Clearman's North Woods Inn - San Gabriel

This place can get busy at times, so a reservation may be helpful. Reservations need to be made online though, no phone in reservations accepted.

Walking up to the restaurant you start getting the feeling like you’re in the mountains! Once inside, you’re totally immersed.

The service was good. Our server was attentive and friendly. The food was also good, good exactly as ordered.

The bread and the baked potato are a must try!

There’s a few locations scattered throughout SoCal which is nice. I’d go back again 👍

What a great dinner. Tony was our server. He was exceptional. Everything was tasty. There was so much food. Will come back next time I'm back in Pasadena.

It was a Friday night and we were starving after driving across town during rush hour. Listen, when you visit North Woods Inn, you know what you’re getting yourself into. Bring your stretchy pants and be prepared to stuff yourself. You can review the menu all you want, but what you should be coming here for is a medium rare steak, grilled scallops, and lobster tail. The restaurant was bustling and after that drive I didn’t feel like waiting for a seat before ordering a libation so I started off by quickly ordering a tall boy from Ashley at the bar, who did an excellent job of managing multiple parties sitting in the bar area.

Without even looking at the menu, we ordered our usual, steak, scallops, and lobster tail (duh). Within moments, out came the piping hot cheese bread wrapped in foil, and our personal favorite part, the cabbage and dinner salads. What you do is you mix 1/2 of the cabbage salad with 1/2 of the dinner salad and go to town. Occasionally dip the cheese bread into the salad or use it as a vessel by which you make a cheese bread/ salad flat bread, and you have yourself an exceptional first course. We had just enough salad to momentarily satisfy our appetite that way when the main course arrived we’d be ready to polish that plate off. A few minutes later, our main courses arrived. The steak was perfectly medium rare (as usual) and the grilled scallops had a wonderful charred, Smokey flavor. The lobster tail was bigger than my fist and the mushroom stuffing was a perfect compliment to the cheese potato and rice. Now let’s talk about how amazing this cheese potato is. When you mix the cheesy goodness together with the potato you get cheesy mashed potato goodness that perfectly marries itself with the steak and lobster. By the time we reached the end of our meals we needed a to go box and a wheelchair out of there. The service was amazing as usual. Considering we were in a large group, which the restaurant expertly handles, our meals arrived in a timely manner and were expertly prepared. I’m salivating thinking about our return visit.

Wonderful service, great drinks, a unique atmosphere, and amazing food at a great value. Ya just can't beat it.

Loved it! People complain about the quality of food, but those tend to be lower class republican type people. It’s not fancy! If it was it would be Frank and Mussos or Taylor’s Steakhouse. It’s a dive steak house with an 80s cabin theme and the ambiance. You for for the vibes not the food per se.

This place is pure nostalgia. I grew up going to the Clearman’s in Covina and now live out of state so this is a must stop when I’m in town. The dinners are such a great value for the quality and amount of food (I can never finish and often have 2-3 meals from one!). I hope this place is around for my kids to enjoy when they come to see family as well- a must visit in SoCal!

The steaks are always cooked perfectly and the cuts are the best. My wife loves this place for the salad and cheese bread alone which is always the perfect appetizer. Seriously, don't bother with the appetizers because the salad and cheese bread come with dinner and they are amazing.

I don't typically order lobster because I'm cheap, but it did not disappoint. Huge portion, perfectly cooked, and very delicious. I barely had room to eat two bites of my steak before taking it home with me.

This place is popular and gets very loud on weekends so don't expect a quiet atmosphere. Although the restaurant has a lovely ambiance. Servers are very friendly and helpful.

Hands down the largest North Woods I have ever been to. I actually just stopped in to purchase some Blue Cheese dressing. Hands down the best ever. Nothing comes close to it in Arizona. I packed it up in my cooler and took it home.

Great environment and service, the food is delicious the pulled pork sandwich and the steaks here are on the top shelf!

It has been a long time since I have been to the North Woods Inn. We had a wonderful evening! We had a reservation and showed up a little early. We were seated within minutes, even before our reservation. From there, the service was great and the food was delicious. I had a very nice father's day dinner, as did my family of six. Thank you Clearman's.

Food was good. I ordered the Porterhouse Steak. Which was cooked perfectly. The Baked potato was good. I recommend the cheese butter, but on the side. Salad and cabbage was good, especially their Blue cheese dressing. Clam Chowder is also good. The Cheese toast was good, but a little too greasy for my liking. And our Waitress was great, very helpful and even let us sample certain things.

All the foods we ordered were really delicious. Cozy place to dine, plus excellent service. Filet mignon was cook to perfection as I liked it - medium rare. How artistic one can be, the plump lobster was out of the shell, and the shell was filled with really good rice pilaf. Yummy!!!!

Service was excellent. Food was delicious as always. I had a sirloin burger and their blue cheese salad; well iykyk. The ambience is getting a bit tired, but you can’t beat the food. My family has been coming here for at least 52 years. I don’t live in the area anymore, but I had to introduce my friend to NWI on our way back home. She said they had the best bleu cheese she’s ever tasted.

Always a great atmosphere. My husband and I enjoy coming here to throw some peanuts on the floor while drinking a beer with a nice Steak dinner. As always cabbage salad is delicious and our waiter Eric was extremely kind and attentive. 🙂👍

Visited with two of my friends for dinner. T got the steak medium with shrimp which he said was so good. D got the seafood plate that had grilled shrimp, fried scallops, and fried cod which he said was really good but was too much food. He really filled up on the salad and cheesy bread. I got the rock lobster tail which was good and tasty with mushrooms lining the exoskeleton.
It was all pretty good but I thought the cheese butter thing they put on the baked potato was weird. I might just not be used to consuming so much butter. Next time I would get it without butter.
The host didn't seem too friendly but our server was great! She and her assistant made sure our cups were full and that we had a great experience.
This place is so cute that I just walked around looking at the taxidermy and modern art inspired paintings reminiscent of Edouard Manet and other artists of that time. I also hugged one of the pine trees outside because I felt it wanted me to. Look forward to my next visit.

A favorite as a child, Clearman’s North Woods Inn is every bit as great now as it was 40 years ago. This is a go-to destination when in the LA area.

My wife and I enjoying coming to the Clearnan's North Woods Inn in San Gabriel for delicious meals they serve there including their world know for their steaks that many people come to the Clearman's North Woods Inn. Their meats is high standard quality meats they use that's why we come. We enjoy the red cabbage salad it's our favorite it including their salads everything is made fresh daily including their cheesy bread that so good.

A really cool place for the atmosphere. Clearman's has a long history in the area, and this is essentially a local landmark. It's pure roadside kitsch with a lot of neat architectural details. As far as I can tell, this restaurant opened in the 1960s but has roots going back to the 1940s. It's known for its steaks and prime rib.

A great place to dine and enjoy company . Very cozy atmosphere like no other. Christmas ambiance you can feel.

Great place to grab a simple meal and hang out with friends and family. Our server was perfect. I love a kitschy spot and with the menus shaped like cauldrons, the fake snow on the building, and last but not least the bear it definitely checks all the boxes. The food was ok, not bad or great. This spot is one that's more about where you're eating than what you're eating though. We really loved having a spot where we could catch up and not feel rushed, something increasingly hard to find these days. Overall we had a great time and will be back to support this long standing institution. .