John’s Grill

Went here after a couple of months of avoiding it as I am more interested in feeding the soul Han he belly for my dinners while in SF on business travel. An I should have kept away. Not that it is bad, but the live music I better across the street. The food here is much better, but I only was eating a salad. I would come again once off a diet, but until then it is off my list of spots to eat at.

Super old-​school charm and food to match. Had the calves liver and onions and it was delicious.

This place was all right for what they would charge you comparable to what other steak/​seafood houses will charge you in the city. Quality of their meats were decent but in term of flavor and overall taste they were OK. I can make a mean steak better than Mastro’s so I know my steak. These guys can’t even compare.
Would I go back, probably not. Again-​the food isn’t that bad. it’s ok.

I can’t recall how many times I’ve walked past this place as I was lugging bags from going wild at Westfield. To be honest with you, it’s probably the last on my list to try around Union Square area or in general. It’s always that one place with some dude in front trying to lure you in as if you’re a tourist. Stumbled upon this place on a weekend for the after-​Christmas sales, every place was packed with 30+ minute wait. I was craving for a steak and wasn’t feeling a Tad’s Steak (gets the job done, but cravings will return shortly) or Lark’s Creek (I’ve spent enough this month). So I ended up here since there were many slots on OpenTable for ~$ 30 steak. Not a bad choice if you were out here casually shopping, the restaurant is a bit narrow, was a bit hard to fit my bags with all these sales going on. The place looked so traditional, I could almost ask an invisible cousin sitting at the table to pass me the bread while my invisible grandma ask where is my significant other at dinner.
Ordered a ribeye and creamed spinach on the side. I didn’t trust them fixing my steak to medium rare so I ordered rare in case they overdo it. My meat came out so pink, I could almost match it with my nails! They actually were able to prepare the meat just right. The seasoning was your traditional salt and pepper, just enough to bring out the meat’s original taste. I liked it a lot actually, just simple and warming. Not as warming as it would have been if I ordered it medium rare though. The steak dinner also came with a baked potato and grilled veggies. The creamed spinach was a bit lacking, too single flavored, missing some type of spice and shallot. Needed a bit more aroma. Overall, dinner was great, it felt just like a holiday dinner on TV.

I’d give it a 3.5, but I’ll round up because of the sentimental value this place holds for me. This is a Christmas restaurant. Every memory I have here is from Christmas time, and it’s always decked to the nines.
Everything I’ve had here has been awesome: the lobster ravioli, the fisherman’s pasta, the snapper, the salmon, the steak… the list goes on.
The only bother is that because I’ve only been here around Christmas time, my only memories of John’s Grill come with an egregiously long wait and being seated in a cramped restaurant. I suspect that they are not always as busy as they are on Christmas Eve, but on the occasions that I’ve been, we’ve needed to wait for ~15−20 minutes even with a reservation. A few times, we had given up on our reservation and eaten at the bar. However, the service is quick to make up for the wait… although it is sometimes so quick that we feel rushed. I still won’t hold this against them though… it’s a San Francisco staple. They do what they do well, and they’ve been doing it for over a century.

Over rated, even thought it’s an famous steak house but the quality didn’t add up. And the waiter bring the check back for adding «gratuity» because we have an 3 years old kid + 4 adults. My boy didn’t even eat at all. Expensive and food quality just okay.

It could be worth the price.
The seafood was perfect. The steak as ordered. And the service excellent.
And it is a historical place with the Maltese Falcon.
On Saturday night there was live music.
So, what’s not to like?
The second floor dining room had un finished drywall patches on it. Just a few, But, still.
The vegetables came out cold.
The live music had a sax player with a mic stuck in the bell of his horn. I could hear the people talking at the tables on either side of me, but not my date unless we were shouting. Well, when the sax wasn’t playing we could talk.
The tables are a bit narrow, so you wind up sitting closer to the people at the tables next to you than your dinning partner.

Great spot to go when shopping Union Square area. Such a nice setting, great service and a restaurant with a lot of history.
We started with great cocktails. We split two salads between four of us, they plated them so we could share. I had the seafood cioppino, a very generous plate of prawns, fish, scallops, excellent. The steaks were perfectly prepared, and the chicken Jerusalem was delicious. Old school done right, no wonder this restaurant is still popular. We will be going back.

What a wonderful surprise to stumble upon this charming, elegant and classic restaurant.
My family and I had been shopping for ornaments at Gump’s, an annual holiday tradition and were seeking a special place for lunch to celebrate the season.
We were smitten from the moment we stepped inside with the festive and tasteful holiday lights and decorations and old school dark wood panels, hardwood floors and cozy tables with antique lighting.
The food was great and the service as well. Our Waiter, Gary, was thoughtful and gracious and the food and service were excellent.

Been here before and enjoyed our evening’s meal! Lots of nostalgia, after all the restaurants been open for well over 100 year. Lastly, the Maltese Falcon was penned there!
This visit was prearranged by our hotels concierge, well let’s just say it wasn’t handled correctly at all, which wasn’t JG’s problem or doing! However, after speaking with the Maitre-‘d he quickly took action, within 10 minutes all was well!
Our meal, her filet was wonderful, cut with one Knive stroke and deliciously medium rare. The Johns Steak, was the toughest piece of meat I’ve ever had at a high end chop house! So I had them take it away & ordered the filet as well! The pairing itself was perfect and our special desert was superb!
Other then our arrival which was quickly remedied and not JG’s fault. My cut of meat was the sole issue of the night. Which is a big problem, in my book.
Still a 4 out of 5 stars.

Upon entering John’s Grill, you will be greeted by oak-​paneled walls with portraits of all the famous people who have dined at this historic restaurant since it opened in 1908. With over 100 years of experience delivering delicious food, John’s Grill continues to impress the diners with its signature steak and seafood dishes.
Share a platter of Fried Combination Seafood, which includes fresh sea scallops, jumbo prawns, oysters, and fish battered in herbed bread crumbs and fried to crispy perfection. The platter is served with creamy tartar sauce and tangy cocktail sauce. For main, order the Lamp Lighter, a filet of sole stuffed with lumps of dungeness crab and baby shrimp, and then bake in lemon butter sauce. The steak cuts range from well-​seasoned filet mignon to porterhouse, and served with seasonal vegetables and baked Idaho potato.
Hope you saved room for dessert — John’s Grill serves rich, dense New York Cheesecake with raspberry coulis, fresh berries, and a side of sweet cream. What a sweet way to cap off your meal!

This is a good option in the area for quality clam chowder. On a Saturday evening the restaurant was filled to the brim but there was space at the lively bar. There is a cocktail menu and nice selection of wine by the glass which are poured almost too amply by the bartender. The meal started with a basket of chewy, fresh sourdough bread and butter. The clam chowder bowl was presented with fresh ground pepper. It was piping hot, relatively thick and savory if not borderline salty. It was quite heavy on the clam and overall satisfying. This place had a romantic and timeless feel and is beautifully decorated. The service was perfect. Don’t let the nearby street construction deter you.

This was expensive, crowded, and the tables were so packed together it was hard to move. However, service was great, food was fabulous, and we had an excellent time.
We parked in the garage right across the street.
Also, we had just come from the Golden Gate Theatre and our tickets were good at John’s Grill for 1 free glass of wine or a Martini, so that was a very good Perc.

Turn around. Don’t enter. I love expensive Steak houses and willing to pay extra for the quality. This place has a low rating for a high end place and it should. It sucked. The ratings need to be lower. The steak was chewy overcooked cowhide and expensive. The service to wait was terrible and the waiter server was equally bad. Come here if you want to spend a lot of money in SF, but don’t come here to eat. You will not like it.

It’s the rare 100+ year old restaurant that’s still good, and John’s is one of those. It’s old-​fashioned — very old-​fashioned — and that’s a big part of it’s charm. Grilled meat and fish, and that’s about it. All in a room that Sam Spade would still feel comfortable in.
A couple of caveats: weekend crowds can be pretty fierce, so make a reservation; and don’t let the seat you in the awful third-​floor room. It has the charm of a cheesy hotel banquet room, and it smells bad. Even the second floor is okay, but not the third.
Food and drinks are good, the staff is great, so take care of business, set your expectations, and have fun.
P. S. The Maltese Falcon in the second floor display case is not the original movie prop, but it is still cool.

Mit einer kleinen Gruppe Kollegen ging es zum Steak essen und so landeten wir hier.
Das Restaurant wirkt von außen etwas unscheinbar, ist aber urig eingerichtet und erinnert an einen kleinen Italiener vom Stil her. Die Bestuhlung und die Tische sind sehr eng gestellt, so dass man dem Nachbarn sehr nahe kommt.
Die Karte bietet alles, was das Steakherz höher schlagen lässt. Preislich rutscht das Herz dann aber auch schnell wieder in die Hose, da die Preise für San Francisco sicherlich normal sind, für deutsche Verhältnisse aber hoch.
Ich wählte die Cannelloni mit Gemüse, welche gut war und preislich vollkommen ok.
Meine Kollegen waren vom Steak begeistert. Dann hatte sich der Besuch ja schon gelohnt.
Was auffiel, die Beilagen waren auf allen Tellern gleich. Ein paar grüné Bohnen, Karotten und Brokkoli. Nicht sehr originell.
Der Service war freundlich, aber aufgrund der Fülle im Restaurant nicht immer präsent.
Ingesamt war der Besuch für mich ok. Pasta ist vielleicht nicht das, was man hier essen sollte, aber auf Steak war mir an dem Tag nicht.

Honestly, for the price and the wait, this was less than OK for me. I come from the land of beef/​cattle, so I committed a cardinal sin by ordering a steak outside of Texas, but it’s also really difficult for me to turn down Surf & Turf at a place that delivers both.
I should have just stuck with the surf!
We started with raw oysters which were also pretty disappointing… they were fresh, but tiny, which I was only ok with because the price point was reasonable.
I ordered the surf and turf, but my steak, ordered medium rare, was barely pink and I had to saw through tendons/​gristle even with the steak knife in hand. That was extremely disappointing. I would have caused more of a stink about the state of my steak if I wasn’t sitting in a tiny corner where our waiter couldn’t even get to us because of the crowded table situation. He literally handed us menus across the backs of diners sitting at the two adjoining tables.
Services was impeccable. Our waiter was definitely on top of things and I’m sure he would have made it right had I said something about my meal, but when you’re edging toward 10 pm, the last thing you want to do is wait for another plate to be brought out/​corrected.
My recommendations for this place would be:
1. Take some tables out. You should NEVER have to sit at a table that you can’t easily get into/​out of or be properly waited on. The dining experience would just be that much better seeing as how fewer tables equals fewer diners which also means that the noise level would decrease (it was almost hard to hear yourself think).
2. Don’t skimp on beef if you’re a steakhouse. Never, ever, ever, ever should a steakhouse serve a steak that has to be sawed through. The cut of the meat was just bad, no other way of slicing it (ba dum dum, ching!)
3. Figure out a way to make the bar easily accessible. If I’m going to have to wait upwards of 30 minutes to be seated, I should be able to enjoy a drink. It helps me and it helps you make more money off of me. Win win. The bar was so cramped you could barely even get to it, not to mention that the unfortunate diners having to sit next to the bar were not able to sneeze without hitting someone. That drops your dining experience down significantly. Bottom line, if you’re charging on average $ 50 a head for a drink and a plate, the atmosphere should reflect that.

What a great location and amazing food. It can be hard to find but its on Ellis right around the corner from the Apple Store. The customer service was top notch and everyone was very attentive. I probably saw 3 different servers which included a gentleman filling up my water. Jeremy was patient with my indecisiveness to order and offered up his recommendations no problem.
This was a recommendation from the staff at the Marriott Marquis and I couldn’t have been happier. I went here for lunch on Labor Day Monday and was seated right away.
This place has a great vibe and nice ambiance for a casual lunch or romantic dinner although the lightening at the tables was more dim than what I am used to and I used my light on my phone to help with the menu.
I ordered an appetizer, soup, entrée and dessert.
The sourdough bread basket is fresh and and pairs perfectly with the homemade clam chowder .
One of the best clam chowders I had while visiting SF. The bowl is huge and very filling .
The shrimp cocktail was delicious and the cocktail sauce had a perfect balance. The shrimp are huge and you get 4 for $ 11.95.
My entrée was Sams lamb chops and while I debated about the fish entrees this entrée was perfect. You get a lot of food for your money here. My meal came with 4 chops, a baked potato and veggies. The succulent lamb chops were cooked to perfection and balanced nicely with a dry rub. I also ordered a side of mushrooms which were good but nothing spectacular .
For dessert I decided to go with the cheesecake and requested chocolate sauce instead of rasberry sauce. They made the switch no problem. I will for sure visit Johns in the future. Again one of the best chowders and amazing staff. Thanks for asking my dining experience great and for being so welcoming.

I was in the union square area and decided to stop by John’s grill for lunch today. An interesting assortment of patrons: two tables down was former Mayor Willie Brown; one table down, tourists with their tour books; and the table in front us — two uniformed police officer having a sit down lunch.
I had the Dungeness Crab Louis for a light lunch — it did not disappoint. Plating style was a bit dated but the salad was fine.

Wir wollten ein schönes Steak essen aber keine Lust in ein allzu vornehmes, steifes Steakhouse zu gehen (weil wir schon leicht einen sitzen hatten vom Teameavent:-)). Ein ausgiebige Recherché bei Unilocal hat uns dann in den John’s Grill nur 400m entfernt vom Hotel gehen lassen. Es hat sich als gute Wahl herausgestellt.
Das Lokal ist schön urig eingerichtet mit vielen schwarz-​weiß Bildern von Promis und Gästen an der Wand. Den Laden gibt es seit rund 100 Jahren und man hat das Gefühl dass die Wände hier schon viel miterlebt haben.
Es gibt keine riesige Auswahl, nur 6 verschiedene Steaks von Filet bis Porterhouse — alles in USDA Qualität. Ich hatte ein Filet Mignon (10oz/​ca. 280gr) für 39 USD inkl. Ofenkartoffel und Gemüse. Da kann man garnix sagen. Dazu gab es einen Cabernet aus Napa — der hat mir nicht so geschmeckt für die 16 Dollar pro Glas aber dafür kann das Lokal nix.
Der Service war nett und flott.
Insgesamt würde ich wieder hingehen wenns ein gutes Steak in uriger, unprätentiöser Atmosphäre zu einem guten Preis sein soll! Es ist aber kein High-​end Steakhouse.

Our group of four on the 8pm dinner reservation unexpectedly grew to six when we arrive but the hostess was able to easily accommodate the change despite what looked to be a pretty full house for this later hour of the evening. We were shown to a table tucked in a corner of the second floor next to the hostess stand which proved to be loud and distracting at times during our meal. The stairs looked to continue up at least another floor so there must be lots of room in this old building.
Having a member in our party named John, several of us just defaulted to ordering dishes with his namesake in the title. I ended up starting with a Caesar salad ala John and dining on John’s bone in strip steak for my main paired with a couple of bottles of John’s Cabernet. I thought the service was spotty and found myself on several occasions with an empty water glass looking for a refill.
My salad was huge and I ended up splitting it with a colleague. It was quite fresh and I loved what I think were homemade croutons. They did come around with fresh ground pepper to top it off as well.
My strip steak arrived in a reasonable timeframe after the salad and cooked to my preferred medium rare temperature. My initial reaction was that the plate it was served on was cold and with its light weight may have been made of plastic?! Not my expectations for a $ 37 steak. The meat itself was flavorful though and I enjoyed it. I skipped the baked potato and doubled down on the veggies. The mix of green beans and leafy broccoli was also enjoyable and quickly disappeared. Our wine turned out to be quite pleasant and paired well with the steak. At $ 39, I thought it was a good deal.
For dessert, we split a couple of cheesecakes and a flan. The little round cheesecake with fresh berries turned out to be the highlight of the meal for me and really delicious. I didn’t sample the flan but others mentioned it was very light and melted in your mouth. I think that’s good.

Fantastic service, huge portions, great food, expensive price tag.
Fisherman’s pasta was generous in portion, it could probably feed 3. Steak was well cooked, love the side of brocollini. Clam chowder was okay, but my expectations are way higher due to the hype, and it disappointed me slightly.
The menu is definitely way overpriced. Feels too much like a tourist trap.

ein wenig dunkel und eng, aber sad Steak war sehr gut, genau auf den punkt wie ich es mag.

J’ai vraiment trouvé ça pas mal ! Je garde un souvenir ému de cet endroit a San Francisco: mon premier martini blanc avec olive parce que je veux faire comme Blake Lively dans Gossip Girl. Ouais, ben Blake Lively grosse mytho! Moi j’ai fallu mourir a la première gorgée (et dieu sait –ainsi que mon banquier, mes copines et mon mec-​, que je tiens bien l’alcool). C’était un martini croisé avec du gin et effectivement une brochette d’olives. C’était très fort, et je pense avoir senti des larmes sur mes joues a un moment. Sinon c’était drôle :D.
Blague a part, la nourriture est plutôt potable — ILS NE SERVENT PAS QUE DES BURGERS HOURRA — et surtout, ils font club de jazz a leurs heures perdues ! Et pour y être allée pendant une soirée jazzy, c’était vraiment chouette!
Vaut le coup si vous recherchez un endroit jazzy ou l’on mange pas que de la junk food et a prix raisonnable!

Originelle Atmosphäre, aber extrem eng und ungemütlich. Steaks und Seafood sind ok, die Beilagen dagegen einfallslos. Immerhin gibt’s Bier vom Fass. Wie so viele Lokale in der Gegend ist auch John’s auf schnellen Umsatz ausgelegt, die Preise sind für die gebotene Qualität in Ordnung.