It has 150 seats, it's upstairs from a CVS, and it will serve $240 cuts of Kobe beef imported from Japan. It's called Mastro's, it debuts Friday at 399 Geary, and it's one of 17 locations of the highest end of steakhouses from the Landry's empire, which also owns Joe's Crab Shack, Morton’s the Steakhouse, and McCormick & Schmick’s.
For those who haven't been taking advantage of the small boom of contemporary steakhouses in the Bay Area in the last decade, it's not all about grilled T-bones and creamed spinach anymore. Mastro's has more in common with Alexander's and Epic Steak, with an expansive wine list that reaches into four-figure prices, and baller options like shellfish towers, monstrous ribeyes, and A5 Wagyu beef from Japan. The chain has locations in luxe locales around California, including Malibu, Beverly Hills, and Palm Desert, and Mastro's regional VP Gregory Hammann tells the Chronicle this week that the company has been eyeing the Bay Area for a while — and a second local Mastro's will also be popping at the revamped Westfield Valley Fair complex in Silicon Valley, when that opens.
The restaurant is opening on the upper levels of a newly reconstructed building at Mason and Geary, across the street from the Hotel G (soon to be home to Timothy Hollingsworth's new spot) and the Pinecrest Diner. As the Chronicle explains, in addition to the main dining room which boasts a 4,000-pound chandelier, there is a private dining room, the casual M Bar with live piano music every night, and a rooftop bar terrace as well.
But given the Union Square proximity and the general trends with these new-school steakhouses, the emphasis is on overt luxury and decadence more than artistry. For instance, the Chronicle describes a $50 cocktail called The Baller that sounds outright disgusting: it seems to be a martini featuring JCB Gin, caviar dust, shaved black truffle, and white truffle oil.
Mastro's will be open daily for dinner only from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., and M Bar opens at 4 p.m. It opens for business Friday, December 20.
Photo: Mastro's Palm Desert