Rare Society is your next meat party

Neighborhood: University Heights neighborhood, San Diego

Price: $$$

Vibe: Modern, fun ambience with great decor - this place has a great vibe that is somehow upscale and homey neighborhood at the same time

We stumbled across Rare Society when we realized that we forgot to make a reservation at another restaurant for a birthday celebration, and we could not have been happier with our backup restaurant option. Sometimes mistakes turn out to be the best surprises! Located in University Heights in the old 100 Proof location (before that, it was S&M Sausage and Meat), Rare Society is an upscale steakhouse serving mouthwatering steak and seafood dishes, in a totally unpretentious and casual environment. It’s a “come as you are” kind of place, and while the food says, “fine dining”, the restaurant itself is super cozy and feels like a little neighborhood joint. Brought to us by the folks from the Trust group, this one really hits it out of the park with the food and the vibe, and I’m already counting down the days to my next visit.

The decor is comfy and chic and makes you kind of want to hang out all night

We had a group of 3 and got seated in a cool leather booth with a view of the bar. The restaurant atmosphere was warm and bustling, but not too loud to enjoy the conversation with your tablemates. The wallpaper and tiled ceilings, with gold mirrors adorning one of the walls, were all in great taste and really added to the atmosphere of this neighborhood steakhouse.

Because this was a Food Club birthday situation, we did not hold back on the ordering and decided that we were going to splurge and try as much as we could possibly fit into our bellies. And we did good.

Oysters and champers

We started with some champagne and oysters on the half shell, because why not? The waiter offered some great recommendations that we probably wouldn’t have tried otherwise - most notably, the simply named “bacon” dish, which was so good we didn’t even get a picture of it whole. A delicious slab of pork belly, slow cooked in a sweet and tangy BBQ-like sauce, it fell apart with a fork and was the perfect foreshadowing of the meats to come - delicious and perfectly cooked.

Our failed attempt at picture of the bacon, it went too fast!

Next course was the Wood Grilled Maine Lobster, which was taken out of the shell, chopped and tossed with garlic, parsley butter and breadcrumbs (oh my!) and placed back into the shell. The sauce was rich and paired perfectly with the sweet lobster. We had to order the Parker House rolls, cooked in a skillet and smothered with butter just to sop up what was left of the sauce.

Wood Grilled Maine Lobster

Parker House rolls

For our main course, we ordered the steak sampler called “The Associate”, and I highly, highly recommend this for a group of 3 or more! It’s a chef’s choice sampling of the steaks, and ours came with the tri-tip Wagyu and the Denver Wagyu (okay, now I get the hype around Wagyu, wow) and the prime “bullseye” ribeye. Each steak was cooked and sliced and served with the suggested sauce pairings, it was a really great way to sample each of these delectable meats. Served on their own Rare Society-branded lazy Susan which made it easy to share/fight over the different offerings. We had to try to Mac n cheese and Caesar salad as our sides, which were good, but the proteins were the shining star of the night - as it should be.

Steak sampler with pairing sauces

Because this was a “birthday” food club we HAD to order dessert, so on the recommendation of our server, who did not steer us wrong all night, he suggested the butter cake. Wow, so simple yet so divine!

Butter cake with sour cream ice cream

This was one of the best steak dinners I have ever eaten. One of those meals that we all texted about the next day, and I feel like I got to relive again just by writing this all down for you. If you haven’t checked out Rare Society, you must. Go now.

Rare Society

4130 Park Blvd.

San Diego, CA 92103