Daniella Flores | News Editor & Publicity Manager
February 24, 2023
Trust Restuarant Group will open its Rare Society restaurant in downtown San Clemente this summer. The new restaurant will be two stories accounting for 5,500 square feet on Avenida Del Mar. This location will mark the steakhouse’s first Orange Country location.
Their first steakhouse opened in 2019, with two current locations in San Diego, one in Santa Barbara and the other in Mill Creek, Washington.
Brad Wise, restaurant owner, and executive chef, describes the restaurant concept as an “homage to the retro steakhouse of the Las Vegas Strip” with a menu of dry-aged ribeyes, Australian wagyu, filet mignon, and other specialties.
“I think the steakhouse will be a great addition to downtown,” San Clemente High School freshman Eric Flores said. “Especially because there’s nothing quite like that in San Clemente.”
The process of demolishing the previous one-story building took several months, with reviews conducted by the Cultural Heritage Review Subcommittee, the California Coastal Commission, and the Planning Commission, before city approval.
With the property being a part of the “coastal zone” and the city having “strong architectural guidelines,” things were very challenging to approve the plans.
The proposal for the restaurant beat out several other competitors. Ownership visited each of their three final candidates in person for dinner, with Rare Society’s “unparalleled” service helping to seal the deal.
The atmosphere will allow guests to dine dressed for a night out or even in shorts and sandals. The restaurant will serve as a steakhouse that San Clemente diners cannot experience in town.
“I would like to go to this steakhouse sometime once it’s built and try it for myself,” SCHS senior Gavin McCaig said.
As of right now, the restaurant is expected to open sometime during the summer, with no exact date in place yet.
For more information on Rare Society:
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