20% cash tip. I checked my account online and noticed that the server had added extra gratuity on my CC. I had my CC copy and clearly, there was no tip written.
I called the manager and explained that I left a cash tip but the server had added gratuity. The manager never apologized and tried defending the server. He said that for parties of 6 or more, gratuity is automatically added so that the server must have gotten confused and mistakenly added it. WHAT?! How can you only have a $100 check at Harris' for a party of 6 or more? All I got was we'll look into it and not even an apology.
Beef at one of it's finer moments. I'm not really going to any recommendations because it's hard to go wrong here. Meat is cooked to perfection.
Just watch out and realize that the dishes do not come with sides and need to be ordered separately (unless things have changed since I last went).
Date night surprise! This restaurant is not recommended for first dates or dinners with people you cannot sit and converse with for around two hours straight. In other words, come here to celebrate with loved ones and close friends!
During the month of May, Harris' Restaurant celebrated its Silver Anniversary with an amazing Prix Fix menu. So that's what we ordered with a wine pairing that was very well selected for each course.
First off was the amuse-bouche of vichyssoise - a creamy cool starter to get the palate going. Then, Harris' Caesar Salad. It was pretty memorable. I don't think I've had such a good one before! A lemon sorbet to cleanse the palate... A little too lemony and a little too cold for me. Unfortunately since the gigantic salad came at the beginning of the meal and was absolutely delicious, I filled myself up with it rather than waiting for the main course, Filet Mignon Rossini, the medium rare filet mignon topped with melt-in-your-mouth foie gras and a side of mashed potatoes. Absolutely deeeelicious and meaty.
When the dessert arrived [Opera Cake], I just looked at it. Took a few bites, and that was it. Too full to the point of near explosion. For a Prix Fix menu, one would expect a skimping on portions. This was not the case at Harris'. It was worth every pretty penny spent. Service was top-notch, the courses well-paced. Company was fantastic, so Harris' is five stars in my book.
PS - Would it be inappropriate to walk in and only order the Caesar Salad? At $9.50, it's a ridiculously fantastic salad!
I still have the "afterglow" of eating the tender filet mignon with grilled foie gras topped with black truffle cabernet sauce. I'm so dramatic I closed my eyes while carving my filet and inhaling the swirly luscious vapors.
$55 Silver Anniversary dinner. Quick only a few days left.
*piano and jazz notes*
sooner or later you're gonna be mine
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I used to think Lark Creek Steak was the best in town for steak, and HOPR for prime rib.
Well, now I think Harris' takes my vote for best steak in SF.
(HOPR still remains best on Prime Rib, for the value, and their addictive salad.)
But Harris' delivers for a great quality steak, in a cozy, classic atmosphere. No complaints here: solid service, great quality meat, & cooked correctly.
After having Bobo's, Lark Creek, and Morton's - I'm going to Harris' when I feel like a good dry-aged steak in SF.
Very impressed. One of the more expensive pieces of beef that I have eaten in my life, but I did get what I paid for. I had the 16oz. New York. I had it cooked to a medium. Medium rare is what it came out to, which was awesome. I normally order a medium just as the balance since I've never eaten at Harris before. The meat was nice and tender. Surprisingly it was still very juicy. After the first slice into the beef you can see delicous juicys flowing out. I would definately come back to try something else.
This is a good place for a good steak. I think it's comparable to Ruth Chris and Alexander's Steakhouse. I came here with my husband last Friday and our reservation was for 8:45pm. We got there and we still had to wait a few minutes but was seated momentarily around 9pm.
We decided to start with the Harris Caesar Salad which is the perfect starter since they served us on two smaller plates. My husband had the surf and turf and they literally gave him the whole lobster....it looks like it can walk off your plate. The turf was the petite cute of the fillet Mignon which tasted okay according to my hubby. The presentation was phenomenal. I had the American-style Kobe steak cooked medium and it was really good and tender. I was really tempted to order the Japanese Kobe but I couldn't stomach the cost if I did unless I suddenly won the lottery or something. As for drinks, I had a appletini and my husband Bailey's and coffee. For dessert we had the house made sorbets which were a good palette cleanser.
I think the decor is a little nicer at Ruth Chris and Alexander's but I just think they are a little hipper in general.
Presentation of all the entrees were great. Really nice presentation and very clean.
Overall, we had a great experience and would come here again when there's a special occasion to celebrate.
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow
Category: Steakhouses
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Category: Steakhouses
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Category: Steakhouses
Neighborhood: Civic Center/Tenderloin
Category: Steakhouses
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow
Category: Steakhouses
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