Talkin Outback got me thinking where have I eaten some good steaks? Where can I trust I am getting some seriously good eating. Yes a place with big honking steak names and hilarious deep fried everything is fine and all, but dammit carnivores have a pallette that needs good food.
So call it out…good places and where they are located and why?
I got a few
El Guacho, Aruba Island - Simply the best I have eaten. Peruvian Highland Beef never frozen but packed in salt. Tenderest cut I ever ate in my life, worked over a open mesquite fire and seasoned just enough. And a 22 ounce steak for…get this…20 bucks with fixins. Take a vacation and go taste how it should taste…or at least enjoy the nude beaches
Ruth Cris’s, Las Vegas. They have several of these on the West Coast but the best was in Vegas. You can order a steak and thats it (sides are not on the side). Brought out sizzling on a hot plate and basted in butter, a true steak lovers steak place. Be prepared to pay through the nose for everything though.
cattlemen’s in the Fort Worth stock yards. Been there since 1947. Kickass dead cow. Not cheap, parking sucks, and there is an over-abundance of rednecks in the area, but the steak is the best I ever ate in a resturant.
Ruth’s Chris in Chicago, the best of the best no matter what the trendies tell you.
Wildfire, also in Chicago, a little more polish than Ruth’s Chris, the steaks are given more accents than your typical slice 'em and serve 'em steakhouse, but its decidedly decadent and great.
I’m a firm believer that you can not find a higher concentration of quality steak than in Chicago, its where the real chefs meet with the proper gusto for beef. In Texas you can get a good, big rare steak, but I never found a preparation on par with Chicago’s. I do conceed that I haven’t been to South America where my roomate raves about, I don;t doubt the quality and potions of meat are one of the best, but I’m not sure it will be prepared to my tastes the way it is here at home.
The Cattle Ranch, in Sanford, Florida. Where George Jones used to go every time he played Orlando. Like all good southern steakhouses, there is an “Eat the 10-pound steak for free” challenge.
Here in Jackson, MS: Ryan’s. The steaks are fabulous, and on all you can eat steak night (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, for about 7 and a half bucks) are out of this world. They’re a great deal. You go up to the guy who’s doing the cooking, tell him how you want it done, and he slaps a slab on your plate. Sheer heaven.
I always get weird looks. Not many women around here eat rare steak.
McNally’s in Kern, CA. Best 40 oz. Porterhouse you can find for 20 bucks.
Tribuco Oaks, Irvine, CA. On par with McNally’s. Wear a tie.
Emeril’s Delmonico. mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
The best of the best, besides our house though, is the Hereford House in Kansas City. Steaks like butter, decent prices, great appetizers (gotta love the baked goat cheese) and to top it off, they don’t have a wine list. They have a Scotch list. Every type you can think of. The wines are first rate as well though:)
It has been twenty five years since I went to this place, don’t even know if it is still there. But The Western Skies in San Angelo Texas had the best steak I ever remember having.
Now isn’t that just so cute! Yankees who think they know how to cook steak. Probably boil it.
Not really sure where you get the “rare” bit, I have lived in Texas most of my life, and I know exactly one person who likes steak rare (he’s a mexican national). You want good steak, go to Cowtown, Kansas ciy maybe, but Chicago? I don’t think so.
Ruth’s Chris has been mentioned… we have two… I prefer the north location.
Sullivan’s is pretty much the same, but less crowded and has a better bar. I prefer their Ahi Tuna appetizer also.
Shulla’s is a nice place downtown. I hear Morton’s is good, but haven’t been there.
George’s is always nice, and it is fun to have the cart of meat wheeled up to cut your selection.
But since there are two butchers within 1/2 mile of my home that feature aged Prime (I have to laugh when a restaurant brags they only serve USDA Choice) beef, I think I can do a fairly decent job on my Weber.
My Grandpa raised Angus in Iowa, and I think Indy has done a good job for not being an old stockyard town.
My only beef (pun) with this thread is the person who listed Ryan’s… do yourself a favor and try one of the other places listed. You will pay a little more than the $7.50, but you will definately notice the difference (you may be able to get the baked potato for that if you skip the sour cream).
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I wish that was true around here. Prime is hard to come buy, except for the resturants(they generally buy up all that is available).
My Grandfather used to raise cattle, and a couple of times a year we would head up to his place, take one to be killed and come back with a sationwagon full of beef. I have no idea what it would be rated, but it was good. I grew up having good steak whenever I wanted it, and my father could do some incredable things with it. He learned to cook steak from a guy who was a cook for Mcaurther during the war.
bdgr… I think we may have shared a parallel childhood. Steak was on the regular rotation of food, and I thought everyone had it at least once a week. I too remember bringing back a fresh side of beef from Grandpa, and my Dad has several recipes that he got from the guy who used to cook for LBJ. If you are ever in Indy, look me up, and I’ll toss some prime Angus on the grill and whip up LBJ’s Blue Cheese dressing… should keep a good Texas boy happy up here in Yankee country. Trust me there won’t be anything boiled at this house.
Metropolitan Grill, Seattle Wa. Awesome steaks, rated sixth in the nation by Zagat’s, I think(don’t quote me). Anyway, ask somebody who knows what their talking about and you’ll hear the same thing. Expect to spend alot.
Roche Harbor Restaurant, Roche Harbor, Wa. Awesome steaks. They are cured in salt for a month then grilled to perfection. It’s at a small vacation resort in the San Juan Islands where Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and other stars have been seen. Expect to spend alot.
One of my life-long goals is to dine at each of the top 10 steakhouses in the nation… [sub]perhaps I should set my sights higher like world peace or starving children…naaaaah[/sub]
I’ve started my quest with Chop House in Chicago, Mannie’s in Minneapolis and Morton’s in Cincinnati. mmmmm mmmmm good! Honorable mention also goes to Ruth’s Chris anywhere and St. Elmo’s in Indy.
Not your typical steakhouse, it’s Brazillian-style. You pay a flat fee ($35 last time I went) and you can go to a soup and salad bar (one of the best I’ve ever seen) and eat until you are ready for the meat. At this point you turn this little round card by your plate green-side up, and these waiters in gaucho uniforms will stop by with these big spits with huge chunks of flame-roasted meat on them and ask if you want some (they have 30 varieties, and it’s not just steak), if you say yes they carve some off for you and move on. When your plate is full you turn the card back over and the gauchos leave you alone while you make room for the next round.
Best steak I ever had was at the Inn Philadelphia in, um, Philadelphia (on Quince between Pine and Spruce). Melted in my mouth! Was worth the outrageous price (was there on a pris-fixe New Year’s Eve celebration menu and was very upset at the price until I got the main course).
I very well take you up on that. Sounds like you know your way around a grill.
My Wifes step father was staying with us for a while(from North Dakota), and although the man is incredible cook(he has a degree in it), the things he would do to good beef were criminal. I’d buy a bunch of ribeye, intent on throwing it on the grill when I got home. I have this mondo death grill from Barbeques Galore, 75,000 btu monster from Austrailia, and he coated these beutifull steaks in some sorta crap and marinade it like it was some utility grade beef, and then cook it in the oven!. Oh the horror… July 4rth, last year, I bought a USDA choice brisket, fired up the smoker, and smoked it for 14 hours. All the while, he kept wanting to take it off the smoker and put it in the freaking oven. He was worried about it cooking that long. THats how brisket is supposed to be done, slow cooked, all day. It turned out great. Remindss me, I need to pick up another brisket today, and about a gallon of Stubbs moppin’ sauce. Anyway, I figured northerners just had wierd ideas about cooking meat.
