Each week, we share some favorite recent bites, the dishes and snacks and baked goods that didn’t find their way into a full review. Want the list a few days earlier? Sign up for our free newsletter, Bite Curious.
Chronicle critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan preferred the beef at Harris’ Restaurant to the House of Prime Rib: bone-in ribeye, from left, steak Diane and prime rib. (MacKenzie Chung Fegan/S.F. Chronicle)
As I mentioned in my two-star review of the House of Prime Rib, there is another contender for best prime rib in the city a mere block and a half north, on Van Ness. Unlike the House of Prime Rib, Harris’ Restaurant
is a house of steak, more broadly, and you can find everything from filet mignon ($83 for a 12 oz. steak) to Japanese A5 Wagyu ($289 for 13 oz.) on the menu. Our steak Diane ($69) was woefully overcooked, but the bone-in ribeye ($87) and the prime rib ($83 for 22 oz., on the bone) were excellent. I’d go so far as to say that I preferred the beef at Harris’, although the overall experience – and, all things considered, value – of House of Prime Rib cannot be matched. Still, Harris’ ambience has considerable charms. The dining room, with its soaring ceilings, dark wood and potted palms, was designed by former owner Ann Lee Harris, a Hollywood actress best known for her work in “Boots Malone,” a 1952 William Holden vehicle about jockeys. Production stills of her in Western attire grace the walls.
Harris’ Restaurant. 2100 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. harrisrestaurant.com
The lemon spaghetti with yellow tomato sauce at Bosco could be Chronicle critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan’s favorite pomodoro in San Francisco, maybe. (MacKenzie Chung Fegan/S.F. Chronicle)
When I think of spaghetti al limone, I picture a tangle of pasta in a glossy, emulsified sauce bright with lemon zest and juice. The lemon spaghetti at Bosco ($22) is something else altogether. While there is lemon in the dough of the homemade pasta, it’s subtle, and had our server not tipped me off I likely wouldn’t have noticed it, so cloaked is the spaghetti in a remarkable sauce of confited yellow tomatoes. Leaves of purple basil pop against the buttery-acidic-sweet sauce, marigold in hue, and the whole pile is finished with a dusting of Parmesan. Cesar has his favorite spaghetti pomodoro; this might be mine.
Bosco. 888 Brannan St., San Francisco. boscosf.com
The tomato and shishito bánh mì is a summer special at 3 Bottled Fish in Oakland. (MacKenzie Chung Fegan/S.F. Chronicle)
Tomato season lingers on, and a great way to fulfill your summer quota is with the heirloom tomato and shishito pepper bánh mì at 3 Bottled Fish ($14), Paulette Tran’s pint-sized Vietnamese café in Fruitvale. Juicy as hell on a proper baguette, the tomatoes shine against the lightly charred peppers, cilantro and đồ chua.
3 Bottled Fish. 1924 35th Ave., Oakland. instagram.com/3bottledfish
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This article originally published at I love the House of Prime Rib, but I’d rather eat prime rib at this S.F. steakhouse.
