Reviewer: Foodnut.com Alexander's Steakhouse 448 Brannan Street (Between 3rd and 4th Street) San Francisco, CA 94111 415-495-1111 |
Alexander’s Steakhouse is a modern high end steak restaurant that opened Early September 2010 in the South of market (SOMA) area of San Francisco. Their other location in Cupertino, just off highway 280, has been serving top notch steaks since 2005. On our last visit during the pandemic, we ate outside at the Cupertino location. They feature 28-day aged Certified USDA prime Angus steaks while the Palo Alto location uses USDA Choice Grade meat. (Top 1% of beef)
We have had great experiences at Alexander’s down south, so it was time for a visit to the new location. Steak is something we rarely eat unlike the rest of the nation. Yes we are more into foo foo food! Our goal is to save the occasion for only the best beef. Incidentally 5A5 Steakhouse in San Francisco was an offshoot from a former Alexander’s employee.
Decor, Vibe – They retain Bacar’s three level layout. Large multi-floor wine wall on one side. A modern clean looking bar area to the other side. Comfy Leather chairs, booth seating on the first floor, gray carpeting, exposed brick, counter seating by the kitchen, black suited waiters, private areas upstairs, classic jazz, and spacious seating on the second floor. Folks celebrating birthdays, foodies trying out the new restaurant, and other well-dressed locals were dining.
Alexander’s Menu
Alexander’s is expensive, with the cheapest steak costing $57. French Dip is $24. The menu is quite a bit different and in some ways limited compared to the Cupertino location. Several classics from Cupertino are missing. No truffle fries, mac and cheese, or popcorn crab! An expensive $155 five course tasting menu available. Japanese and American influences are clearly visible. Limited selections for vegetarians.
We opt for the expensive Waygu selections as we are satisfied with our expensive A5 grade beef exploration at 5A5 Steakhouse earlier in the year.
Alexander’s Steakhouse full image set
Alexanders Picks:
Moscow Mule ($16) was done right and VERY strong.
Amuse Bouche of scallop cerviche with crispy lotus root was an excellent thinly sliced, bite-size starter with lots of vinegary, citrus flavor.
Hamachi Shots ($4 each) grade 5 hamachi, red chili, frizzled ginger, avocado, truffled ponzu is also a signature dish. Designed for one quick gulp. Very fresh fish, refreshing, balanced out with the included avocado. Cheaper when you buy 6. New ordered one just to refresh our memory.
Mochiko Karaage ($12) was like a tempura vegetables on top of tempura’d tender chicken. A very light batter and some excellent dipping sauce. There was an immense amount of chicken under the fried lotus root, carrots, green peppers.
county line farms baby greens ($22) cucumber – lotus chips – yuzu-chili dressing is expensive for what you get, but it hits the mark especially for vegetarians.
Intermezzo of strawberry sorbet with apricot compote, and kaiwari had strong sweet flavor, enough of a jolt, to prepare us for beef.
Grilled Filet mignon ($44) 10 ounce, USDA prime, dried green olives, black olive hollandaise was a good size cut of super tender meat cooked just right. The high-quality nature of this beast make the sauce unnecessary.
Dry aged bone-in ribeye steak ($46) 14 ounce, smoky blue cheese fondue, blue cheese powder, was cooked to a perfect medium rare. Huge, juicy, and excellent. You could taste the high quality dry aged meat. This steak was a bit on the salty side when combined with the blue cheese sauce, so if you are not a salt fan, tell him to go easy.
Slow roasted Prime rib ($57) 14 ounce cut, creamed horseradish trio (stellar garlic!, wasabi, traditional) was also excellent. We were hankering for some prime rib during the pandemic. A huge cut of tender meat roasted to a perfect medium rare. The au jus was just stellar, we had to ask for more. Their excellent homemade horseradish accented the beef perfectly. Go big and bring it home for tomorrow’s sandwich. This top notch beast was roasted in their special oak and Korean binchotan fired oven.
Sauteed Broccolini ($16) was a large side done just right. Sides cost as much as appetizers in most restaurants
Wild Mushrooms ($16) had several types and is recommended.
Crushed marble Potatoes ($16) lemon, olive oil & oregano were excellent. Crispy, nice sized chunks and not as fatty as a huge baked potatoes.
Creamed spinach ($15) eggplant chips, Crisp pancetta, garlic was everything a classic creamed spinach is expected to be. Creamy, slightly decadent, and slightly modernized.
Petit fours consisted of a very nice peanut ganache, over frozen chai mochi, and good madeleine on top of the fruit jelly. They unselfishly brought one platter for each person.
Complimentary cotton candy rounded out the evening on a fun note. Many do not even need to order a dessert!
OK:
Bread came with butter and fleur de sel but proved to be pretty average. This place deserves some artisan quality freshly baked bread.
Stout Caesar salad ($11) 62.5° egg, little gem lettuce, Romaine, traditional flavors looked Great with the perfectly cooked jiggly egg on top that proved to be just a typical Caesar. They forgot to give more care to the dressing and lettuce below, making this more comfort food than fine dining.
Pans:
None
Alexander’s Steakhouse had excellent service. We have not had service this competent and friendly in a long time. This reminded us of service that Guy Savoy in Paris. No water worries, thoughtful anticipation of our desires, and napkin folding when you are away.
The prices at Alexander’s are expensive, making this a special occasion place. Do not come here trying to skimp, save up instead. We have no problem recommending it as the entire experience was excellent. You may end up with a meat coma. It is one of the best steakhouses in the San Francisco along side places like Harris’ and House of Prime Rib. What is interesting is that they also have modern dishes and non meat dishes. We came early on, so food quality should improve further.
Extensive 32 page wine list with high markup, Glasses from $6, $35 corkage. They even have the $75 Platinum Daisy cocktail to help celebrate that IPO.
2.5% healthy SF surcharge.
Also at:
Alexander’s Steakhouse
10330 N. Wolfe Road (at Perimeter Road)
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-446-2222
4 Comments
Alexander’s Steakhouse « orh
October 18, 2010 at 10:25 am[…] So what is the culinary pitch that has created all of the buzz? The menu is an infusion of cultures: a Japanese-influenced steakhouse menu with traditional American cuts of steak, and Wagyu beef from the United States as well as Australia. An excellent review (including some images sure to make you hungry for more) of this exciting new restaurant can be found here. […]
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