Description: At nearly 100 years of being in business,
John's Grill is a San Francisco dining landmark. Tucked away on Ellis Street around the corner from the Powell Street/Union Square cable car turnaround, John's has a surprisingly low volume of tourists. You're more likely to be rubbing elbows (literally, when the place gets crowded) with local businessmen over a leisurely lunch or quiet dinner.
The decor has changed little here, with dark woods, tables clustered close, and celebrity photographs - both classic and modern - lining the walls. You would half expect Sam Spade, the hero of
The Maltese Falcon, to saunter in the door and take up his favorite seat - and you wouldn't be far off, as Dashiell Hammet wrote about John's in his book. (Local
Falcon fans have made this their headquarters, so look around for movie memorabilia.)
John's specializes in seafood and steaks, with lunch entries from $9 to $18 and most dinner entrées from $17 to $30. Portions are generous and the food is very good.
A couple items I particularly enjoy here:
- their New England-style clam chowder: As a native New Englander, I'm always in search of good "chowda"; John's makes some of the best I've had.
- the Fisherman's Pasta: a sizeable mound of salmon, snapper, crab, shrimp, mussels, and clams piled high over linguine with a basil sauce. Delicious.
- Seafood Cioppino a la Marinara: huge stew of crab, scallops, mussels, bay shrimp, jumbo Pacific prawns, sole, and clams in a marinara broth with toasted garlic sourdough. Mmmm - makes my mouth water just thinking of it.
You might also want to try their Jack Lalanne's seafood and avocado salad - big enough to share; or the Chicken Jerusalem - chicken with avocado and mushrooms in a white wine sauce. Save room for dessert - their chocolate mousse torte or pecan pie are worth a taste; and John's makes their own vanilla ice cream. A solid choice for dining in the Union Square area - I would definitely recommend it.
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