On Van Ness in the Pacific Heights/Russian Hill area are two well known steakhouses. No, I'm not including Ruth's Chris Steakhouse on Van Ness and California. That POS chain is of little interest after having been to several around the country and consistently been served generous helpings of char.
The two in contention are the venerable House of Prime Rib and the slightly newer Harris' Restaurant.
The House of Prime Rib (HOPR) is a San Francisco landmark having been around since the 1940s (or so they say on their awning). The decor is distinctively English. The bar is a happy, inviting, familiar-feeling place that you could call home.
Just a block north is Harris' Restaurant, founded in 1984 by Ann Lee Harris (who died in 2003 in Texas). This restaurant is related to the Harris Ranch where some of the tastiest beef is raised. For a time, the restaurant served beef from the Harris Ranch (located on I-5 near Coalinga halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles). The restaurant no longer serve beef from Harris Ranch, as it brings in midwestern beef from Kansas and Missouri. It's association with Harris Ranch is now only by name.
So there they are, two storied houses of full-bodied red-blooded U S of A all-American beef. Now the big question: which to choose, which to choose?
Without skipping down to the denouement, could you guess which I chose?
Here are some immediate impressions. HOPR has a very royal ambience. It exudes English nobility as nothing else. Harris' doesn't pretend to be English, but rather has a more of an old-school 'Hahvahd' feel. Harris' bar, at least when I was there, was dark and ominous. It could be the time of the day, but I don't think that was the issue.
I can't make a complete comparison, but I think Harris' has a more extensive and tastier list of drinks than HOPR. Again, I can't be fully sure, so if I'm wrong, I'll agree to any corrections.
Now to the main course, so to speak. HOPR serves its famous salad bowl concoction. This lovely and tasty bit of vegetable starts off everyone's dinner. The whole production is in itself an entertaining sight to behold. The server will toss the salad, then spin the salad bowl while drizzling the dressing along with seasoning onto the salad. As a lover of salads, now that I'm transitioning to vegetarianism, I can safely say that the act and the taste of this portion of the dinner is a fantastic one.
Harris' doesn't offer the dog-and-pony show. Salads are a la carte for those who wanted one. I was not hungry enough when I was there to desire a helping of salad. Harris' does, however, offer more than just Prime Rib. HOPR is prime rib. No filet mignon, no NY steak, no chicken. They do have a fish dish for those who don't or won't take red meat (but why would you go here, unless it's a business meeting or something of the sort).
HOPR's serving also includes potato. mashed or baked whole, creamed spinach and yorkshire pudding. The two sides at Harris' may include potato and creamed spinach, but no yorkshire pudding for sure: it's not on the menu at all.
HOPR also does another song-and-dance number when presenting the cut. The servers wheel out the cart with the roast prime rib still simmering in its juices. You get your slice and the helpings and then off you go to the races. Harris' does display the meat at the window; makes you drool everytime you walk by the restaurant. Harris', however, doesn't do the show-and-tell for the food. It comes and the server plops them on the table and that's it.
Now here is where we really separate the two. Which piece of prime rib is better? Without much more unnecessary windup, I will say for sure that Harris' beef is much tastier and tenderer than HOPR's.
Here are some problems with HOPR's meat. First, the cut was thinner than a usual thick chunk that most people like. It was slightly overdone for medium rare. And the worst part was that the best parts of the cut were excised from the serving. For me, the best part of a prime rib is around the edges, where the dark meat resides. There's some marbling and some fatty sections, which are also tasty parts. Instead, HOPR shaved off those tasty portions (probably to give to their servers for take home?) and left just the eye part, which is rather bland in most cases.
Harris' cut was, however, the whole thing, including the bone. All the tasty portions were left intact and the taste was exquisite. The creamed spinach was quite a bit better than HOPR's as well. And the scalloped potatoes from Harris' was extremely tasty, too. At HOPR, I had mashed potatoes, which is nice, but it's generally not as well prepared as scalloped potatoes.
As for the cost, Harris' was slightly more than the House of Prime Rib. But if I were to buy the King Cut at HOPR, a size comparable to the one served at Harris', the price would have been closer. Hence, no real economic difference. So all in all, the winner of this battle is clearly Harris'! But for the terminably hungry, HOPR offers one slight advantage: all the meat you can eat. As long as your plate is clean, you can get another slice with no extra charge. That would have been beneficial for me 25 years ago.
The two in contention are the venerable House of Prime Rib and the slightly newer Harris' Restaurant.
The House of Prime Rib (HOPR) is a San Francisco landmark having been around since the 1940s (or so they say on their awning). The decor is distinctively English. The bar is a happy, inviting, familiar-feeling place that you could call home.
Just a block north is Harris' Restaurant, founded in 1984 by Ann Lee Harris (who died in 2003 in Texas). This restaurant is related to the Harris Ranch where some of the tastiest beef is raised. For a time, the restaurant served beef from the Harris Ranch (located on I-5 near Coalinga halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles). The restaurant no longer serve beef from Harris Ranch, as it brings in midwestern beef from Kansas and Missouri. It's association with Harris Ranch is now only by name.
So there they are, two storied houses of full-bodied red-blooded U S of A all-American beef. Now the big question: which to choose, which to choose?
Without skipping down to the denouement, could you guess which I chose?
Here are some immediate impressions. HOPR has a very royal ambience. It exudes English nobility as nothing else. Harris' doesn't pretend to be English, but rather has a more of an old-school 'Hahvahd' feel. Harris' bar, at least when I was there, was dark and ominous. It could be the time of the day, but I don't think that was the issue.
I can't make a complete comparison, but I think Harris' has a more extensive and tastier list of drinks than HOPR. Again, I can't be fully sure, so if I'm wrong, I'll agree to any corrections.
Now to the main course, so to speak. HOPR serves its famous salad bowl concoction. This lovely and tasty bit of vegetable starts off everyone's dinner. The whole production is in itself an entertaining sight to behold. The server will toss the salad, then spin the salad bowl while drizzling the dressing along with seasoning onto the salad. As a lover of salads, now that I'm transitioning to vegetarianism, I can safely say that the act and the taste of this portion of the dinner is a fantastic one.
Harris' doesn't offer the dog-and-pony show. Salads are a la carte for those who wanted one. I was not hungry enough when I was there to desire a helping of salad. Harris' does, however, offer more than just Prime Rib. HOPR is prime rib. No filet mignon, no NY steak, no chicken. They do have a fish dish for those who don't or won't take red meat (but why would you go here, unless it's a business meeting or something of the sort).
HOPR's serving also includes potato. mashed or baked whole, creamed spinach and yorkshire pudding. The two sides at Harris' may include potato and creamed spinach, but no yorkshire pudding for sure: it's not on the menu at all.
HOPR also does another song-and-dance number when presenting the cut. The servers wheel out the cart with the roast prime rib still simmering in its juices. You get your slice and the helpings and then off you go to the races. Harris' does display the meat at the window; makes you drool everytime you walk by the restaurant. Harris', however, doesn't do the show-and-tell for the food. It comes and the server plops them on the table and that's it.
Now here is where we really separate the two. Which piece of prime rib is better? Without much more unnecessary windup, I will say for sure that Harris' beef is much tastier and tenderer than HOPR's.
Here are some problems with HOPR's meat. First, the cut was thinner than a usual thick chunk that most people like. It was slightly overdone for medium rare. And the worst part was that the best parts of the cut were excised from the serving. For me, the best part of a prime rib is around the edges, where the dark meat resides. There's some marbling and some fatty sections, which are also tasty parts. Instead, HOPR shaved off those tasty portions (probably to give to their servers for take home?) and left just the eye part, which is rather bland in most cases.
Harris' cut was, however, the whole thing, including the bone. All the tasty portions were left intact and the taste was exquisite. The creamed spinach was quite a bit better than HOPR's as well. And the scalloped potatoes from Harris' was extremely tasty, too. At HOPR, I had mashed potatoes, which is nice, but it's generally not as well prepared as scalloped potatoes.
As for the cost, Harris' was slightly more than the House of Prime Rib. But if I were to buy the King Cut at HOPR, a size comparable to the one served at Harris', the price would have been closer. Hence, no real economic difference. So all in all, the winner of this battle is clearly Harris'! But for the terminably hungry, HOPR offers one slight advantage: all the meat you can eat. As long as your plate is clean, you can get another slice with no extra charge. That would have been beneficial for me 25 years ago.
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