Excellent Traditional San Francisco Dining
Written: Dec 01 '00 (Updated Jun 26 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: traditional feel, solid food, careful service, reliable!
Cons: Moderately expensive. Do not come here if you’re in a rush.
The Bottom Line: If meals mean conversation and comfort along with food, then you cannot do better than Harris’.
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| Ozdachs's Full Review: Harris' Restaurant |
You dine at Harris'. You're not simply eating out. An evening here reminds us why we live in The City. It's a place for talking, relaxing, and enjoying your companions.
The décor and atmosphere says it all. Comfortable booths, pastoral murals, and dark quieting wood help you savor the fine food.
If you want hip, fast, or loud, you won't like the traditional quality here. However, if you need a date with your partner after a "normal" hellacious week, or if you want to show your friends from Austin why you pay so high prices for housing in San Francisco, then Harris' is indispensable.
Reservations are a must in order to sit in the main dining room – where is where you want to be. You can generally get your pick of times a week in advance, and often there are early or later tables available with no advance reservations. You’re seated close to the reservation time – since Harris’ doesn’t rush people any delay feels like it’s probably caused by lingerers rather than it being a planned wait loop.
The lounge has live instrumental music on weekends, but the bar area is comfortable enough even without added that activity.
Food:Harris' forte is red meat. They do traditional beef in classic style, and there are rotating interesting specials of buffalo, deer, or some other game. Their preparation is excellent, and they give you all of the accouterments which most modern restaurants ignore. Ground – not just creamed – horseradish should be standard at all fine restaurants, but Harris’ is the only place we know of where the servers knowledgeably still offer it as a condiment. All steaks can be peppered, degrees of doneness are taken seriously, and requests for specific preparations are handled as a matter of course.
I do not eat seared mammal flesh myself, yet the restaurant is my favorite. The chicken, seafood, and occasional lobster with clams are reliably well done. This is one steakhouse that smiles – not sneers – when serving other fare. For me, sometimes a selection of appetizers just hits the spot. Their fresh Dungeness crab starter becomes a meal when ordered with a side of spinach and a baked potato.
Their onion rings are crisp, warm, and reassuringly greasy. One order for the table can sate hunger while another listed appetizer – the Harris martini – eases the conversation. We prefer their spinach or mixed green salad with Roquefort when we’re in a green mood.
Their dessert list is usually small, but satisfying. The taste and texture of the banana baked Alaska is outstanding – even if the dish comes to the table without flame. Their chocolate offerings please without being overwhelming. Most of the sorbets are too sweet for my tart tongue, but the ice creams are rich and tasty.
Their menu includes extensive wines and prodigious variety of other alcohol. It’s reassuring to order whatever comes to mind and know that Harris’ has it. From trendy Tanqueray Ten to old fashioned black sambuca Harris’ has been stocked to meet our whims.
Service:Harris’ staff is professional, friendly, crisp, and blessedly knowledgeable. Some reviews have suggested that the service is somewhat stuffy. Well, your server doesn’t sit down next to you and share that his name is "Bob". If that is stuffy, then oh well. However, the staff members know their jobs. The servers understand their menu, and they are helpful without becoming part of your dining group.
The restaurant has a working and visible manager, a maitre d', people to seat you, waiters, and bus staff. They work together and the evening is smooth. However, the staff are also comfortable leaving you alone to drink, eat, and linger.
The auxiliary service is generally good. The barmen are quick, pleasant, and attentive. However, while the valet parking is relatively cheap – $7 in June, 2005 – it is slow. On cold nights, the wait for getting you car back is unpleasantly long.
Decor: Harris’ is unabashedly old San Francisco. You remember eating here with your grandparents on a special occasion when you were six. The largeness of the main room and its fixtures is solid without being ornate or really even grand. The room reeks of "Fine Restaurant". That mood comforts me but might frighten others.
Special Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations:Harris’ is night out with friend(s). If meals mean conversation and comfort along with food, then you cannot do better than Harris’.
June 26, 2006 - We're still going to Harris' and still enjoying it! Our opinion has been reinforced -- not changed -- over the years.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Ozdachs
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Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 1 member
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