lawrys | Johnny Prime

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

Lawry’s The Prime Rib overall score: 92*

I’d never been to a Lawry’s before. I had heard good things, and of course we all know the seasonings from the grocery store.

But I honestly did not expect it to be as awesome as it was. The Chicago location is not only set in the beautiful historic McCormick mansion, but the prime rib is by far one of the best I’ve ever had. I would fly back tomorrow just for a repeat of this meal if I could.

Flavor: 10

We had the Lawry cut, which is $47 and comes with the famous spinning salad, Yorkshire pudding and mashed potatoes.

We shared this, which is why there’s a vertical emergency C-section scar on the meat in this pic (they plated it separately and I re-joined the meat for the photo).

I was blown away by this. It was so tender and juicy, so much flavor, and an incredible cap. I wish they had a location in NYC. They serve it with two types of horseradish: a cream and raw/grated.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 10

You actually have a pretty great selection of cuts here for a place that mainly focuses on just prime rib. next time I’d like to try the rib eye (roasted prime rib which is then grilled and seared) and maybe the English cut prime rib. They’re missing the strip steak and porterhouse, but who cares. I’m not even going to take points away for that, since you have like 19 sizes of prime rib to choose from.

Portion Size & Plating: 10

Portions here are large and you get a great deal of food for the price. Everything is plated nicely, and the table side service for the spinning salad and prime rib cart is truly awesome.

Price: 10

Despite the silly “share charge” of $15, this place is a friggin steal. For $47 we got the steak, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and a salad.

Bar: 10

Although there is no real street side view or windows to the outside world, the bar and lounge area is breathtaking.

They make a delicious martini with Chopin vodka, where the olives are stuffed with prime rib and horseradish. Awesome.

My wife had one of their signature cocktails with gin and cucumber that was incredibly refreshing on such a hot day.

And they even have a side entrance to the bar room with a speakeasy vibe to it, called Side Door. Their bar menu gives you access to some of the delicious food in Lawry’s, but it is mostly re-thought for snack type dishes and pub food.

Specials and Other Meats: 7

The prime rib is special itself here. No real need for other items to be marketed, and if they were, I didn’t pay attention. They do offer any other entrees aside from beef or fish, and I respect the shit out of that. Take this category’s score with that in mind. In other words, disregard it.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8

We only had what came with our prime rib; namely, the spinning salad, the Yorkshire pudding and the mashed potatoes.

The spinning salad is called that because they spin a cold metal bowl which tossing it. Romaine lettuce, sliced beets and a thousand island style dressing. Very classic.

The Yorkshire pudding is essentially a pop-over, and it was delicious.

Dessert selections are nice. At first we didn’t order anything. We were full.

But they brought us out an English trifle on the house for our anniversary, which is what we were leaning towards anyway. It was really nice and light. Great cake and great jam.

Seafood Selection: 7

There’s definitely something here for you fans of the sea. Salmon and lobster tails, to be exact. And some sides or starters like shrimp cocktail, of course.

Service: 10

Nothing like it. When you go here, you’ll feel like you stepped back in time. White glove service, extremely friendly and attentive waitresses, but not overcrowding or annoying. Very knowledgeable too, I might add. Here’s the inside of that prime rib service cart pictured above. Heaven.