Making reservations for outdoor dining this Valentine's day was stressful and not something I wanted to deal with. It was also predicted to be cold and I didn't think outdoor dining would be that great. After reading a bunch of Eater lists of where to get the best takeout, Andrew had the great idea to get House of Prime Rib (HOPR) to go.
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| A City Cut for me, House of Prime Rib cut for Andrew |
The HOPR page on Facebook (their website is unhelpful) said that they had takeout available for Valentine's day, though orders would have to be placed in person, and provided an email address to contact with any questions. I, of course, emailed asking about the menu for the night, and if they had an estimate on how long the line would be for takeout.
They promptly emailed me back with a short word document that outlined the three cuts of meat that are available for prime rib. Without a lot of additional info on Yelp or the internet, we basically went in blind! You can imagine my delight when we actually arrived to the restaurant and saw that you could order dessert and cocktails as well!
We arrived at the line at about 5:20, although the restaurant opened at 4. Andrew hates waiting in line, but we already suffered through a "11-minute walk" up and down a hill from Pac Heights to the restaurant so I made the decision to make us wait. It's not like we had anything better to do, and if we were going to go to our Plan B (Shake Shack) it would involve trudging back up and down the hill and going down and up an EVEN STEEPER hill to go down to the Marina from where we live.
Andrew estimated that the line would likely take an hour and a half, and he was spot on. I, on the other hand, am notorious for thinking things will always take less time than they actually will, and thought it would be less than an hour. After all, they are only serving prime rib, so how long could it take to just toss out orders of the same thing? Turns out, pretty long. It was dark out by the time we finally got our food!
Once we got in, I thought we would just talk to someone near the host stand and place our order and wait. Instead, people were directed to wait in line inside the building, and wait to order at the maitre'd stand. That's when you really get to see the menu, which I unfortunately did not take a photo of. I had already decided I would get the City Cut, and then I had a choice between mashed or baked potato, and creamed corn or creamed spinach. I would typically order half and half for the creamed vegetables, and I asked for that this time around, and they informed me that it would be an extra $2 as it would just be two whole sides of each creamed vegetable. We also got the "fantasy cake" for dessert, which is a layered cake consisting of chocolate cake, chocoloate mousse, and cheesecake.
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| Some booths open, bags of takeout go on these middle tables once they are ready and they call your name |
Once we placed our order, we were directed to go with a hostess/waitress where we would pay and could sit in one of the open booths. It was nice to have a place to sit and experience the restaurant's classic ambience while waiting for the food, especially after standing outside in the mist for 1.5 hours.
Our dinner for two came out to about $140 with tip, and it all fit in one bag. Somehow, the walk back to our apartment was way shorter (we also took a different street back, which was less steep). I laid out everything on the table and was very impressed as to how HOPR planned out their takeout containers for their customers.
While I loved the containers, I knew I had to plate everything to make this a real Valentine's Day dinner. I loved that all the sides were separated, which meant that they plated a little bit better. There was so much food, that a lot of plates were used, but it was well worth it. The salads came with a bottle of their delicious dressing, which was an added bonus that we can use again on other salads.
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| Dress: Stine Goya | Scarf: Gucci |
Once we got home, I plated everything while Andrew changed clothes into something more Valentine's Day appropriate. I changed into my new black Stine Goya dress and put my hair into a ponytail with Andrew's Valentine's present to me from last year. The Stine Goya Jasmine Dress has been top of mind for several weeks after watching HighLowLuxxe wear hear pink version on YouTube. It is the perfect babydoll dress to wear for a special occasion where you will be eating a lot (aka any holiday), because it is so loose and comfy.
I ate everything on my plate! It was so good, and multiple times during the meal I said out loud that it was totally worth the 1.5 hour wait. I would also think that on other weekends, non-holiday weekend non-valentine's weekends, the wait is not as long. It is a really nice treat for a pandemic meal and I would highly recommend to anyone.
Our anniversary is in March, so a repeat trip might be in our future, but I know Andrew would rather wait for the day that we can eat indoors again and dress up for a classic SF restaurant experience. We shall see! In the meantime, I hope people continue to visit HOPR and order takeout as the food stays almost just as good, even if you walk it home.
Best,
Isabella
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