"A meal at House of Prime Rib is controlled chaos—and that’s what makes dinner at this meat-centric place so fun. Servers push around giant carts full of prime rib and prepare salads tableside. Your waiter will plop massive spoonfuls of bacon bits and sour cream onto your baked potato at lightning speed, and constantly make sure your martini glass is full. Add giant bottles of wine and an old-school vibe, and you have a stimulating, borderline ridiculous experience you need to have for a birthday dinner at least once (as long as you can get a reservation). Reservations open one year in advance (yes, you read that right). So if you’re a Type A organizer with an impressively stable lifestyle, reserve your ideal date 365 days ahead of time. If not, don’t worry, they take walk-ins nightly for the dining room and bar—you just might have to wait a few hours to get seated. Another move is to call ahead to ask if there are any day-of cancellations." - julia chen 1, patrick wong, ricky rodriguez