On the menu you’ll find a special box for Sam Spade’s Lamb Chops ($26.95) and a quote from the book: “Sam Spade went to John’s Grill, asked the waiter to hurry his order of chops, baked potato, sliced tomatoes…and was smoking a cigarette with his coffee when…” Of course, the detective couldn’t smoke today, but he can still get the chops, potato and tomatoes, and it’s still the thing to order.
Few restaurants have attracted — or continue to attract — such a list of well-known diners. Just last week, for example, Democratic House Whip Steny Hoyer, his family and his security team dined at John’s Grill. Also last week, former mayor Willie Brown closed a deal there, according to Konstin. “John’s is private. We take care of them and that’s what we do,” he said.
When diners enter, they see a wall of photos with luminaries, past and present, including Lauren Bacall and Hillary Clinton. To the right are two rows of tables and the entire wall is filled with photo portraits, including that of former police chief Heather Fong not too far from current chief Greg Suhr. On some nights you might find Sen. Dianne Feinstein at one table and Gov. Jerry Brown at another. Also not too long ago, Mike (the Situation) Sorrentino dined with four friends.
It’s a wide mix of politicians, celebrities, locals and tourists that fill the 80 seats downstairs. There’s also a second floor that seats 70 that’s often filled at dinner because of the nightly live jazz from 6:30 to 10 p.m.. A third floor which also seats 80 also gets lots of use and is reserved for parties of six or larger.
When the restaurant celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2008, it was practically a city-wide affair. Part of the reason is that Konstin is politically active and is always up for offering the restaurant for a good cause. Each year he hosts a luncheon for the 1906 earthquake survivors — which obviously gets smaller each year, but you’ll always find guests in period costumes, and they fit right in with the classic bar-and-grill environment.
While other restaurants such as Tadich have changed locations, John’s has remained on Ellis since the beginning. It’s had four owners, but the Konstins have owned it for more than 40 years.
While the first-floor walls of John’s Grill are lined with photos of politicians, police chiefs and others who have tucked into a steak there, the second floor is dedicated to the “Falcon” shrine. It made news in 2007 when the original knock-off was stolen, and even more news when a new one was made.
The menu is long, as was popular in the era, it would be even better if the menu was shortened to the dishes the restaurant does really well such as the bay shrimp Louie ($12.95), the bay shrimp and avocado salad with Roquefort ($14.95) and Jack LaLanne’s Favorite Salad ($16.95), with greens, crab, shrimp, avocado, button mushrooms and tomatoes in a blue cheese vinaigrette dressing.
On a lunch visit last week, we ordered two salads, and the waiter said he could do half orders, since we were having substantial main courses and the salads are large enough to stand in as entrees. All through the meal, service was friendly and efficient.
The Louie was really good — the shrimp was fresh and the Thousand Island dressing had a pleasant bite — but I wish the kitchen would use better tomatoes, or leave them out altogether. The same with the chops: It’s tomato season, so there’s little excuse for the flavorless ones on Sam Spade’s namesake.
The LaLanne salad is named after the fitness and health guru, who died in 2011. In fact, when LaLanne celebrated his 95th birthday at the restaurant in 2009, many of the celebrants ordered the salad except for guy who carries its name.
In addition to the lamb chops, there are several steak options, including the New York steak ($26.95). And it seems all these classic restaurants are good at cooking petrale sole. Here the sole is covered with almonds ($16.95), but there’s also steamed clams, mussels and a filet of sole stuffed with crab and shrimp and baked in a lemon sauce ($18.95). Konstin says that with the addition of nearby residences as the St. Regis and Four Seasons, the restaurant has developed a reputation for seafood because many of the residents don’t want to smell up their luxury surroundings by cooking fish at home.
Desserts, at least the two I had, are best bypassed. Pecan pie is actually more like a bar and tasted of the refrigerator, and the house-made ice cream was half melted by the time it got to the table.
Yet the future of John’s continues to look bright. There’s a new generation waiting in the wings — another John. Konstin’s son, who is 22, worked in the restaurant and decided to go to the Culinary Institute of America to get a bachelor’s in culinary arts. So it looks as if John’s may be set to make it into the next century.
Article and Photos Sourced From:
http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2014/08/27/johns-grill-more-than-a-century-old-and-still-going-strong/#26208-2
