# Ordering a well-done steak: Unsophisticated? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 23, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522 "2005-10-23T14:48:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522/261 "2005-10-28T06:55:43Z")
When I speak of steak, I am basing it on my 6 years with The Hotel Restaurant that I worked for, during a good four years that I worked there, they had management based in Chicago and changed and adapted the restaurant to a virtual rip-off of [Porter’s Chicago Steakhouse](http://www.porterssteakhouse.com/menu_dinner.html). I would equate it to the Keg’s gold standard, but with the unique Hilton Hotel standard of customer service that was always enforced. Ultimately, we worked for the Hilton. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522/262 "2005-10-28T07:15:38Z")
I will say that in my practical experience as a server that the two most popular choices for steak temp. are medium rare and medium. The polar ends are less represented. Pretty typical bell curve. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522/263 "2005-10-28T12:47:26Z")
> [@Dewey Cheatem Undhow](#): > > I’ve lived in Austin and I’ve lived in New York and the true Alpha and Omega of steak is [Peter Luger’s](http://www.peterluger.com/) in Brooklyn, NY. > > Close second to Sparks in Manhattan on grounds of an excellent wine list and no need to tromp out to an outer borough. > > Everyone else is an also-ran, unless you want to start throwing Kobe/Waygu places in the mix. Don’t dis’ the outer boroughs! I will forgive you, as you mentioned one of the best steak houses on the planet. There are few places to compare with Luger’s. However, those who think that wait staff should fawn over the patron should not attend. Luger’s is also known for having a _“Brooklyn”_ wait staff. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522/264 "2005-10-28T17:19:55Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > In that case, I’ll have to propose a Level 0 for Ponderosa and Bonanza and Duffs Steakhouse (if they still exist), which on our family meagre budget, was a special night out, especially once they got their salad bars and “Tuesdays, kids eat free!” deals. Heh. When our family would go to NYC for the day, we would invariably go to Flame Steak for the salad, baked potato with butter and Salibury steak for 2.99. I absolutely loved that meal. My father grew up with very well-done meat because his mom was a holdover from cook-it-dead days when they worried about pathogens. My mom didn’t really know how to cook it either but erred on the side of rareness and it was a revelation for Pop. So she supervises Grandma when they visit to insure that the steak is not overdone. –gigi, who takes steak any way she gets it, but prefers medium rare with grilled edges --mm, blackened fat ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522/265 "2005-10-28T17:22:50Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > There’s no “N” in _restaurateur_. > > Here’s how you remember that: the root word in “restaurant” is not “restaurant.” There’s no “N” in the root word, which is _restaurer_, French for “to restore.” \*Restaurant \*is French for “restoring,” so the “N” is only in the suffix. _Restaurateur_ takes the same root word but adds a different suffix, to describe a person who restores: _restaurateur_. > > In other words, \*restaurateur \*is French, not for “eatery owner,” but for “restorer.” See? No “N.” > > That is all. [Apparently](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=restauranteur) both are OK. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522/266 "2005-10-28T20:19:38Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Dude, I think you got your wires crossed somewhere. My \*head \*is barely 7" in diameter. A baseball is actually less than three inches in diameter, being around 9" in _circumference_. :smack: That’s what I get for working straight off memory, and not stoping to think before I start typing. You are, of course, correct. It would be a hell of a steak though. 😃 Now where the hell did my memory about the size of a baseball come from? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522/267 "2005-10-28T20:25:48Z")
> [@KAndre](#): > > Cool! Some names I recognize! Hey, **UncleRojelio** , I’m willing to put Houston’s Flemings, Saltgrass, and Texas Land and Cattle Co. up against Austin. My, they cook a good well done steak! I am also fond of McCormick & Schmick’s, I think it’s a chain though I don’t think it’s a steakhouse per se. Hey, doesn’t the same guy (company, corporation, global empire) the owns Pappasito’s also have a steak place? I can’t remember the name of it and they don’t have one here in Austin. I have been wanting to try it next time I’m slummin’ down there in Houston. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522/268 "2005-10-28T20:31:29Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > :smack: That’s what I get for working straight off memory, and not stoping to think before I start typing. You are, of course, correct. It would be a hell of a steak though. 😃 > Now where the hell did my memory about the size of a baseball come from? Hmm. Does your baseball have three holes in it? And weigh about as much as a baby? Now, think: it might be shiny. Any of this making sense? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522/269 "2005-10-28T20:46:00Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Now, think: it might be shiny. Ohhh, shiny! ---
**Author:** ![KAndre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@KAndre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KAndre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522/270 "2005-10-29T00:48:54Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Hey, doesn’t the same guy (company, corporation, global empire) the owns Pappasito’s also have a steak place? I can’t remember the name of it and they don’t have one here in Austin. I have been wanting to try it next time I’m slummin’ down there in Houston. 😉 Yeah, you’re talking about **Pappas** and that’s a very nice steakhouse just west of the Galleria - a nice selection of wines too. Come slum with us - you owe for that 24 wait on 290 a few weeks ago. Sheesh, I’m glad I wasn’t crazy about the baseball diameter - though that might have explained that 14 inning game. I couldn’t even imagine what part of a steer a 7" diameter steak would come from. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-well-done-steak-unsophisticated/327522.md?page=13)