A Prime Tradition

“Are you having fun? Otherwise you might as well stay home and cry in your pillow,” the dapper old-timer at the bar whispered in my ear. Well, yes, we were having fun, no question. I’ve come to expect that at this vintage L.A. steakhouse. The words Taylor’s Steak House have been floating above the building in red neon script for 40 some years now. With its USC sports memorabilia and regulars draped around the bar, no-nonsense waitresses and skilled kitchen, Taylor’s is a reminder of what steakhouses were in the old days--before they got fancy. The prices (no steak is more than $20, and you can have a dinner-size culotte steak, with fries, for $12.95) seem a relic of the past, too.

Until someone slips in the door, not a ray of natural light penetrates the place. It’s easy to picture Raymond Chandler or an L.A. writer of that ilk in the back booth knocking back a few drinks with a hefty Porterhouse. Horseshoe-shaped booths in glossy red faux leather topped with a shirred ruching appear designed for clandestine meetings. Or jolly get-togethers of dedicated carnivores, like those savoring the biggest steaks on the menu at the next table.

At Taylor’s, steak is the thing. The menu, of course, offers a handful of the obligatory appetizers. The best and most reliable is the Molly salad. Named for a longtime waitress, it mixes iceberg lettuce and romaine with chilled diced tomatoes, the salad doused in an excellent blue cheese dressing. The limp Caesar simply can’t compete. There’s a classic jumbo shrimp cocktail, too, though, on occasion, the shrimp can be tired or overcooked. But the cocktail is juicy and vibrant.

As for most everything else, Taylor’s dedcated crew is right on the mark. Waitresses at this family-run restaurant know when to appear, and when to leave you alone. Once you order, everything arrives together and in the correct order. And the cooking is precise. If you ask for your steak charred rare, that’s the way it comes, not like at some other places, where you have to hedge your bet and order a steak rare to get it medium rare, or even medium. The mashed potatoes taste fresh. The fries are crisp and hot, and the baked potato isn’t an overgrown spud, but just the size it should be. And if you like, it’s served with all the fixings.

That said, while the steaks are perfectly cooked and juicy, they aren’t the most flavorful I’ve ever encountered. In the course of several visits, I’ve tried almost every cut more than once, and the consensus of the table is always the same: The best is the Porterhouse T-bone, which encompasses the filet and a New York strip. A close second is the house steak, the culotte, thick as a baseball glove, which the menu describes as “the most tender cut of the top sirloin--only two cuts per steer.”

Aside from the steaks, the lamb loin chops are meaty and tender. And the prime rib, often a Friday night special, is a beautiful, thick slab of beef, served with a horseradish cream that packs a wallop. Oh, and if you must have a burger, Taylor’s are freshly ground every day from the steak trimmings. And for fans of French dip sandwiches, Taylor’s has a prime rib version that is perfect for lunch. The one disappointment is that the wine list is not as serious as it once was, and, despite the modest selection, vintages are not listed.

Desserts? Enough said. You didn’t really expect me to rave about the mango cheesecake, did you?

Three years ago the Taylor family opened a branch in La Canada Flintridge. Here you can do the suburban thing and eat outside on a little patio framed with greenery to screen out the parking lot. Inside is a faithful re-creation of the original. Who would have thought that they still make those slick Naugahyde booths?

This location, even on a weeknight, is packed. An urban cowboy sips Manhattans at the bar while a couple of attentive blondes pay court, and every one of the tiny booths running along one wall seats two, even three in a squeeze.

Our waitress, a real professional, runs down the menu in about five seconds flat. It’s almost identical to the original--appetizers and a la carte items on the left, dinners, which include soup or salad, fresh vegetable and potato, on the right. This kitchen is even more reliable. The Molly salad is better, a tall, icy wedge of iceberg draped with diced tomatoes and that terrific blue cheese dressing. French onion soup has a wonderful, richly flavored broth (they’ve got the bones, after all). When someone mistakenly orders broiled shrimp instead of the chilled jumbos, we’re quite taken with these plump, absolutely fresh beauties, served split with a little drawn butter. And the chilled shrimp here are firmer and more flavorful than the ones at the 8th Street restaurant.

It’s just as risky here as it is downtown to veer from the tried and true. Barbecued baby back ribs, the special one night, which somebody at the table insists on ordering, taste as if they’ve been warming in the oven too long. This time, too, it’s the Porterhouse that stands out, followed again by the culotte steak--the place is that consistent.

That’s the beauty of Taylor’s. You know exactly what you’re going to get--great service, a decent steak at a fair price, and enough fun that it would take something pretty special to tempt you to stay home.

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Taylor’s Steak House

AMBIENCE: Dark, clubby steakhouse with red Naugahyde booths, veteran waitresses and congenial scene. BEST DISHES: Molly salad, broiled jumbo shrimp, French onion soup, prime rib, Porterhouse T-bone, culotte steak. WINE PICKS: 1995 Beringer Knight’s Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. FACTS: 3361 W. 8th St., Los Angeles; (213) 382-8449. Lunch weekdays; dinner daily. Guarded parking lot; also 901 Foothill Blvd., La Canada Flintridge; (818) 790-7668. Lunch weekdays; dinner daily. Parking in lot. Dinner appetizers, $3 to $12; main courses, $7 to $20. Corkage $7.50.