I did when I was young, and didn’t know better.
I haven’t done it in ages. Not even with poor quality steaks.
My daughter MilliCal still does, though. Must be genetic.
Born and raised in NJ, and lived most of my life in the Northeast US, except for the time I lived in Salt Lake City (where I didn’t see people eating ketcvhuped steak).
I’m in the camp of ketchup is too sweet for steak.
I like steaks seasoned then grilled or naked and then I put crumbled blue cheese on it so the blue cheese melts on the steak and then I put black pepper on top. Well now I know what I’m having for dinner tonight.
Ketchup on steak? Blasphemy! Bleu cheese and carmelized onions on steak? Mmmmmmm…
I don’t even like ketchup.
But related – tomato sauce on steak? No. Steak sauce? No. It makes me cringe to see A1 and I shake my head quickly at anyone who wants to bring me a bottle.
If I wanted meat with something on it, I would order beef tips or beef burgundy or a Swiss steak or something.
And I don’t think it’s a matter of snobbery so much, not when my dad was born as poor redneck as it gets and he’s the same way, always has been. It’s a question of what you’re looking for. If you want something that tastes like ketchup and has a certain texture, then that’s what you eat.
But take chocolate for example. Chocolate is nice. Dark chocolate is hella nice. But I wouldn’t melt a pound of dark chocolate on a snowcone because snowcones are made to be light and sweet rather than heavy and rich. I wouldn’t roast a chicken in lemon and rosemary and then douse it in barbecue sauce. But I love barbecued chicken and will eat THAT with barbecue sauce.
It’s not a question of being classless or whatever. Steak, for many people who like steak, is all about simplicity. You’re taking one of the finer cuts of beef and just b-a-r-e-l-y cooking it, searing the outside and leaving the interior soft and red. It’s about the texture of the meat and the taste of the steak itself, not anything you put on it.
Sometimes accents are preferred. I usually put black pepper and kosher salt on my steaks. Sometimes I’ll add mushrooms and onions or some garlic butter or something. And sometimes it’s just me and a slab of meat (quiet, you 
).
And since I’ve spent way too long thinking about chicken fried steak I may be heading over to Threadgills for dinner tonight. 
carmelized onions and mushrooms = yum.
Never ketchup.
I will use A1 on a poorly prepared steak or if it’s a bad cut of meat.
On a good steak, I put nothing on it.
Even in the finest restaurants, I ask for (and generally receive) A1 for my steak. Which will always be a ribeye if I have my druthers.
Rare. Only rare.
No ketchup, sauces, topping, spices, or condiments of any kind.
Yum. 
Here’s where I bring in those four years of Philadelphia experience. Yes, a steak sandwich is traditionally made with low-quality meat. But it’s still not a good idea to put ketchup on one. Cheese of almost any variety (including Cheez-Wiz) is good, as it’s a flavor which works well together with the meat. Onions and mushrooms are both very good additions. And it’s a bit unorthodox, but I like horseradish and black olives on a steak sandwich, too. But ketchup on a properly-prepared steak (even a cheap one) makes about as much sense as ketchup on chocolate cake.
Mind you, this is not snobbery: If it were, I would surely turn up my nose at Cheez-Wiz, as well. And if you genuinely prefer to have ketchup on your steak (or on your chocolate cake, for that matter), I won’t stop you. But I at least ask that you try it first without. If you always reflexively put ketchup on everything, you don’t even know what you’re missing.
Absa-Fuckin’-Lootly NOT!
I’d have ketchup with the chips, but not on the steak itself - I’d have mustard, horseradish, black pepper (or all three) with that.
Geographical location: southern England
Here in cattle country (northeast Colorado) nothing touches a medium-well steak except a fork and knife. Served sizzling from the grill.
Nope.
If it wasn’t for my son, I would not even allow ketchup in my house. There is nothing that ketchup is used for that cannot be better handled by other ingredients:
eggs - Tabasco
fries - malt vinegar
hot dogs - it doesn’t matter, but NO KETCHUP
hamburgers - see above
meatloaf - bbq sauce
For a steak, if I am grilling it, just a very thin coat of olive oil, kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper is sufficient, sometimes an herb butter lightly brushed on the steak instead of the oil after cooking. Throw some green peppers, vidalia onions, and mushrooms in some foil with some butter, and toss it on the grill with the steaks for the perfect side.
I’m curious: folks saying that they don’t put anything on the steak, does that include not putting salt on it?
Daniel
no.
Seldom, I put a couple of dashes of worcestershire on the plate, and then put the steak on top of that. It adds a little acidity and spark – wakes the mouth up.
Sometimes I put butter on my steak.
Sometimes, I’ll make au poivre.
Mostly, though, just salt & pepper.
Yes, that includes salt. As much as I enjoy certain salty foods (like big, soft Bavarian pretzels), I can’t remember ever picking up the salt shaker in a restaurant and salting something. I just don’t add salt to things.
Stop Making The Vegan Want A Steak, Damnit.
I should be more clear: some folks have sounded as though they wouldn’t salt a steak prior to cooking it. Am I misunderstanding, or do folks really cook meat without salt?
Daniel
I’d never sully ketchup by putting it on a steak. If steak is the only option available I can take it (the rarer the better so that it has at least SOME flavor), usually with some black pepper or a little A1, but overall I’d rather have most any other kind of meat.
Putting salt on a steak is totally outside my experience as I’ve never even heard of anybody doing that before.
Ketchup? Are you insane? I won’t even let that shit touch my hot dog, much less a steak.
I don’t think I’ve ever even seen somebody put ketchup on their steak. That makes about as much sense as putting Hershey’s chocolate syrup on a rib eye. Ketchup has absolutely no place even casting its shadow on a steak.
Salt and cracked pepper on my steak, please.
(Perhaps I’m a little harsh on ketchup–I do use it for certain applications, like as a base for some barbecue sauces and I will put it on a hamburger and sometimes fries, although I prefer malt vinegar for the latter application.)