The San Franciscan — Restaurant in Torrance

I find it very hard to understand why this place has gotten good reviews and has won the "Best Steak" Daily Breeze Reader's Choice award. On this Saturday night my wife and I decided to give the San Franciscan a try after reading some positive reviews. Upon entry we liked the old school vibe of the restaurant. The clientele was exactly what the online reviews said it would be and it seemed to be the kind of place we normally would enjoy. After hearing it would be a 20 minute wait, we decided to wait at the bar and enjoy a glass of wine. At $10/glass it seemed a bit steep for a house wine but the glasses were filled to the top. After being seated at a table in the bar area we placed our order. My wife ordered the $30 Fillet and I decided to get the $35 Porterhouse after some persuasion from our server. We both asked for our steaks to be cooked medium. The salads with the home made thousand island dressing came out first and were pretty good. All signs were leading us to believe the main course would be great, but that is when it all started to go downhill. My wife's fillet come out cooked medium, was nice and thick, and I would say it was a decent steak. Certainly not the best steak I have had in our area, but nothing to complain about. My Porterhouse however was very thin and cooked well done. I showed the server who acknowledged how over cooked it was and then took my plate away promising me a correctly cooked steak would arrive soon. She also mentioned that she normally orders medium rare for her customers who want it medium because the cooks often overcook steaks. This was the first red flag. My second porterhouse steak came, apparently ordered medium rare by the server, but not much different. Cooked all the way through, brown (no pink at all) on the Fillet side and barely pink in the very middle of the NY side. Knowing I couldn't eat that expensive steak cooked so poorly I ask her to take it back and bring me a fillet just like my wife's, who has now long finished her meal by the way. I expressed my disappointment to our server not only in the failure to cook a steak after 2 attempts but that a manager had not stopped by the table to offer an apology. Several minutes passes and the 3rd steak arrives. This one was supposed to be just like my wife's, a medium cooked fillet, it was clearly medium rare. This was becoming comical if not aggravating. At this point a man walks up to our table visually frustrated and slightly aggressive says "Is there something I can do for you?". I'm thinking, yeah, learn how to cook a steak correctly. We tried to nicely explain our disappointment but this guy thought it was more important to shrug his shoulders, interrupt us, and say "It's human error, they made a mistake". We tried to explain to him that they made 3 mistakes, to which it was clear our feedback was falling on deaf ears. He goes on and on about how it is his loss as if we should somehow feel bad for sending the much over cooked steaks back. My wife tried to explain to this guy how we were really not interested in his loss and that it was our loss of time together and money that we were most concerned with. I asked his name and if he really was the manager because I couldn't believe his aggressive dismissive demeanor. He replied that he was the owner Merrill. Wow, I was shocked. In the midst of the argument, and possibly him just wanting to get us out of there, he finally and reluctantly offered to comp the meal. I told him we would pay for my wife's steak just so he knew we weren't trying to get anything for free. We certainly did not expect them to cook 3 out of 4 steaks terribly and then be aggressive with us because they lost the value of 3 steaks. So in the end they charged us for the one steak my wife ate and our two glasses of wine and we left feeling very disappointed and frustrated while dodging the unfriendly stares of the staff as we left the restaurant. How this guy keeps this business running with his aggressive attitude toward customers, while serving $35 steaks cooked incorrectly,...

TLDR: Service fast and friendly 5 stars. All food except steak 5 stars. Steak 2 stars. Sorry San Franciscan. This place was opened in the 1960s and it SHOWS. I wanted to give this place a higher score but, I can't because of one reason I'll get to. When you step in its a time capsule. From the dim lighting, the full length wooden bar, to the red pleather booths, and the wood paneling it screams 60s steak house. The food reflects this as well but, that's not a bad thing overall... All of the food up to the main dish was fantastic! That's why I'm scoring a 3 instead of a 2. The sourdough bread is nice and fresh and has a wonderful tang. The salad was nice and fresh, the dressing tasted homemade. The Calamari sticks were some of the best I've ever had. They were extremely tender, fresh, and were very well prepared and paired with a tarter sauce that also tasted fresh and homemade! The baked potato I had was so nice and fluffy that it was practically like eating mashed potatoes! Now here is where the review takes a nose dive I'm afraid. The steak I ordered was the 20oz bone in ribeye. It came out looking wonderful (see pic) it was cooked a perfect medium rare... However the taste was nothing... Literally it tasted of nothing but slightly grilled bland beef... There was absolutely no seasoning on this steak. My server asked if I wanted steak sauce before I ate it. I politely declined because a steak should stand on its own with a minimum of help from simple salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I ended up doing something I swore to NEVER do. I actually had to grab the salt and add some.. I hate to rage on this because everything else was perfect, but when you go to a steakhouse the steak should stand on its own with little help. I don't know if it was an off night or what, but it was most...

My family came here for the first time. I had high expectations due to the great reviews and the long history it has of being here in Torrance. We called to make reservations for Christmas eve dinner for a party of 5. We were told they wouldn't be taking reservations for Christmas Eve Dinner, it would be first come first served. I also asked if they would be using their normal menu to which I was told yes. So we arrived at 2:30pm on Christmas Eve. The first thing we we're asked is if we had reservations! Yes they were taking reservations and we didn't have any. But they did get us a table so we felt lucky for that. We were then handed a Christmas Eve Special Menu. Yep, after begin told the usual menu items would be served. Three of us ordered the Prime Rob which they are known for. I'd like to add the waitress was especially rushed and not friendly at all. We ordered two Medium Rare and one Medium. When the Prime Rib arrived they were all cooked Medium. Rather then make a big deal about it I decided I'd just eat it, but I ended up tapping out. It was not only over cooked but the toughest Prime Rib I'd ever had. I just gave ti back and skipped my meal. My wife and mother ate most of theirs but were very unhappy as well. My two dogs had a great Christmas Eve dinner though. I can't imagine this is their normal Prime Rib. Especially since they're known for having great Prime Rib. I can only hope and assume this was a different Prime Rib for their special Christmas Eve menu. Will I come back? Probably not. I'm giving them 3 stars because my other 2 guest were happy with their meals. But neither of them ordered...