Tad's Steaks
While I've been unpacking, I came across a blue dinner plate with a 'Tad's Steaks' logo. I remember buying it in an antique store. It was one those automatic purchases that required no thinking or debating, as soon as I saw it, I had to buy it.
Tad's is a small steakhouse on Powell Street in San Francisco. I've been going there my entire life.
When I was little, my parents and I would make a special trip to the City to go Chrismas shopping, and sometimes on other occaisions we'd go up there, and always we would eat at Tad's.
The place hasn't changed at all in the 40 plus years I've been going there. You walk in and grab a tray and go straight to the grill. The main chef always says, "Hello, what are you having?" I always order a steak, medium....you can order other things, like chicken, ribs, salmon...but I have never ordered anything but the steak. They are T-bones with a baked potato, salad, and garlic bread. Always delicious.
I remember going there when I was little, and seeing the chefs behind the grill. They wore those tall paper chef hats and had a certain flair to what they did....they would grab a steak from the cooler and flip it in the air a couple of times as they threw it on the grill, or grab a plate and spin it on their fingertip. That's what I wanted to do when I grew up.
One time when I was about 5, I insisted on carrying my own tray for the first time. My mom didn't like the idea and urged that my dad take my tray to the table, or have a busboy help out, like they always had before. My dad said, "no, let him do it"
So as my parents were seated, I carried my own tray, but it was heavy and it began to slide from side to side...then Whoomp...there went the salad and glass of milk...I could see the people at other tables turn and look, and hear things like, "awwww, he dropped it..." It was at that moment that I learned what it means to me embarrassed in public. I tried to balance the tray on my knee as I picked up the salad, but by that time my dad and a couple of busboys were already coming to my rescue.
Over the years, my parents and I always went back to Tad's. Not necessarily because we liked their steaks more than anywhere else, but mostly out of tradition. I think because the place has not changed at all for over 40 years, and when everything else changes, it is somehow comforting to go to a place that remains the same, thereby reminding you of a comforting time.
Even the wallpaper, though replaced over the years, is still the same red design...the tables with the condiments and variety of steak sauces on each table is still the same...also the full-length mirror in the back where I once asked, "why is there a mirror there?" and my mom said, "so people can see how fat they are after eating a big dinner."
I think of that moment when I still go there and see that mirror, and a thousand other moments..... I went there with my dad a few years ago, just before he passed away, and out of the blue he said, "Remember that time you wanted to carry your own tray and you dropped it? You actually tried to clean it up yourself, like a little man, I was so proud of you."
These are the kinds of memories I have when I go to Tad's.
Tad's is a small steakhouse on Powell Street in San Francisco. I've been going there my entire life.
When I was little, my parents and I would make a special trip to the City to go Chrismas shopping, and sometimes on other occaisions we'd go up there, and always we would eat at Tad's.
The place hasn't changed at all in the 40 plus years I've been going there. You walk in and grab a tray and go straight to the grill. The main chef always says, "Hello, what are you having?" I always order a steak, medium....you can order other things, like chicken, ribs, salmon...but I have never ordered anything but the steak. They are T-bones with a baked potato, salad, and garlic bread. Always delicious.
I remember going there when I was little, and seeing the chefs behind the grill. They wore those tall paper chef hats and had a certain flair to what they did....they would grab a steak from the cooler and flip it in the air a couple of times as they threw it on the grill, or grab a plate and spin it on their fingertip. That's what I wanted to do when I grew up.
One time when I was about 5, I insisted on carrying my own tray for the first time. My mom didn't like the idea and urged that my dad take my tray to the table, or have a busboy help out, like they always had before. My dad said, "no, let him do it"
So as my parents were seated, I carried my own tray, but it was heavy and it began to slide from side to side...then Whoomp...there went the salad and glass of milk...I could see the people at other tables turn and look, and hear things like, "awwww, he dropped it..." It was at that moment that I learned what it means to me embarrassed in public. I tried to balance the tray on my knee as I picked up the salad, but by that time my dad and a couple of busboys were already coming to my rescue.
Over the years, my parents and I always went back to Tad's. Not necessarily because we liked their steaks more than anywhere else, but mostly out of tradition. I think because the place has not changed at all for over 40 years, and when everything else changes, it is somehow comforting to go to a place that remains the same, thereby reminding you of a comforting time.
Even the wallpaper, though replaced over the years, is still the same red design...the tables with the condiments and variety of steak sauces on each table is still the same...also the full-length mirror in the back where I once asked, "why is there a mirror there?" and my mom said, "so people can see how fat they are after eating a big dinner."
I think of that moment when I still go there and see that mirror, and a thousand other moments..... I went there with my dad a few years ago, just before he passed away, and out of the blue he said, "Remember that time you wanted to carry your own tray and you dropped it? You actually tried to clean it up yourself, like a little man, I was so proud of you."
These are the kinds of memories I have when I go to Tad's.
posted by Olias at 12:13 AM
1 Comments:
I have fond memories of Tad's Steaks in Philadelphia where, as a student at Drexel Universiy, a college buddy and I would go for a special treat. That was back in the late fifties and sad to say the Tad's in Philly no longer exists. I can still taste those wonderful flame broiled steaks, baked potato, salad with croutons and chick peas and that marvelous garlic bread on the side.
Later on in the sixties, when I got married, my wife and I would still visit Tad's whenever we were in Philly. I sure miss that place.
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