One of my friends had recently returned from a trip to Tokyo, having lost 15 pounds due to the fact that all he could afford to eat was noodle soup and sweet potatoes on a stick. A bunch of us had always wanted to try this restaurant, so we promptly arranged a dinner to reintroduce our buddy to the joys of red meat and fatten him up a little.

Due to a fluctuating number of potential diners in our group, I had to call and change the reservation four times -- but the staff dealt with our flakiness matter-of-factly. I think a small party could probably get a table here without a reservation on a slow night, but it's safer to call ahead especially for a large party. We saw a couple of 10+ parties being accomodated gracefully at long tables. You can park in the lot at the Holiday Inn across the street, but actually the $7 valet parking is a lot cheaper even with tip.

The San Francisco Ruth's Chris is very unassuming from the outside, housed in the corner of a concrete building on a charmless Van Ness intersection, but it's warm and masculine on the inside. The entire restaurant is panelled in the classic steakhouse dark woods, with rather dim lighting. The bar is detached from the dining room, is uncrowded if not very friendly (the bartender did chores for 10 minutes rather than serving me), and some people appeared to be simply enjoying a drink there instead of waiting for a table. Most of the other diners seemed to be groups of businesspeople, most of them in their 30's, some unfortunately talking on their cellphones. If you're looking for a frou-frou restaurant for a romantic date, this is not the place. It's also not at all specifically "San Francisco" in feel -- which can be a good thing every once in awhile. Especially because this part of the City is cold and foggy in the evenings, I'd suggest you wear something in dark leather or even a business suit with the tie slightly loosened.

One of the other Epinions of this restaurant had mentioned a little lecture about proper meat storage, which I was looking forward to hearing -- but we never got it. Our perky young waitress did tell us about ordering side dishes family-style, but that was pretty much all the canned presentation we got. We briskly ordered our meats (one petite filet, two filets, and a New York strip), couple of kinds of potatoes, and some mushrooms (fiber, dontcha know). We briefly considered getting salads, but decided to rigorously maintain our focus on flesh. With each meat order, the server carefully detailed exactly what "medium rare" means at Ruth's Chris, and specifically confirmed that this is the level of doneness you prefer.

It turns out that the entire cooking technique here consists of broiling meat (and shellfish and the odd mushroom) in copious amounts of pure butter. When the plates come from the kitchen, as they do with dispatch, they are sizzling hot -- unwary diners can risk burns. All four of us found that our steaks were slightly more "done" than the careful descriptions had led us to believe, which surprised us considering how thick they were. It didn't particularly bother us, but strict perfectionists should make their feelings known beforehand.

This was by far the best steak I personally have ever had. The meat was tender, sweet, and utterly free of distracting gristle -- leaving you free to carve perfect slice after perfect slice. People who like their steaks covered in sauces or spices should go elsewhere -- the naked perfection of flesh is the rule at Ruth's Chris. This was also the largest steak I personally have ever had. In fact, I could only finish half of my NY strip (hanging my head in shame) -- to the delight of my husband, who ate the leftovers later that night. I shouldn't have spent my limited appetite on the rich and creamy mashed potatoes, the delightfully crispy shoestrings, and the somewhat slippery mushroom caps -- but I couldn't help sampling the side dishes. I also found room for a whole mini cheesecake, which was slightly in the Sara Lee direction but in a good way -- not one of those superdense monsters a la Eli's. It had a fresh graham-cracker crust, slightly lemony filling attractively swirled, and wasn't too sweet.

Each steak cost about $25, and the final bill without wine came to just under $200 for four. We'd had a lively conversation, if somewhat more subdued than normal due to the slightly conservative, "grown-up" feel of the room. All of us felt that the meal had been well worth the expense -- we left in a cloud of mellow well-being and bonhomie induced by the pleasure of red meat. You wouldn't want to eat here every night -- although one of my buddies, a former management consultant, used to do just that! -- but every once in awhile when you have plenty of time to enjoy yourself, a great steak is a classic treat.

Recommended: Yes

Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: No
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Valet parking. Cheesecake is very good, if not particularly New York style.
Best Suited For: Business