Harris' Restaurant

I'm not sure how it has taken me all these years to review Harris but it's a classic, old-school, fantastic joint that all true San Franciscans should visit at least once (and I guarantee you can't go just once). I had to update and add a couple photos of the steak and martini which are the main attractions here.The majestic dining room is something to experience, but the real secret is the bar side, which has a great little jazz trio playing and open seating at the bar where you will receive excellent service from any one of the fantastic bartenders. All of whom can mix the world's best martini which comes, as all martinis should, with a sidecar refill in an ice bucket.The steak and martinis here are the tops for me and each are equally excellent. The steak is dry aged if that matters to you (it should) and cooked to perfection. The sides are fantastic especially the scalloped potatoes.The service is always just as flawless as the food and though the setting is formal on the restaurant side, the servers are always friendly and knowledgeable and it's never stuffy. This is the kind of old school SF place where you might see Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom lingering in a back room. Or, you could just have a pretty epic martini by yourself at the friendly bar, and meet someone new.One of my favorite restaurants in the city for many years that never loses its style or quality. And by the way, the Prime Rib is better than House of Prime Rib down the street. Had to say it. Don't @ me.

This review is for the butcher shop and not the restaurant. I put in an order for steaks from their butcher shop for Valentine's Day. I scheduled it for pick up the day before Valentine's Day. I was excited since I have ordered from them several times in the past and it was always great. However, this time around, it could have been they were inundated with orders since it was Valentine's, the quality was subpar. I opened the wrapping for each steaks, and off-the-bat they smelled "off", along with seeing some grey discoloration on the meat, which usually means the meat has started to go bad. Some people might have say the smell was the "dry aged" smell, but that wasn't it. I start cooking it and the off smell got more intense and that's all I could smell. I should have tried to get my money back but how do you prove that what they gave me was bad?,Anyway, long story short. I ate about a 1/3 of mine and half an hour later I was in the bathroom paying the price the rest of the night. I threw out the leftover. Wasted money. All I can say is check the meat before you leave the restaurant to make sure it's safe to eat.

Review #858Posted on 2.17.25We came to eat here after a show at Orpheum Theater on Saturday night the 15th on Valentines weekend. We called them around 4:15 pm and were told they do do walk-ins but to get there around 4:40, they open at 5 pm on Saturdays. A lot to like about this place, the fact we got in right when the doors opened, and sat immediately was a huge plus to us. My wife ordered the ribeye, I ordered the porterhouse. My wife's bone-in ribeye had insane flavor. It was also very tender. They give you an option to get either a baked potato, or potato of the day, which typically here is either mashed or scalloped. When you get the baked, a separate guy comes and gives you options on top of the potato of butter, sour cream, & chives. They have desserts for afterwards too. You can tell this place gets a lot of regulars, tons of familiar faces to the staff this night we dined here.

Harris is a solid, classic American beef steak restaurant. There are various cuts of various sizes and some interesting cocktails. Occasionally, they even offer a cut of bison as a special. I like to stick with the traditional steaks, so had a filet mignon. It was seasoned well and probably did not even need the herbed butter on top. I got a side of truffle Madeira sauce, which was a fun dip for a few bites. The steaks come with a potato choice (either a baked potato or scalloped potatoes) and a seasonal vegetable (currently, it's sugar snap peas). I really liked the creamy scalloped potatoes and buttery sugar snap peas as well. My friends got the NY Strip and they were in heaven with each bite.The desserts could use some work. The chocolate raspberry mousse cake tasted like the chocolate mousse cake from Costco with a slim layer of raspberry. It tasted like it had been in the refrigerator for a few days (1/2 star off). I did enjoy the wide selection of alcoholic coffee drinks with the cake.The ambiance is on the elegant side, with white linens throughout and jazz music playing. It's a place to impress a date or a business client, or a place to celebrate a milestone.Parking is atrocious in the area, but their valet was also less to be desired. There was only one valet attendant, so starting at around 9PM when everyone was leaving dinner, a huge line of customers would be waiting to get their cars from that one valet attendant (1/2 star off). I went on an evening with heavy rain, so all of us got wet even standing under the oning.

Time for an update. I have been able to enjoy some of their food with no issues, but when it comes to the steaks, then I have to take a stand. I also ask for medium rare. And I think that's pretty standard for a chef. But for the last 3 times, I have received a rare, if not "mooing", steak. Not edible is more like it. I'm super disappointed with receiving the same undercooked steak consistently. Don't understand was medium rare means? They have lost a customer!

We came here to celebrate a birthday. We started with the salad and onion soup, topped with crispy fried onions. For the entrée, I had the Harris steak, cooked medium rare, bone-in, dry-aged USDA Prime New York strip, that's served with scalloped potatoes and steamed vegetables. Everything was delicious and paired perfectly with the Malbec! My partner ordered the bone-in prime rib, which was incredibly tender and juicy--highly recommended! They also surprised us with a birthday treat, which we really appreciated. I made the reservation a month in advance via the OpenTable app. The check-in process was smooth, and we were seated immediately.

My fiancé and I came to celebrate our 8 year Meetaversary! Harris is your classic steakhouse that sticks to their roots and focuses on cooking incredible steaks without any of the extra bells and whistles that just drive up the cost. Upon entering, the ambiance is elegant yet vintage showing why they have been an institution since 1984. Fortunately we had a reservation for 6:30pm and were seated immediately. The staff was very welcoming and reviewed the specials not listed on the menu. We tried the calamari which was not bad, but when we received the check and found out it was $22 we likely would not get it again at that price. The tomato bisque however was fantastic and went really well with the house bread rolls. The next time I come back I'll have to try the Deep Fried Mushrooms and Onion Rings since that looked amazing.For the main course she ordered the Bone-in ribeye with the scalloped potatoes and I got the Porterhouse steak with a side of the Truffle Madeira sauce. Both steaks were cooked to a perfect medium rare and I love the flavor of the slight char on the edges. I appreciate being able to taste the meatier NY Strip side and then taking a break and feeling the tenderness of the filet mignon side. It honestly just melted in your mouth with every bite which was incredible. However, we both agreed that the ribeye was superior. Unlike the Porterhouse which needed the sauce to elevate the flavor, the ribeye was purely fantastic on its own, while being vastly more juicy and more tender than the NY strip side of the Porterhouse. 10/10 would always come back for the ribeye. Plus the scalloped potatoes complimented everything so well.We really enjoyed our experience since the food was amazing, the staff was attentive, and the price didn't break the bank. It is not cheap, but I've certainly paid significantly more at other places and didn't enjoy it as much as Harris. Great job and can't wait to come back for more!

This place has such a lovely atmosphere! It was so wonderful to celebrate a friend. We had a reservation for a group and were led to their lovely backroom. They also had live music but it wasn't too loud but created a classy atmosphere. Good place for conversations!I had the filet mignon medium rare which was cooked really well. So tender and buttery. I'm so happy the house potatoes that day were scalloped- my favorite!! The peas on the side was quite delicious too. Service was kind and attentive. But the wait for steak was like an hour. I understand we were a group, but steak came like at least an hour later after we ordered, like at 845. I was quite starving. But the bread was good.I wish there was a check-in from the staff on why the food was too late or if we were doing something 'wrong' - like are you waiting for us to finish the caesar salad that no one wanted to finish. I know it's etiquette but I wouldn't want the steak to wait just because the salad's still on the table.

I think it's the best restaurant in the city. Great food and service. I split the Harris steak. The steak was cooked at a perfect medium. Very delicious. For my side I got the baked potato. The server prepared the baked potatoes at the table. The Ceaser salad dressing was house made. The dressing was garlicky and you could take the anchovies. For my drink I ordered a Shirley temple. I felt like ordering an old school drink.We were celebrating a birthday and ordered a baked Alaska. The meringue was very good. The mix of cold from the ice cream and torched meringue is a good balance of flavors. I will come back again.

Good steak and willing to let us share a large steak. Decent service, very traditional ambiance... kind of awkward that all the busboys are people of color and the servers are all white men. I wish some of the sides they used to serve pre Covid like the mac and cheese would come back, but other than that the steak is solid. The vegi was a bit plain and over cooked.