Steak tartare from Porterhouse San Mateo. (Photo courtesy Steve Haag)

By Kate Bradshaw

Porterhouse San Mateo, a San Mateo steakhouse, has moved to a new downtown location and revamped its menu after a temporary closure.

The restaurant announced plans to relocate from its 3rd Avenue location to a new spot, 164 South B St., back in December. The new location is the site of the former restaurants Dahlia Mexican Grill and Vault 164 – and home to a former bank.

The historic bank dates to around 1925 and was a Crocker bank before becoming a billiards hall, according to the Mercury News.

Porterhouse was established by restaurateur Hamdi "Bruno" Ugur, who opened the restaurant in 2007 and began offering dry-aged meats in-house in 2013, according to a press statement. The restaurant's new location has a custom meat locker where meats are dry-aged, enabling it to offer dry-aged grass-fed beef sourced from California ranches alongside meat sourced from Omaha, Nebraska.

An updated menu also offers seafood, vegetarian options and seasonal produce and ingredients and includes housemade stocks, sauces and desserts. New menu items include a surf-and-turf option as well and a cauliflower steak for vegetarians. Desserts include bananas Foster flambéed tableside, and, when cherries are in season, cherries jubilee.


Bananas Foster, flambéed tableside at Porterhouse San Mateo. (Photo courtesy Steve Haag)

New cocktails include two drinks served over shaved ice: the Castaway, made with coconut washed vodka, crème de cacao, honey, pineapple and lime; and the Monroe, a mai tai made with rum, agricole blanc, curaçao, orgeat and lime. The restaurant also offers non-alcoholic cocktails and a non-alcoholic beer option.

The restaurant's decor at the new location leans into an old-fashioned Hollywood theme, with original posters from Hollywood's "Golden Age" on the walls and red velvet curtains.

Porterhouse San Mateo, 164 S. B St., San Mateo; 650-579-5911, Instagram: @porterhousesanmateo.