New restaurant to open downtown New restaurant to open downtown (July 15, 2005)

Roadhouse will feature burgers, California Cuisine

By Jenny Baer

A new casual steakhouse is scheduled to open in mid-August downtown, filling the vacant space on Castro Street across from restaurants Cascal and The Cantankerous Fish.

Once opened, the California Roadhouse plans to service customers with an open kitchen, central bar, happy hour and possible entertainment. The interior is furnished with a rustic theme, with cedar walls, mahogany booths and a display case of roasting meat. On top of all this, chef and manager David Jamrock expects the Roadhouse to be one of the most inexpensive restaurants on the street.

The spot, at the corner of California and Castro streets, has remained vacant for about two years for remodeling.

Food will be moderately priced, Jamrock said, ranging from $7 to $16 a person. The restaurant will offer California cuisine, with French, Italian and Asian influences. According to Jamrock, the menu will include "fresh seafood, fresh pastas, wonderful salads and giant half-pound hamburgers." It will also include promotions such as prime rib on weekend nights.

California Roadhouse will also make its own fresh bread, including rolls for the tables and buns for the burgers. If the bread isn't enough to hold the customer over, complimentary roasted peanuts will be served to all.

Jamrock said his bar will serve "any kind of frozen drink," as well as beer on tap, a full liquor bar and his special fresh fruit martinis poured straight from the vat of fruit and liquor. An old fashioned ice cream bar serving sundaes, milkshakes and banana splits is also planned, and it will serve some of the chef's other dessert specialties as well.

The restaurant will be open for both lunch and dinner. Jamrock plans to offer a business lunch, and the bar and dinner menu will probably run late into the night, closing at around 11 p.m. weekdays and 1 or 2 a.m. on weekends. Jamrock adds that customers may "come in and have a burger anytime."

Steakhouses are nothing new for Jamrock, who has been involved with several during his career. He is moving to the area from Tahoe, where he was chef at the Alpine Meadows ski resort.

"We have a beautiful decor," he said, "And will serve a really nice and moderately priced California cuisine. We just need to hire our staff and the whole thing will come together."

E-mail Jenny Baer at jbaer@mv-voice.com

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