Best Steakhouse

Taking steak as seriously as she does haute cuisine at her superb Jardinière, Traci des Jardins does honor to carnivores in this huge restaurant tucked into SBC Park. Start with a perfect Caesar salad, a wedge of crisp iceberg slathered with blue cheese dressing, spinach salad properly wilted with bacon and vinegar, or oysters, shrimp, and crab from the raw bar; then go on to beautifully charred steaks or chops (from animals naturally raised without hormones or antibiotics), with classic steakhouse sides such as leaf spinach swimming in cream or big, fat, fried onion rings. (Our only quibble: Why no baked potatoes?) Most steakhouses aren't famous for their desserts, but here the butterscotch pudding topped with softly whipped cream and the fresh pineapple upside-down cake are just as good as what comes before. If you have tickets to a Giants game for after your feast, you've just scored a perfect double play. (Lunch is served when the Giants have day games at home.)