Category Archives: California

Burgers, California, Latin/Mexican & Caribbean, Restaurant Reviews

San Diego

November 6, 2024 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I took a short trip to San Diego to celebrate a friend’s retirement from the Navy, so we spent a bunch of time walking around, eating and drinking our way through the city.

Here’s what we tried:

Donut Bar

This spot was pretty good. We liked the lemon pistachio better than the raspberry cheesecake.

Tacos El Gordo

Great spot for tacos, and reasonably priced considering that this place gets a lot of hype and crowds. The al pastor tacos was the winner for us, but we also tried cabeza (face), lengua (tongue) and tripe.

Mike Hess Brewery

The barrel aged Vietnamese coffee stout was our favorite.

San Diego Burger Co.

This wasn’t that good. Skip this joint. I had high hopes, but the patty was a little under seasoned and the bun was dry and crumbled.

Dinner at Greystone Prime Steakhouse is detailed HERE.

Senor Taquero

This spot was probably my favorite place to eat of the entire trip. I wish we had some regular tacos here too. They were so cheap (3 for $7.99)! The rolled chicken tacos and adobado burrito were killer. The churro had a nice vanilla pudding type of filling inside.

Ballast Point Brewery

We had a short pit stop here while we were waiting for Swagyu to open. Speedboat was like a corona with a lime in it. Refreshing.

Swagyu

This was great but pricey at $23. I’d much rather have gone back to Senor Taquero to try the tacos.

The World Famous I-Bar

This is where the retirement party was held. The bar was the inspiration for the scenes in the movie Maverick that take place in the Air Force bar on base. Very cool spot.

Not bad for a weekend trip! We hit a lot of spots.

California, Porterhouse, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Greystone Prime Steakhouse

November 5, 2024 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Greystone Prime Steakhouse overall score: 80

My wife and I came here with another couple when we were in San Diego. We tried a bunch of shit, so let me get right into it…

Flavor: 8

We shared a porterhouse for two and a 20oz bone-in rib eye among three people.

The Porterhouse was a 7/10. The strip side had some grey-banding on the edges, and was definitely a bit toothsome in parts. The filet side, however, was magnificent. The only down side was that it lacked the flavor that the strip side had.

The rib eye ate almost like cured ham. It was cooked a bit under, but none of us minded. It was lean in the eye, but there was a ton of flavor in the cap. 8/10.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9

There’s a good selection of cuts here; wet aged, dry aged, large format, single cuts, everything. Everything is also prime grade. The numerous selections available are why I chose this place over others in the area.

Portion Size & Plating: 8

The portions here were good, and measured up nicely with what I expect from a NYC steakhouse, only a bit cheaper on the budget by about five or ten bucks, which was a nice change of pace.

Price: 8

The total bill was $713 with tax and tip included. As I mentioned above, this would be up a bit if it were in NYC.

Bar: 6

The bar here is actually nice, but the bar tender sucked. He was ignoring my wife when she tried to order (three times), and the drinks were sloppily made. Two of our glasses had massive cracks in them too, and the one we had at the bar as just dumped hastily into a new glass, not re-made from scratch. Cocktails were meh too. Could use some work!

Specials and Other Meats: 9

I had to jump at this elk chop dish.

It turned out to be my favorite item of the meal. It was a nice lean but flavorful cross between lamb and venison. 9/10.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8

We should have ordered our sides better, because the elk came with both mashed potatoes and spinach, and we ordered bot mashed potatoes and creamed spinach. They were all pretty good, but the versions on the composed elk chops dish were better.

For dessert, we tried a yuzu cheese cake and a delicious chocolate and peanut butter mousse pie that was perfect.

Seafood Selection: 9

Delicious tower for four, which included massive shrimp, a whole lobster, oysters, and tuna tartare.

Service: 8

Service was great at the table, but less than desirable at the bar. The bread came after our appetizers, which was odd, but we were glad it came. It was tasty with a whipped, soft garlic and herb butter.

Ambiance: 7

Ambiance could use a little kick in the balls, as the place glows neon red and purple at times. It feels sort of like a club. But over all it was a good vibe, and I’m glad we went. Here’s the other couple below – we were celebrating his retirement from the Navy.

GREYSTONE PRIME STEAKHOUSE
658 Fifth Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101

California, Other Cuts, Steakhouse Reviews

House of Prime Rib

June 10, 2019 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

House of Prime Rib overall score: 86

I’ve been dying to try House of Prime Rib ever since I had an awesome experience at the similar style prime rib cart joint, Lawry’s, in Chicago. My stop over in San Francisco after to going to Belcampo Meat Camp afforded me the opportunity to finally try it.

Here’s the verdict: NEARLY as good as Lawry’s but not quite there. Read on to see why.

Flavor: 9

The beef here is delicious. A bit more crisp on the edges and a little more uniform cook on the eye, and this would have been a perfect 10/10. I was with a group of three total, so we tried the King Louis (with the bone), the English Cut, and the House of Prime Rib cut.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8

Despite being focused primarily on prime rib, this place is pretty great in terms of size and style choices. Unlike Lawry’s, which also offers a rib eye steak and a filet, House of Prime Rib sticks to just prime rib. Makes sense. This is not a bad thing when the prime rib is so good.

Portion Size & Plating: 10

Portions here are big for the price, and for less than $50 you get a big slab of prime rib along with all your sides for the meal, nicely (although not always neatly) plated together.

Price: 10

Amazing meal for less than $50. You really can’t beat it for this level of quality unless you have a Lawry’s in your area. If you finish your prime rib, they’ll even offer you an additional slice on the house if you eat it there at the table (you can’t take it to go).

Bar: 8

This place has a nice fun stretch of bar and serves the full menu there as well.

They make a nice martini and leave the pint glass and shaker top there for you to drain every last ounce of booze from your pour as well. I like that. Perhaps a signature cocktail or a cocktail list would bring this up to Lawry’s level though.

Specials and Other Meats: 7

There are no specials or other meats, so buckle up and enjoy the ride. As I said with Lawry’s, the prime rib is the special. I can dig it.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 7

The apps and sides here are a bit lacking in comparison to Lawry’s. The Yorshire pudding wedge was good but a bit flimsy and it had no crisp or texture to it. The creamed corn was delicious though, and I enjoyed the creamed spinach as well. The mashed potatoes are meh, but the baked potato is huge and comes with a shitload of bacon!

The spinning salad here is presented very similar to Lawry’s, similar salad overall, right down to the beets, eggs and house seasoning being used in it as well.

To be fair, I don’t know who did it first: Lawry’s or House of Prime Rib. Either way I love it.

For dessert we tried the English Trifle and the Fantasy Cake (chocolate mousse with cheesecake). Both were great!

Contrast this parfait style trifle with the more cake style trifle from Lawry’s. Both good. But I think I liked this one a little better actually.

Seafood Selection: 8

Another spot where House of Prime Rib beats out Lawry’s is the seafood realm. They have a whole fish item on the entree menu, which is nice for the ladies or the sprawled beta cucks in your dining party.

Service: 10

The people working here are true professionals. The waitresses aren’t 1950’s style actresses like Lawry’s, but they go out of their way to make your meal excellent. The chefs even allowed us to take their photo, and photos of the meat cart as well.

Our waitress overheard us saying that we’d like to try the creamed corn as well. We were trying to decide who would order it with their entree and she just offered it up on the house. Awesome.

Also worth mentioning here is the fact that the prime rib comes with way more varieties of horseradish and cream sauces that Lawry’s, in addition to extra au jus (and the entree slice after you finish). They had mild, medium, strong, tabasco, and pickled horseradish. I loved them all!

Table bread was this delicious warm loaf of sourdough:

Ambiance: 9

This place is great. It feels like you’re dining in someone’s huge mansion-like home. Very similar to Lawry’s in Chicago, only less “grand” in scope and ceiling height. I only dinged them a point here because the dining room was too warm. I was nearly sweating.

HOUSE OF PRIME RIB
1906 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94109

American, Burgers, California, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, NY Strip, Restaurant Reviews

The Saratoga

June 8, 2019 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This nicely appointed San Francisco eatery serves up some pretty fun grub.

We tried a bunch of stuff, so let me get right down to business.

Toga Tots

These brick-like tots were stacked, Jenga style. They had an awesomely crisp outside and a soft, mashed potato-esque inside. Topped with cheddar, chorizo and cilantro. Perfect.

Seven Spice Chicken Slider

These were pretty good. I really liked the Alabama white sauce and dill pickles.

Cubano Frank

This wonderful mashup between a Cuban sandwich and a hot dog was my favorite dish of the meal. Slow roasted pork, swiss cheese and spiced relish.

The Saratoga Burger

This baby was served with taleggio cheese and slaw on an onion bun. Pretty good! But after coming off of a Causwell’s burger high, we weren’t blown away.

Dry-Aged Flannery Beef NY Steak

For years I’ve heard great things about Flannery Beef. I had high hopes. This was really tough. I think they served us a hanger steak too – not a NY strip (I even asked and they confirmed NY strip). No way. I know beef texture and this was more like hanger and not remotely like striploin. The sauce was good but the beef was difficult to eat. 4/10.

Tomato Braised Tuscan Kale

Not my cup of tea here. Probably should have ordered the mushrooms or spring peas instead. This tasted like heartburn in each bite.

Ho Hos

These were fun! Definitely tasted just like a classic ho ho, but much better and elevated. Winner.

Chartreuse

The staff was awesome here. The owner saw that we were all taking pics for Instagram so he gave us a round of yellow and green chartreuse on the house. We barely touched them, however, since none of us particularly liked either of them. Bitter, and tasted like cough medicine. I realize this spirit is an acquired taste though, and I respect that this joint has one of the largest collections of chartreuse available in the world. Pretty cool. Just not my taste.

Their cocktails, however, are delicious. Here’s a shot of the Vieux Carre, which was delicious:

THE SARATOGA
1000 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

Burgers, California, Diner, Restaurant Reviews

Shari’s Cafe & Pies

June 8, 2019 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This roadside stop in Red Bluff is like an improved mom and pop style Denny’s. We stopped in mainly to try the pies, but we couldn’t resist trying some of the savory items too.

First, the marble rye patty melt:

This was nice, and I liked the idea of it, but after coming off of the perfect patty melt at Pinecrest Diner in SF, we were underwhelmed.

Philly Style Prime Rib Dip

This was okay. Nothing to go nuts over, and a bit light on the meat. The fries and tots were good though.

Now on to the pies.

The butterscotch pie was probably the most well liked at the table. Really great texture and flavor.

I wanted more from the s’mores crunch pie, but ultimately I would house these, slice after slice, with ease.

The strawberry and rhubarb pie with vanilla ice cream was perfection. I usually don’t love fruit pies but this one was fucking fantastic.

Definitely stop here if you’re driving by. Stick with the pies!

SHARI’S CAFE & PIES
128 Bell Mill Road
Red Bluff, CA 96080

American, Burgers, California, Restaurant Reviews

YAKS on the 5

June 7, 2019 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This roadside dining spot was referred to us by the folks at Belcampo Meat Camp as a fun place for good burgers.

We tried their famous warm sticky bun first. This was deadly delicious.

Next up, some wings. I thought these were a little on the sweet side, but I appreciated the smoke flavor.

We tried the jalapeno and cheddar burger, which was really tasty despite looking like pure foodporn. Loved the addition of ranch here to cool it down, and the local beef happened to come from a guy’s family farm who we just met (he now works for Belcampo now, but this place uses his family’s grass finished beef). Great beef.

The cajun brown sugar tots were strangely addictive! I could not stop popping them.

YAKS ON THE 5
4917 Dunsmuir Avenue
Dunsmuir, CA 96025

Burgers, California, Diner, Restaurant Reviews

Pinecrest Diner

June 7, 2019 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I didn’t eat much here other than having a bite of this awesome patty melt that was served on delicious rye bread.

This little spot is a classic American no-frills diner.

Worth checking out, but be warned: they do generate a line outside.

PINECREST DINER
401 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

Burgers, California

Causwell’s

June 7, 2019 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Before heading to San Francisco my friends and I poked around and did some research on where to get a good burger. One place that kept popping up was Causwell’s.

Our research proved correct: this places serves a great burger!

Their Americana burger is a nice Big Mac style double smash that really satisfies. The fries are great too.

We also tried their Loco Moco burger, a nice tribute to the Hawaiian ground beef, rice, onion, cheese and gravy plate.

This was really great, and it embodied all those flavors that you expect from the Hawaiian classic. I just wish it came with a cup of gravy for dipping with each bite. We had fried onions with this, which were really nice and crisp. Shredded style.

I highly recommend this if you find yourself in that beautiful disaster of a city known as San Francisco.

CAUSWELL’S
2346 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA 94123

Burgers, California

In N Out

June 7, 2019 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I finally tried In n Out, the craze of the west coast!

I went with the double double, animal style.

I approve! The burger has an awesome classic roadside style, but the sauce is what really sets it apart from others. The fries need some work, however. They just lack crunch and depth. They taste like cheap frozen fries that you baked in the oven instead of fried. A little dry. A little unseasoned. A little boring.