The Palace Steakhouse

The Palace Steakhouse is like the dive bar of steakhouses. It's on the corner of Chavez and Mission, lit with a seedy looking yellow sign. You order your food at the counter and collect it using orange cafeteria trays. They charge a corkage fee but don't actually open the wine for you, they just go to the cornerstore and fetch you a corkscrew. The meat quality ranges from great-for-the-cost (the T-bone) to extra chewy (the club steak). And yet, there's something totally charming about the place -- filled with adorably tacky cow paraphenalia, the sign outside asking patrons to support their local steakhouse, the old grizzled white dude and asian lady staffing the place by themselves.

This place is the last thing you'd expect in frou-frou foodie San Francisco. The food is cheap ($10-$12 for a steak with salad and potato), the portions are large, and there's even a little parking lot. And yet, it feels like an institution, holding court on that street corner for god knows how long.

Ed was going to write a Yelp review for this place, which means in 3 months this place will probably be some sort of ridiculous hipster hangout where the trays are "ironic". I suggest you go before that happens.