History

House of Prime Rib opened on Van Ness Avenue in 1949 and has served only prime rib continuously since. The salt-crusted dry-roast method, the silver carving carts, the wedge salad spun at the table, the popovers, all are the same as the 1949 menu. Where most American steakhouses moved to a la carte cuts, House of Prime Rib stayed single-dish; it is the city's defining steakhouse experience and the one SF dining tradition no other city replicates.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg

Make it at home

Yield 6Hands-on 30 minTotal 3 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 3kg bone-in prime rib roast (3-bone, fat cap on)
  • 100g coarse rock salt
  • 2 tablespoons black peppercorns, cracked
  • 2 tablespoons dried thyme
  • 2 tablespoons English mustard powder
  • For the creamed spinach: 600g spinach blanched and chopped, 50g butter, 2 tablespoons flour, 300ml whole milk, half teaspoon nutmeg, salt and pepper
  • For the Yorkshire pudding: 150g plain flour, 200ml whole milk, 4 eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, beef drippings
  • Horseradish cream and au jus, to serve

Method

  1. Bring the rib roast to room temperature 2 hours out of the fridge.
  2. Heat oven to 230C. Mix rock salt, cracked pepper, thyme and mustard powder. Pat onto the entire surface of the roast, packing thickly onto the fat cap.
  3. Roast 25 minutes at 230C to set the salt crust.
  4. Reduce to 130C and slow-roast 90 minutes to 2 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 52C for medium-rare. Rest tented 30 minutes.
  5. While the roast rests, make the creamed spinach. Melt butter, whisk in flour, cook 2 minutes. Add milk, whisking to a thick bechamel. Stir in the squeezed-dry spinach and nutmeg. Season.
  6. For the Yorkshire pudding, whisk flour, milk, eggs and salt to a smooth batter. Rest 30 minutes.
  7. Heat a 12-hole muffin tin in a 220C oven with 1 teaspoon beef drippings in each hole until smoking.
  8. Pour batter quickly into each hole. Bake 18 minutes without opening the oven.
  9. Crack the salt crust off the rib. Slice thick on the diagonal, three slices per person. Serve with creamed spinach, Yorkshire pudding, horseradish cream and a small jug of pan-jus au jus.

Tip from the editors. The salt crust seasons the roast and traps moisture; do not skip and do not season under it. Crack the crust off in big shards before slicing; the meat under it should be just salty enough on its own.

Where to eat prime rib carved tableside (house of prime rib)

Prime rib carved tableside (House of Prime Rib) in San Francisco

House of Prime Rib ★ 4.4

$$$ American ChophouseLower Pac Heights

House of Prime Rib in San Francisco is the Van Ness chophouse since 1949, with one menu (prime rib), four cuts, and a 70-day waitlist by the late 2020s.

OrderThe English cut prime rib carved tableside, with horseradish cream.

TipBar seats turn over fastest and serve the full menu; book those rather than the dining room.

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