How Home of Prime Rib’s Joe Betz turned a San Francisco icon
No list of iconic San Francisco figures would be complete without House of Prime Rib’s Joe Betz — one of the city’s longest-running restaurateurs.
At 83, he’s a living history book, filled with pages that are lovingly inscribed with remarkable San Francisco tales from his time running an enormously popular discotheque in the Transamerica Pyramid to presiding over one of the city’s flagship restaurants for more than a third of a century.
‘I do not come from a golden spoon’
House of Prime Rib’s gold-accented, wooden front doors are still locked before dinner service on a recent Thursday afternoon, when a spry gentleman wearing a crisp blue and red patterned button-up and dark denim smiles from behind its glass windows. He unlocks the entrance and welcomes me inside the acclaimed restaurant that’s been known for its well-marbled cuts of prime rib and chilled martinis since 1949.
(from left to right) Soun Manyvong, Saifon Manyvong, Terry Manyvong, and Kim Manyvong enjoy a family night out at the House of Prime Rib on the first night of its reopening, Wednesday, March 4, 2021.
Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE
San Francisco just reopened indoor dining. Here’s what House of Prime Rib was like on the first night.
Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
San Francisco just reopened indoor dining. Here’s what House of Prime Rib was like on the first night.
Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE
As we walk past tables draped in white fabric and garnished with pristine glassware perfectly set, Betz invites me into one of HOPR’s wine rooms, where he sits, surrounded by thousands of dark olive bottles (some dating back to 1932) that somehow aren’t covered in a single speck of dust.
Behind a pair of soft blue eyes, the man known for his generous philanthropy during the annual HOPR Christmas Eve lunch hosted at Glide Memorial Church, unfolds his deep adoration for the Van Ness institution and describes his role in its 73-year legacy.
San Francisco just reopened indoor dining. Here’s what House of Prime Rib was like on the first night.
Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE
“Prime rib is a comfort food. When the economy goes down, you don’t have the money to go for ‘experience food,’” he candidly said. “You want to go somewhere where you know you’ll get your money’s worth — and that’s what we are — and we stay that way.”
Born in Bavaria, Betz began working in restaurants in Munich when he was 14 years old. Before he purchased HOPR in 1985 from its original owner, Lou Balaski, he waited tables at Hoffman’s Grill, a no-fuss diner and historic landmark at 619 Market St. between New Montgomery and 2nd streets. At just 28 years old, Betz ended up buying Hoffman’s in 1968 and became the city’s youngest restaurateur.
“It was an American restaurant and it had a big bar. Needless to say, being there for so long at that time, it was running down,” Betz described. “… Don’t forget, I was 28 when I opened. I mean, I had very little money. I was worried how I was going to pay my bills, but I stuck it out. I had a wife and two kids, so I worked a little harder.”
Joe Betz, the owner of SF’s House of Prime Rib, poses for a photo in the wine room of the restaurant in San Francisco on July 6, 2022.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Betz said he welcomed all walks of life into Hoffman’s. It was during a time when political tensions ran high, and anti-Vietnam War protests roared loudly from Washington, D.C., and throughout the Bay Area. But despite that, Betz remembers calling down to Letterman Army Hospital at the Presidio to offer his hospitality.
“During the time with the protests, I invited always on Thursdays at Hoffman’s, four wounded soldiers for lunch as my guest — every Thursday,” he said. “One day, a guy comes in with a wheelchair, and the guy looked at me and said, ‘Mr. Betz, do you remember me?’ and I said, ‘Maybe I should, but I’m sorry I don’t.’”
The soldier remembered as a boy, Betz visited his home with his father to watch a program on their new color TV. As he recalled the memory, it came flooding back to Betz, too. At the time, Betz said he worked two to three jobs before he purchased Hoffman’s, and recalls taking a break between one of his many shifts to pass the time at his friend’s place.
An interior dining room at the House of Prime Rib in San Francisco on July 6, 2022.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
“He was a young kid, and then he went into the military and then he stepped on a land mine and it blew his legs,” Betz solemnly said. “So I could understand why people protest.”
But Betz also said he respects different opinions on such sensitive topics, acknowledging that a person’s upbringing and life experiences play major roles in shaping their beliefs.
“If you come from a family who’s struggling, you may have a more different opinion about people who struggle — and you may be more sympathetic,” he said. “If you come from something with a golden spoon, then maybe you don’t understand. I do not come from a golden spoon, because I’ve been working since I’m 14.”
While Betz said he certainly did not agree with the Vietnam War, or any war for that matter, he has always felt a duty to feed those in need — no matter their background. For him, every person who walks through his doors deserves respect.
Three generations of the Betz family serving up delicious prime rib on Christmas Eve.
Alain McLaughlin
One Sunday, Betz recalls attending service at Glide Memorial Church, where he was struck by the morning’s teachings about “hope, not class differences,” when he decided to begin donating his efforts to the organization. Now a nearly 30-year tradition, HOPR has donated thousands of meals to the community during the holidays, which includes cuts of its signature, dry-aged beef and sides such as honey-lemon broccoli, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls and eclairs.
“We serve a couple of thousand people at Christmas Eve,” he said. “We’re not just donating it, but my sons and I and my grandchildren are there serving it because I want my grandchildren to see there are two sides of the world — and people work very hard.”
‘You could shoot a cannon through it’
As Hoffman’s became a Market Street staple well into the ’70s, Betz also ran all of the food operations inside the tallest building in San Francisco’s skyline at the time, the Transamerica Pyramid, including catering and a coffee shop known as the Bank Exchange. While there, Betz saw an opportunity when night blanketed the 48-story skyscraper.
“In 1978, you could shoot a cannon through it and it wouldn’t hit anybody at night,” Betz said. “So I put a discotheque in there, and it became one of the top five in the country.”
He dubbed this venture the Park Exchange, a gazebo-like glass structure on the ground floor with a sophisticated sound system. It launched a year after the famous celebrity-clad Studio 54 nightclub debuted in New York, and “was the No. 1 liquor seller among discos in Northern California — a whopping $64,000 a month,” according to an article from the SF Examiner in 1979.
A 1979 advertisement for the Park Exchange Supper Disco in the Transamerica Pyramid.
San Francisco Examiner
An earlier account from the Examiner reported that Betz also acquired a Rolls-Royce for the Park Exchange, where the “best-dressed couple” and “best-dressed disco lady” won the chance to be chauffeured around for the city for the day in all its luxury before ending their night at the club.
Yet there was one stark difference between Betz’s popular dance hall and the cocaine-fueled parties at Studio 54.
“I think the success in that one is a simple one. I don’t use drugs. I drink maybe sometimes too much, but I don’t use drugs and never did. And so, I had a very dislike for these pushers,” Betz said. “I don’t care what people do, but I had very close connections with the police department and with the narcotics [unit], so they helped me out to assure me the place was clean.”
There were two dance floors and an enclosed game room in the center of all the action, and late-night suppers were served to keep guests well fed as they danced the night away to some of the era’s most popular music from the Bee Gees to Donna Summer.
“So you could go there with your parents, for example, or with somebody, and not worry about being in a raid,” he said. “We had some big celebrities there and big political figures because of that.”
Notable figures included the king of Malaysia, three Saudi princes and one sultan. The governor of Guam even brought his son to Park Exchange for a college graduation party, according to the Examiner.
As disco faded and left traces of glitter in its wake, San Francisco experienced more growth, with historic buildings being revamped throughout the city. But instead of demolishing entire landmarks, city planners would leave the facade of their presence on the outside, while they became trendy new businesses and housing developments on the inside.
Hoffman’s Grill entrance, 619 Market between 2nd Street and New Montgomery, taken on the last day of business June 29, 1984. Despite its landmark status, the building was demolished with only its facade preserved.
OpenSFHistory / wnp32.3426 / Courtesy Emiliano Echeverria
Although recognized as a historic landmark in 1981, Hoffman’s was ultimately closed in 1984 and gutted, making way for big high-rises that were erected around the Edwardian-style building.
An article from the San Francisco Chronicle archives describes the days leading up to Hoffman’s demolishment, a mainstay at 619 Market St. since 1913.
“Historic Hoffman’s Grill, last relic of the pre-World War I restaurants on Market Street, closed June 29 with toasts to a vanished era,” the article described. “Hearty German fare, salty waiters, generous drinks and authentic atmosphere of stained glass, murky paintings and slow fans — that was Hoffman’s.”
Hoffman’s Grill interior, 619 Market between 2nd Street and New Montgomery, taken on the last day of business, June 29, 1984.
OpenSFHistory / wnp32.3430 / Courtesy Emiliano Echeverria
Betz was 44 years old at the time of the shift, but the end of Hoffman’s wasn’t without its silver lining. According to the Chronicle’s article, Betz and his former wife Heide received a $3 million dollar settlement to vacate the beloved restaurant so that it could make way for a new office building.
“We were lucky that we had a great lease, so they had to buy us out,” Betz said. “So it was actually a very good ending. I miss Hoffman’s more emotionally than financially.”
‘I live this place’
Back inside HOPR, the evening’s bartender starts taking inventory of his ingredients before the restaurant opens for cocktail hour at 4:30 p.m. Betz’s son, Steven Betz, is seen zipping about the aisles making sure everything is just so before dipping behind the scenes to the kitchen.
Joe points Steven out, acknowledging that he couldn’t run HOPR without him and noting that he’s just as passionate about the family-run business as his father. The two recently flew out to Chicago in June for the James Beard Awards, where HOPR was one of five finalists in the country in the “Outstanding Hospitality” category.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
“I live this place. And, I’m very fortunate I have my son here. He’s doing a great job with how things are going,” Betz said. “Steven and I went [to the awards] together, and I realized that I wouldn’t be there without him, and I’m very fortunate that he has the same interest that I have.”
Less than a year after Hoffman’s shuttered, Betz immediately jumped back into the restaurant business with HOPR in 1985. He completely remodeled his newly purchased restaurant to bring it into a new era, where it would no longer stick to its former coat-and-tie dress code and he would also remove the high booths that boxed in its guests.
He tore everything out from floor to ceiling, put in a new kitchen and retained HOPR’s original back-of-the-house crew and brought in some familiar Hoffman’s servers to operate the front of house. He describes the bare bones layout as very much the same as it was in 1949, it’s just been updated to give its five dining rooms a fresh look that he said is a bit more feminine in nature.
Customers enter the House of Prime Rib in San Francisco on July 6, 2022.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
“We just recently repainted everything. It’s a constant upgrade. We don’t want to be stale,” Betz said. “When you’re around for so many years, sometimes you don’t see dirt grow. Later on today, somebody’s going to come around and change the light fixtures.”
Before Betz took over the restaurant, he said HOPR was only churning out about 75 dinners a night. Now, the famed prime rib hotspot easily dishes out 600 plates during evening service — and that’s considered a slow night.
“When you’re in the business, and dealing with so many people, you have to like it and you become emotional,” he said. “I’m going to be 83 in two days, and I still love what I’m doing. I don’t like it. I love it. You’re emotionally involved. It’s not just a bank account. It’s an emotion.”
Left to right, House of Prime Rib executive chef Doug Braun and owner Joe Betz pose for a photo in the meat locker of the restaurant in San Francisco on July 6, 2022.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Betz often meets with his employees to reinforce that as long as he’s buying the best, top-quality beef in the country, he expects them to do the best they can while serving it to customers. Sides such as mashed or baked potatoes, creamed corn and spinach are all basic accompaniments that Betz says his customers are quite fond of, but there is one recipe at HOPR that is anything but ordinary.
“What’s not basic is our house salad dressing. To make the dressing, at the base, you have to almost ferment it and from the beginning to table ready is about 10 days,” he said, before cracking a playful smile. “It’s a creamy dressing, based in sherry and apple vinegar. If I tell you the secret, I’d have to kill you.”
And while other fancy steakhouses don’t always cater to children and the younger generation, Betz is there to welcome them to a seat at his table. He’s watched generations of families grow up through the decades, a true testament to HOPR’s longevity.
“It’s an institution. Before my father took it over, we used to come here,” Steven said. “So as a child, before I had anything to do with the restaurant, we used to come here as children. A lot of San Francisco, I’d imagine, has done the same thing.”
House of Prime Rib on the night San Francisco reopened indoor dining, March 4, 2021.
Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE
After nearly 40 years, Betz is admittedly his own biggest critic and says the moment a business owner doesn’t find something to perfect or to tweak, that means they’re on their way out — and he doesn’t plan to retire anytime soon.
“My job is not to bask in glory,” Betz said. “My job is to keep things going as best as we can.”
House of Prime Rib, 1906 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. Open Monday through Friday, 5 p.m.-10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 4 p.m.-10 p.m.