Lawry's The Prime Rib

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Beverly Hills Institution, Elevated in Taipei

In 1938, Lawrence L. Frank and Walter Van de Kamp opened the original Lawry's The Prime Rib on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. The founding vision was straightforward: a place where guests could gather with family and friends over exceptional prime rib, in surroundings that felt glamorous yet genuinely welcoming — refined without being intimidating. More than 80 years later, that philosophy remains unchanged at every location, including the Taipei outpost on the sixth floor of BELLAVITA in the Xinyi district.

The Prime Rib, Done One Way

The kitchen's commitment begins with the cut. Lawry's sources only USDA Prime or Certified Angus Beef (CAB), using ribs 6 through 12 — the prime rib section — then dry-ages each piece for 28 days to develop tenderness and depth of flavor. The beef is slow-roasted on a bed of rock salt in a convection oven, a method designed to distribute heat evenly while locking every drop of juice inside. The result arrives at your table not from the kitchen pass, but from a hand-crafted silver carving cart — an icon of the brand since the 1930s, when a single cart cost the equivalent of a new Cadillac. A white-uniformed carver wheels it tableside, slicing to your preferred doneness and portion on the spot.

The Spinning Salad and the Seasoned Salt

Before the cart arrives, the meal opens with Lawry's signature Spinning Salad. A server brings a salad bowl set over crushed ice to keep the greens crisp, then rotates it while pouring the house wine dressing from above — an elegant, theatrical move that coats every leaf evenly. The cold fork served alongside ensures the salad stays at the same temperature from bowl to bite.

The seasoning behind the prime rib is equally storied. Lawrence Frank spent a year in his home kitchen developing a blend of 17 herbs and spices, eventually arriving at what became Lawry's Seasoned Salt — now sold in supermarkets across North America and still used on the prime rib here in Taipei.

Victorian Interiors, Taipei Panoramas

The dining room is dressed in classical Victorian style, but the views are unmistakably Taipei. The northern windows face Zhongxiao East Road with Yangmingshan in the distance; to the south, Taipei 101 and the Xinyi skyline fill the frame. Staff in British-style livery greet guests at the door and guide them through the tableside service with warmth rather than formality — a balance the brand has maintained for over eight decades.

For wine, Lawry's carries its own private-label bottles — a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Merlot, and a Chardonnay — produced at Rutherford Hill Winery in Napa Valley, selected after blind tastings by the group's chairman in 1990. The wine program's quality has earned the restaurant a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, a recognition that reflects both the depth of the list and the care taken in pairing it with the food.

More Than a Steakhouse

Beyond its identity as a classic steakhouse, the Taipei location accommodates business lunches, holiday meals, banquets, private events, and even an on-site catering service. Vegetarian and children's menus are available alongside the main dinner and lunch sets, making the room genuinely versatile without compromising the precision that defines the main event: that slow-roasted, cart-carved prime rib, arriving in a cloud of steam.