John's Grill

JZ★★★★★★★★★★5.02 weeks ago

An interesting historic restaurant mentioned in The Maltese Falcon. This is a bit on the upscale side of things, but you can dine there in a t-shirt and blue jeans if you like. We all had the regular ribeye (not the $110 aged version) and it was well prepared. The steaks were slightly tough, but the temperature was spot on for what each of us ordered. Everything we ordered was tasty and properly seasoned. The jumbo prawn cocktails come with a little extra horseradish. This is 100% actual horseradish, not the watered down junk, which is nice. The staff is wonderful and the building has a lot of character. If you are in SF and can afford the check, I highly recommend giving John's a try.

Russ Lewis★★★★★★★★★★4.03 weeks ago

Overall is really a 4.5 because of the atmosphere which was crowded and very noisy. But it was a Saturday night with several groups celebrating graduation. Food was great. The 6 large lamps chops were awesome along with a perfectly cooked baked potato and green beans. The blackberry lemonade was tasty. I tried my first and last vodka martini. 😖😖 The only real negative was it being very noisy that it was hard to hear the jazz group. Loved the decorations. We were on the second floor.

Marisol Guadalupe★★★★★★★★★★4.02 weeks ago

The NY steak was perfectly cooked to medium and it was a large portion. The Parmesan potatoes were wonderful and the green beans fresh and perfectly cooked. The blackberry lemonade … was refreshing and not too sweet. The Chicken Milanese was excellent. It can get pretty crowded and it’s already a tight space. Parking garage across the street and I did not see nor was offered validated parking.

Davian Bryan★★★★★★★★★★5.02 months ago

Maybe I'm an easy grader, but this was one of the best meals I've had all year. The Ribeye was tender, perfectly cooked and well seasoned. The peppercorn sauce tasted like a red wine based sauce and was also fantastic. We subbed our baked potato for mashed potatoes, and those were silky smooth and very tasty. The seasoned vegetables were crispy green beans and carrots - also very delicious! I paired this with the Cabernet Sauvignon from Justin's vineyards - a must have whenever I see it on the menu! My server, recommended it as well, so she knows what's good! The place was absolutely packed and I could tell why, the food was excellent and great value for money. We had the homemade bread pudding that smooth, creamy and delicious with hints of vanilla and nutmeg. Just a warm and comforting end to one of the best meals I've had this year. Received attentive and enthusiastic service from our server Elana. Even the other diners were friendly because they were enjoying themselves. They also had some pretty good live jazz on as a nice bonus! My only small note would be to have butter that is easier to spread with their sourdough bread.

Lucky M★★★★★★★★★★2.06 months ago

Bar service was super slow. Around 7ish, you really have to stay on top of your order because it felt like they’d ignore you unless you make yourself heard. It also seemed wildly understaffed—there were only two bartenders handling what looked like at least 20+ tables downstairs, and that’s not even counting upstairs, so the delays kind of made sense (but still not great as a guest). I ordered an Old Fashioned and it honestly wasn’t good. It was packed with way too much ice, like overly full of ice cubes instead of the traditional single large cube. The build felt off too—simple syrup instead of the more classic muddled/crushed sugar cube, and it didn’t taste balanced. They used only Angostura aromatic bitters (no orange bitters), and there was no expressed orange peel—they literally just dropped in a slice of orange… lol. Our wait time was about 1 hour. That said, the ambiance was the best part of the whole experience. The place was packed, but in a way that felt cozy, lively, and inviting at the same time. It was loud and energetic, and I can see why people like it for the vibe. The food was bland, honestly like they forgot the salt. My filet mignon was cooked exactly how I asked—perfect medium rare—but the flavor just wasn’t there. No real seasoning, no char, just flat. Same with the other steaks we ordered: cooked right, but not tasteful and lacking flavor. The poke was the only thing that actually had flavor, and it stood out because everything else tasted so plain. For the price and the wait, I don’t think we’ll come back. The atmosphere was great, but it’s a shame the bar service and food didn’t match it.