Sundance the Steakhouse

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Fifty Years and Still Talking

In 1973, Bob Fletcher spotted a rundown diner near Stanford University and saw something others missed. A year later, in December 1974, he opened Sundance Mine Company with a simple but uncompromising premise: aged beef and fresh seafood, served right. Half a century on, that premise hasn't shifted an inch.

The building itself has history before Sundance — in the 1940s it housed The Carrousel Drive-In, already known for steak, seafood, and chops. Some things, as the restaurant notes with quiet satisfaction, never change.

A Family Business, Earned From the Ground Up

Bob Fletcher's sons didn't inherit an easy ride. Galen Fletcher started as a dishwasher in the summer of 1980, worked through every kitchen station, earned a degree from UC Santa Barbara, spent time at Ernst & Young as an accountant, and then — on Valentine's Day 1992 — took his first managerial shift at Sundance. He never looked back. His brother Aron joined the management ranks in 1996, having similarly held every front-of-house role the restaurant offers, from bartending to waiting tables. Today, Galen serves as Owner and CEO, with Chef de Cuisine Alfredo Flores leading the kitchen and General Manager Tanner Pelissier — himself a Sundance waiter turned leader — overseeing daily operations.

The restaurant's vendor relationships mirror the same long-term thinking: most suppliers have been partners for over 30 years, providing prime-graded meat, the freshest seafood available, and local organic produce.

What's on the Plate

Sundance describes its menu philosophy without ambiguity: "serve only the very best." In practice, that means specially aged prime-graded steaks, a famous slow-roasted prime rib, and fresh seafood including Pacific Swordfish, Scottish Salmon, Northern Alaskan Halibut, Australian Lobster Tail, and New England "Diver" Scallops. Free-range organic poultry from Mary's Chicken rounds out the options. The clam chowder, made from a closely guarded recipe, won the Santa Cruz Chowder Cook Off three consecutive years in the early 1980s — fewer than 15 employees have ever prepared a batch.

The wine list earned a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2023, recognition that reflects the Fletcher family's long-standing seriousness about what goes in the glass alongside the prime beef.

The Room and the Crowd

Sundance has private and semi-private dining rooms — the Silverado Trail Room, Stag's Leap Room, and Alexander Valley Room among them — suited to corporate events and personal milestones alike. The bar and lounge host a weekday happy hour, and the sports memorabilia collection, featuring collectibles spanning more than a century, gives the space a particular character. Over the decades, guests have included Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Bill Walsh, Clint Eastwood, Tim Cook, and Carlos Santana, among many others. Silicon Valley executives and Stanford coaches are regulars.

The name changed from Sundance Mine Company to Sundance The Steakhouse in 1999, a nod to what the public already knew it for. More than five million meals later, the steakhouse continues to let the beef do the talking.