Izzy's, open since 1987 in the Marina, proudly serves aged corn-fed American beef, and at reasonably affordable prices. Get the filet mignon for $46, and that includes two sides of your choosing. The restaurant also boasts one of the largest parklets in San Francisco, strung with twinkle lights.

This North Beach institution is still bustling with jacketed waiters bringing big plates of steak and pasta to leather booths with white tablecloths. Dating back to 1937, the original location suffered a fire in 2007, but Joe’s finally reopened five years later on Washington Square. The generous Italian-American menu includes flame-grilled New York strip, bone-in ribeye, or filet mignon, which come with a side of spaghetti or housemade ravioli. Or try the prime rib roast, which includes classic mashed potatoes and creamed spinach.

Brazen Head is not a flashy downtown steakhouse experience, it’s more like the village pub of Cow Hollow. Regulars have been coming back to this cozy wood-paneled dining room for more than 40 years, and the house special is the prime rib, cooked however you like it, and served simply with a baked potato, green veggies, and caramelized shallot jus. 

This San Francisco classic (est. 1949) is a trip back in time. The restaurant's apropos name says it all — it serves one thing and one thing only, and it does that roast beef perfectly. The only choices you need to make are meat temperature, cut thickness, mashed or loaded baked potatoes, and a martini or Manhattan. Each plate comes with a salad prepared tableside, creamed spinach, Yorkshire pudding, and potatoes — and of course, a hulking piece of beef cut from roving carts. Take visiting friends and family, celebrate big life occasions, or just satisfy steak cravings.

Open since 1849, Tadich Grill is a San Francisco tradition, complete with a wood-fired grill that outputs satisfyingly charred steaks. The most famous dish is the Hangtown Fry (an oyster omelet), but the steaks are of equal mention. Just be prepared to wait, since this is a popular tourist destination, but bartenders will happily ply you with drinks until it's table time.

Gozu is not technically a steakhouse — but it is an all-wagyu tasting menu, for those who love their luxuriously marbled beef. Chef Marc Zimmerman worked at Alexander’s for years before opening Gozu in 2019. It’s a dramatic black box of a space, with a horseshoe counter centered on a live-fire grill. The chefs pass steak bites across the counter, breaking down how they use all parts of the animal, and the restaurant’s fireside tasting menu starts at $225 per person. Alternately, there is a four-course tasting menu for $125 and items available a la carte, as well.

The view of the shimmery Bay Bridge is the top draw here — perfect for impressing a date or clients — and the steaks and seafood are a close second. Sister restaurant next door Waterbar is seafood-focused, and that overflows onto Epic's menu, with lots of surf and turf options.

Focused on steak and seafood, John’s Grill is a San Francisco institution favored by local politicians and filled with literary romance. Featured in Dashiell Hammett’s detective novel the Maltese Falcon, the restaurant has played up the connection — they’ve got a model Maltese Falcon and some Sam Spade lamb chops on the menu, for instance. But the strongest order might be steak: All cuts are dry-aged Black Angus from the Midwest.

It’s one thing to order a steak entree for dinner, but it’s a completely different experience when various cuts of meat are paraded past your table and carved at-will, such as is the case at Espetus Churrascaria. There’s picanha, filet mignon, sausages, and yes, chicken hearts, all ready to be cheerfully eaten until you’re stuffed. A word to the wise: Don’t skip the grilled pineapple, it’ll be a nice sweet addition to your meal after all the protein.

The Omakase Restaurant Group’s steakhouse specializing in wagyu beef sets itself apart with its own in-house butcher next door, serving hard-to-find menu items like a wagyu meatball and huge, dry-aged imperial tomahawk steaks. The facts that more than 100 wines are available by the bottle or glass and that the menu includes excellent non-beef items, put Niku Steakhouse over the top.

If you’re looking for a particularly luxurious steakhouse experience then celebrity chef Tyler Florence’s newest offering is clearly a fit — it’s right there in the name (although technically the “Lux” refers to Charles Lux, half of the duo known as “the Cattle Kings of California.”). The 7,000-square-foot waterfront restaurant is ensconced at Thrive City, just outside of Chase Center, with a stunning leather and brass dining room by San Francisco design darling Ken Fulk. The pricey menu tempts with options like dry-aged tomahawk ribeye and filet mignon.

An affordable, very casual, populist steak and burger spot, Bullshead Restaurant has held it down in West Portal since 1979. For a simple ribeye and baked potato dinner, a big chuck burger, or a ground buffalo steak in a place that feels miles away from the bougie San Francisco scene, this is the spot.