Alfred's Steakhouse Review

Alfred's served us an unremarkable steakhouse meal in an old-school atmosphere.

It was pretty obvious when we entered that we'd traveled back in time, and I don't just mean because the entrance has displays of old menus with meals that only cost a $1.00, or that cost $3.50. The steakhouse atmosphere, including the burgundy colors, the fancy, large chandeliers, and large paintings on the walls, and the suited waiters all led to this feeling. During dinner, I said "I feel like I should be older." Another person said, "I feel like I should be white." (The crowd, however, wasn't any more white than most other places we've gone; it's just the feeling we got from the decor and styling.)

We started the meal with bread and soft butter. The bread, dense yet soft, tasted a bit like a country bread despite being sourdough. It was served cool.

The classic caeser salad we shared was more oniony than most. We thought the croutons were particularly tasty.

The wedge salad--a head of iceberg lettuce cut in half and filled with blue cheese dressing--was a pretty novel presentation. We mostly thought it was pretty good. The blue cheese dressing was not too blue cheesy for me (surprising), though others felt it was too strong or there was too much of it. (I think it was more like blue cheese dressing in the sense that it's heavy and creamy like ranch dressing, with the cheese actually only existing as a minor component.)

We ordered a variety of steaks for entrees. (By the way, Alfred's serves corn-fed beef.) None really amazed us, but then should steak amaze someone? S's filet mignon and Ow's ribeye were the steaky/meatiest of the bunch. S's filet mignon was very tender. (I preferred the other two items because I don't like my steaks that assertive. Others' opinions differed.) Oj's huge porterhouse was remarkably different on both ends: one end was mild and the other, the side with the loin, more tender and meaty and generally better. My Alfred's New York steak was like the mild side of the porterhouse. Though less good quality of meat, I still liked it (but I didn't manage to finish it).

With the steaks, we had respectable, decent, though similarly unexceptional, sides: garlic mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, and fries.

S ordered his filet with breaded, fried shrimp. These were actually pretty darn good--most of us preferred them to the steaks!

For dessert, we split a fairly pleasing, amazingly light cheesecake with raspberry sauce and a chocolate graham cracker crust.

We drank. The martinis, for which Alfred's is famous, were delivered with their shakers, a nice touch. It's like we got two drinks for the price of one, plus we could pour more when we wanted. My "real martini" tasted strongly of gin and reminded me why I don't order martinis. The margarita martini was sweet and salty, well balanced, and appealed to our tastes. The pomegranate martini, though, and its nice fruity goodness was probably the favorite of the table.

After dinner drinks were interesting:

• the order of old gray lavender tea came with a tiny box with a single teabag inside
• the indentation in the saucer meant for the coffee cup was off-center. (We think it's because the manufacturer wanted to ensure there was room for sugar cubes on the saucer.)

Incidentally, I think this was the first restaurant where I've seen waiters sing happy birthday to the maitre d'.

 The total was between $38 and $58 per person, depending on the type the entree ordered, and including the shared appetizers, dessert, tax, and the mandatory 17% service charge (shared with the non-tipped employees as well as the servers), but not counting drinks.

Original Announcement

This evening, our gentlemen's group will converge at an old-school San Francisco establishment: Alfred's Steakhouse.

http://www.alfredssteakhouse.com/

This'll be an adventure -- I think it's our first steakhouse outing ever!

Comments from Other Attendees

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