I mean steakhouses like House of Prime Rib in San Francisco, Hal’s in Atlanta and Bern’s in Tampa, Fla. Every great American city has one; really great American cities have at least two or three. This kind of steakhouse revels in dinner theater. In House of Prime Rib, for instance, a chef in a tall, pleated paper hat pushes a steel cart stocked with the finest cuts of beef around the restaurant as if he were manning a float in a parade. He stops so the patrons can fawn over the meat, and then dramatically carves the cut with an oversize blade.

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Locations: San Francisco, Hal’s, Atlanta, Bern’s, Tampa , Fla, Rhone