Words by Johanna Harlow
It’s a weeknight at Sundance The Steakhouse and every seat is taken. Nothing new there. A true institution in its 50th year, the Palo Alto restaurant has served more than 6 million diners to date. “It was before Flemings. Before Alexander’s. If you wanted steak, you came here,” notes Galen Fletcher, current owner and son of Sundance’s founder, Robert Fletcher.
Prior to the sophisticated, low-lit, dark-wood dining room you see today, Sundance embraced a mining company theme. “Back in the early ‘70s, a lot of restaurants were very concept-oriented,” Galen relays. “There was mining stuff everywhere. In the bar, they had these rafters that came down—it was almost like coming into a mine shaft, like something you would see at Disneyland.” Servers delivered your aged USDA prime steaks with sides of creamed spinach and garlic mashed potatoes while clad in Gunne Sax dresses or leather vests with bank teller visors.
This was where Galen grew up, the restaurant opening on his seventh birthday. “I was so proud of my dad and his amazing accomplishment—the best birthday gift ever,” Galen says. “My mom ended up taking my brother and me home after a feast of prime rib, steaks, virgin strawberry-banana daiquiris and mud pie. Let’s just say the party continued well into the early morning hours!”
What was it like living in a steakhouse family? “First of all, we ate great,” Galen says. “I was literally brought up on prime rib.” Of course, growing up in the restaurant industry wasn’t all perfectly plated meals and candlelight. “It’s a lifestyle. The family needs to accept that dad’s not going to be around that much,” Galen notes. “You work on weekends, you work nights, you work holidays… But we could always visit him at Sundance. So we had dinner here a lot.” Throughout high school, Galen rolled up his sleeves alongside his father, working his way from busboy to dishwasher to fry cook. “You either have passion for the career or the career will eat you alive,” he observes.
When Richard first made the leap from opening restaurants on behalf of Hungry Hunter Steakhouse Group to opening his own place with a partner, he had his family’s support. “They spent every cent to get this thing open,” says Galen, adding that his father came up with creative ways of cutting costs. While buying glasses, for instance, he asked a restaurant supply store what they had the hardest time selling—and walked away with three dusty cases of snifters for a killer price. For a time, Richard served everything—cocktails, beer and wine—in those snifters. “It sounded crazy at the time, but it caught on,” Galen says. Guests seemed to appreciate the novelty. “We still have customers who come in today and ask for their cocktail in a snifter.”
Back in the present, a guest at the next table is digging into a jumbo Australian lobster tail, a 10-ounce beauty steamed on the shell and graced with butter and lemon. Another diner slurps down steamy spoonfuls of chowder. “It’s a collection of probably six different chowder recipes, all from the Boston area,” Galen says. “My dad would go to Boston and he would ask chefs and general managers, ‘What’s your key ingredient?’” The resulting combination won the Santa Cruz Chowder Cookoff three years in a row.
Galen explains that, rather than return to Sundance after college, he served a stint at the accounting firm Ernst & Young, but it didn’t “light my fire,” he says. When his father began thinking of retiring, Galen stepped up to take the helm of the family business. Under his management, Galen expanded the wine list from 70 selections to 500. “We had to build a couple wine cellars on the property to store it properly. During that process, we had wine everywhere, including the office, the kitchen and at my apartment,” he chuckles. He also visited East Coast gems like Chicago Chop House for inspiration in elevating the Sundance concept. “But we never got out of our lane,” Galen assures. “One of my dad’s favorite sayings to me while I was learning the business was, ‘Son, don’t mess this thing up with a brilliant idea.’ We keep up with the trends without sacrificing who we are and what we stand for.”
Another lesson learned on the job was how to strike a better work/life balance. “I was working probably 80 hours a week,” Galen says candidly. “After the first month with Megan, my oldest, my wife basically came to me and said, ‘We didn’t get married so I could be a single mom.’” Galen wholeheartedly agreed, learning to more fully rely on his team. “As I hired more management, we were able to do even more business, make better profits.”
Though Galen leads the team, you’ll still find his father’s fingerprints all over this place, particularly through his collection of sports memorabilia. Prominently displayed in museum-quality cases throughout the dining rooms, lobby and even the bathroom, items range from an autographed picture of Babe Ruth to a home plate signed by all 30 New York Yankees. It’s the kind of atmosphere where sports stars feel right at home, and Sundance has hosted greats like Tiger Woods, Jerry Rice, Jim Plunkett and John Elway.
Growing up, Galen says weekends were all about sports. “Boxing was our favorite back in the day. My dad would fire up the barbecue and grill some pork ribs and dogs served with a bowl of Lay’s potato chips and his famous cream cheese onion dip. Occasionally, he would allow my brother and me to split an ice-cold Budweiser if there was something special to watch, like a Muhammed Ali fight. On Saturdays, my dad coached my Little League team that played at Ford Field in Portola Valley.”
When the team won, they celebrated with burgers and fries at Rossotti’s Alpine Inn—a meaty memory befitting someone who’s carved out a place for himself at the family steakhouse.