Perfectly cooked medium rare ribeye with baked potato and veggies. Great service. They also had live Jazz playing too. Just a perfect spot for dinner

Came to the historic John's Grill for lunch over the weekend! Our server was Tor who was outgoing, made recommendations for us and made sure we had a good meal. We sat in the middle of the dining room to the right of the restaurant with old school San Francisco photographs on the wall and famous people who have dined there in the last century. Tor made sure we had extra refill of the bread, we skipped appetizers just to make sure we can finish the main meal! The menu consists of seafoods, steaks, pastas and sandwiches. We ordered the filet mignon, lamb chops (must get!), surf & turf (NY steak & shrimp) and Maine lobster ravioli. The steak was done with your liking, every dish was delicious itself but the must get is the lamb chops!! Wow, nothing like the way they make it here which is what they are known for! We ended with dessert of cheesecake Brioche Bread pudding. You can't go wrong with any dish here. I think what kept this place opened for so long is just a good old fashioned meal with good service. PS: Delicious mocktails!

We discovered this place by accident and were absolutely thrilled. It's a little taste of classic old San Francisco. We walked in with no reservation after an intense day getting medical care at UCSF. I must have looked like I'd just returned from the battlefront, but the staff were very friendly and found us a discreet table in back, with a good view of the black-and-white photos of bygone celebrities posted over the ornate bar. The tables are tiny and close together, but the background noise is not uncomfortably loud. My husband had a steak with scrumptious peppercorn sauce. The vinegarette sauce on the burrata was also delicious. The bread was warm, fresh, perfect. The "Jack LaLanne Salad" was exquisite - a generous helping of fresh local crab made our meal at John's the high point of our adventure in San Francisco.

Stepping back into time is exactly what you will experience going to John's Grill. The wood covered walls, the posters from the past, the selections of food items you would find in a classic old style restaurant complete the experience. The drinks were strong and the service was great which is all you can ask for in San Francisco! I will be going back again.

Stepping into John's Grill is stepping back to a moment in time when the place you dined was as important as the food you ordered. John's has preserved that 1930s and 40s feel while maintaining a menu that combines traditional with contemporary. No Ikea box restaurant here! Soak in the ambience while live music plays upstairs, take in the many photos and memorabilia on the walls, and know that the who's who of San Fran and the greater US have deigned to dine here. Steaks and cocktails are top shelf - and the pasta and seafood dishes are perfectly prepared. Come hungry, stay happy, and leave satisfied. What more can you ask for? Take a slice out of time and enjoy what was, and what is, THE Historic Johns Grill.

We came in for lunch around 12:30 on a Saturday, and we overall had a very good meal. We had a reservation, and were seated when we walked in. When you sit down they give you bread and a menu with some great seafood and steak options. I ended up ordering the Jumbo Shrimp Dijionaise, which was very delicious. It comes with five fresh shrimp, sautéed mushrooms and a cream sauce, with some fresh veggies on the side. The sauce was absolutely delicious, and went with the savory mushrooms perfectly! We also ordered the ice cream with berries for dessert, which was surprisingly delicious. They make the ice cream in house, and you can see the vanilla specks on the ice cream, so you know it's the good kind of vanilla. The interior of the restaurant is a little packed together, and I can see how it could get a little noisy when it's crowded, but we didn't have much of a problem with that. The dark wood walls take you back in time, and you can tell this restaurant has so much well preserved history! Such a cool feeling when you walk in the doors. As for service, it was admittedly a little slow for us. Maybe it was just an off day, but it took some time for our orders to be placed, and we only got one water refill during our time there. But our food still came out in a timely manner and was very tasty. Overall I love the historical feel of this restaurant, and liked the different seafood and steak options they had available. I also appreciate their variety on the dessert menu. It is a little pricey, but I suppose it's San Francisco pricing. Still, the yummy food and great ambiance really makes John's Grill a place to try if you're in the city and are looking for a classic historic restaurant to try.

We dined here for Christmas Day lunch. Whoa were they packed. They did have special menu for the Holiday with a prix fixe menu available which was a great value. The prix fixe came with Lobster Bisque, a Filet and Lobster with choice of potato and sautéed veggies, and Bread pudding for dessert. We added a Ceasar salad to share. First, kudos to any restaurant willing to be open on a Holiday. The service was the best it could be in the madness and I was grateful for their service. To say they were hustling is an understatement. The restaurant itself is historic and I loved the art deco feel. We were sat on the second floor of three stories of restaurant space. The lighting made the ambiance have the feel of an old school restaurant that I absolutely love. *weird observance but I was enthralled with the light fixtures throughout. Cocktails were spot on, we had the Pomegranite Cosmos. I judge a place by their Ceasar and this one was perfecto. The bisque was a tad sweet, but otherwise a great bisque that wasn't too overpowering with lobster. The sourdough bread they brought to the table was great to dip in the bisque. The steak was cooked perfectly rare (I often get overcooked steak places) and was flavorful and juicy. The lobster was also cooked to perfection. The veggies were fresh and not overcooked. And the even the mashed potatoes were great - not dry in the slightest. By the time the dessert was brought out, I was too stuffed, but did have a couple of bites. It wasn't memorable for a bread pudding, but again- I was overly stuffed by that point. For the amount of food they were cranking out I was super impressed with the execution of the food. We definitely want to come back and try this spot on a regular day. Highly recommend for a good ol' steak dinner in a historic ambiance.

John's Grill is one of the most chaotic restaurants I've ever eaten at -- and I had a blast. To be fair, it was the second to last weekend before Christmas, Santa Con, and a break from the rain that had been blanketing the city for a couple of days. The inside of John's is bustling, loud, and overcrowded, with an energy in the air that screams of over 100 years of guest satisfaction and classic sauced up meat-n-potatoes dishes. I had a reservation for 6:45, and showing up about 20 minutes early was told it would be closer to the actual time of the reservation, as the people in front of me were told it would be a two hour wait for a table -- it was packed. We were seated promptly at 6:38 and the service never faltered. Dishes fly out of the kitchen here and cartoonishly up and down winding staircases like they only could in an old time-y San Francisco building. The entrees are old school and executed with a price-to-quality ratio that can't be questioned. My table enjoyed steaks, burgers, and fish, and everything I tasted was seasoned appropriately and delicious. I got the broiled halibut with the sauce on the side, and the sauce is definitely needed to make the dish work. When combined it is a perfect combination of flaky fish, lemon-y acidic brightness, and funky caper saltiness. I loved it. The baked potato is as basic as it gets, yet it's prepared with such accuracy it has the most pronounced fluffiness that when hit with a touch of sour cream and black pepper it takes on a creaminess that is divine. The surprise of the evening goes to the French fries, which are double fried and delightfully seasoned with a salty pepperiness in a way that's undeniable. I had a hard time stopping myself from stealing all of them off of my partner's plate, which next to a tastefully charred New York Steak is a fantastic and filling meal for the price. We ended the evening with the NY Cheesecake, which was also a major surprise and big hit. It has a perfect fluffy density with a baked-to-creamy ratio that allows it to exist right in that pocket where cheesecake should -- not too soft but not firm. The flavor is subtly sweet with a nice mild tang and a touch of lemon that brings a freshness intensified by the wonderful fresh berry garnish. I'm not usually a cheesecake after dinner kind of guy but this is worth every penny to share at the finish for the table. John's is an establishment with a storied history and still a lot of demand. There are certainly better, more modern restaurants in San Francisco, but this is unquestionably one of the most classic, and one that feels likely unchanged from its glory days in the 50s and 60s when the tight, winding halls were filled not only happy bellies, but brimmed hats, laughter, and wafting cigarette smoke.

I love John's Grill. They hosted my friends birthday, and we were seated in a private room on the third floor. I've visited numerous times and have a great time each visit. They staff is always very friendly and the food never disappoints. I really like their ravioli (not pictured) when I'm not ordering one of their amazing steaks. This visit I tried the pear martini and it was so good I ended up having three and a very long night lol. Can't wait to come back and make more memories.