Favourite steak restaurants

Posted by: The Fat Cat on 11 February 2007

Maybe you Brits think this is "yankee style". So be it. I admit I love to eat steaks. We BBQ at home through the whole year but here I wanna talk about great steak restaurants.

O.K. you can get a steak in nearly every restaurant in the world serving european/american style of food.

Very good prepared steaks however, you will find only in selected places. I'm not talking about "The Outback Steakhouse" you find attached to nearly every mall in the US. Outback has decent steaks. But I mean excellent (and sadly often very exensive) steaks. So here is a list of my favourite steak restaurants.

A+ - category:

Gene&Georgetti (Chicago) - The best steaks ever?! For some folks maybe a litle bit too much burned from the outside (quote of a friend: "the charcoal steak")- I like it a lot. Old italian waiters, more on the rude side of life. The restaurant gives your the "Al Capone will walk inside the next moment" feeling.

Metropolitan Grill (Seattle) - What a meat! Delicious! Very nice and kind waiters (too kind for a steak restaurant?).

The Chop House (Chicago) - Excellent (and expensive) steaks. Nice interior. Worth a trip on it's own.

Dickie O'Brennan (New Orleans) - In the French Quarter. Mouthwatering steaks. Haven't been there after the great flood. Maybe this year.

A-category:

McKendricks (Atlanta) - Very good steak. Lazy style waiters. Restaurant interior lacks personal style.

The Prime Rib (Philly) - Be prepared to wear tie and suit. A noble place with noble prices. Pretty good steak.

McNallys (Kern River, California) - In the middle of nowhere you find some of the finest steaks in the world ...

Smith&Wollensky (New York) - Pretty good steak. Wine served to warm.

So this is my short list. I have been to quite a few steak houses. The ones mentioned above left the most memorable impressions.

Feel free to comment or add additional good steak houses.

Miow,

the fat cat

P.S. By chance; do you have any good steak restaurants in GB?

Posted on: 11 February 2007 by graham55

You don't mention Peter Lugger in Brooklyn, which surprises me.

Posted on: 11 February 2007 by NaimDropper

For a chain, Ruth's Chris has to be among the best.
If you're in Cincinnati go to The Precinct. They know how to do it right. Properly aged beef, very hot fire with chefs that will get it exactly right. An old, converted jailhouse with lots of charm and celeb pics everywhere. Many dishes created for the in-town pro sports heroes, I prefer to have mine straight off the grill.
And near Evansville, IN try The Haub House in unassuming Haubstadt, IN. A jewel in the middle of corn fields.
There are a lot of “wanna be” steakhouses. Finding the real deal is always a treat!
David

Posted on: 11 February 2007 by Skip

Sparks NYC A+
Ben Benson NYC A
Post House NYC A-

Harris San Francisco A

Manny's Minneapolis A-.

Does Eat Place Greenville MS and Little Rock AR. A-. Extra credit for style.

Dan Tana Los Angeles A++. Only one steak on the menu, a strip, but they only need one. This could be the best steak on the planet in my opinion. Extra credit for style.

I agree with Fat Cat's A+'s. Hope you like my recommendations.

Posted on: 12 February 2007 by Huwge

Plaza III - Kansas City has always been a favourite and I second the vote for the Chop House in Chicago

Posted on: 12 February 2007 by Hammerhead

I'd recommend the Angel at Heytesbury nr Warminster. They do it right, hanging their meat for 35 days in their own ageing rooms. Well worth a look if you're ever in this part of the world.

I'm dribbling at the thought of my next visit...

Steve

Posted on: 12 February 2007 by GML

Demos Restaurant, Nashville. Excellent steaks done just the way I like them. Wipe its arse and rip its horns out.

Posted on: 12 February 2007 by manicatel

In my experience, the best steak restaurants are in South America, especially Brazil & Argentina.
In Brazil, "chuscaria" style restaurants, such as the "Por Cao" really can't be beaten. They have several waiters, constantly circling the tables with a wide variety of cuts of meat to carve onto your plate.
Everything from chicken hearts up to the best cuts of beef steak. You simply say yes or no (you have a green/red disc for each place setting, green for go/red for no thanks) as they come around to you. The only trick is to not fill yourself up too early, as the best cuts always come around later,rather than earlier.
Add in superb quality fresh produce, great value wines, & the spectacle of the waiters carving in front of you. It really is tough to beat.
In Argentina, they love their steaks (vegetarianism confuses them). Again, superb quality meat & massive portions. I guess there is very little intensive farming there, with such vast farming areas, which helps the quality of produce.
matt.

Posted on: 12 February 2007 by blackforest

i been to a wedding in buenos aires a year ago and the food was... FANTASTIC.
after one week my girlfriend got so sick of it that she said: we don't eat any meat anymore do we? i kept on ordering lomo - what else can you do.

ironically the cattle come from ireland (angus) - but if you mention that to the locals they go berzerk (i never said it again)

regards,christian

Posted on: 12 February 2007 by Mike1380

Well, naff as the name may be, the Croydon Steakhouse is well worth a visit should you find yourself near to it.

Family owned & run since the mid-sixties (!!!) they serve extra large cuts there - typically I might go there with my good lady once every couple of months, and I usually treat myself to an extra-large rare fillet. Last week I had a 24oz one which was sublime.

The kitchen is open-plan and can be seen from the restaurant, and if you do order a fat bastard special like I tend to they'll even bring the cut out before cooking it for your inspection.

My other half's dad used to eat there on a regular basis when he was my age, and on a recent visit he took us there - he was actually recognised by the lady of the establishment from all those years back.

He reckons it hadn't changed in there in 20yrs.. and loved it for that!

Posted on: 12 February 2007 by Ian Hughes

The Traildust - Mesquite (nr Dallas) Texas. Don't wear a tie there, or the staff will cut the end off and pin it on the wall (along with all the others)

Posted on: 12 February 2007 by jayd

Does prime rib count? If so, don't miss the Turtle Club in Fox, Alaska. Be sure you ask the server if she's a Turtle.

Posted on: 12 February 2007 by PJT

Home.
Why, after a cantankerous heifer would not get onto the truck, I finally convinved the trouble & strife to put her in the freezer.

Having the animal shot in the paddock while grazing, and properly hung for a week has turned even the stewing steak into a delight.

Posted on: 12 February 2007 by Mand

Blackfriars in Newcastle Upon Tyne, in UK.
The steaks are from free roaming pasture fed beef, then hung for a month. Cooked just as you want to perfection. No steak knife needed, full of juices and flavour
Mand.

Now I'll have to book a table, as my mouth is watering!

Posted on: 13 February 2007 by Bob Edwards

I can think of a couple.....

Here in Denver, Brooks is one of the classics--consistently terrific beef.

In Mendham, NJ, there is a place on Route 24, west of "downtown" Mendham (such as it is!), called Sammy's.....but don't look for a sign--they don't have one.

As far as chains go, Sullivan's remains a fave...even if they are owned by Lone Star. The Palm seems to be consistently good wherever I've been. Ruth's Chris is also good. Have to say I don't care for Morton's--seems like they missed a step somewhere.

I've also been to steak places in Japan and Brazil, and they were both fantastic, but I couldn't say either were head and shoulders above everyone else....

Best,

Bob

Posted on: 14 February 2007 by naimshake

The best I've ever had was at Ruth's in New Orleans. It was as big as a plate, and appeared to have a baseball bat sticking out of it. They seemed very proud of their million degree oven, but something about US beef is different. Maybe it's what they give the cows; dodgy rearing or not it was fabulous.

Mand, all I had remembered about going to Blackfriars many, many years ago was coleslaw but I booked a table and enjoyed a pre-emptive valentine's dinner there with my wife last night. The steak was to die for, just as you'd said. We had a wonderful evening and I thank you very much for the tip.

Posted on: 15 February 2007 by Martin D

Gallagher's Steakhouse New York

Posted on: 21 February 2007 by jon h

Any top-notch recommendations for San Diego? Am there in a few weeks, and I always like to take on a cow and win...

Posted on: 21 February 2007 by Rico

quote:
but something about US beef is different. Maybe it's what they give the cows; dodgy rearing or not it was fabulous.

down in the real world where our cows and sheep eat that truest of flat-earth stuff called grass, we have a gentle laugh at this. that difference in US beef is called "steroids".

Best steakhouse I've experienced in three continents:

El Rincon Argentio, Polanco, Mexico DF. Argentinian steakhouse par excellence. I remember collecting a venture capitalist from the airport, and finding out he liked a steak occasionally. After a full-on 3 hour 'half marathon' at El Rincon, he finally let the cat out of the bag. He'd recently had the best steak of his life in a small restaurant in Italy, recounted the temperature, cut, what the animal was fed on, the wine he had with it.... and pronounced El Rincon significantly better.

If you have the oppotunity, it should not be missed. I dined there frequently over a three year period - their consistency was exemplary.

No worries with non-standard cables either.

Posted on: 24 February 2007 by Sicey

Morton's in Frankfurt used to be great, don't know if it's still open anymore?

Posted on: 27 February 2007 by Jo Sharp

The Angel at Heytesbury gets a vote from me too.

The Schlachterborse in Hamburg is excellent.

But the best steaks I've ever had were in Chile.

Posted on: 27 February 2007 by AL4N

A local place in Standish(near Wigan,England) called "The Highmoore" make one of the best chateaux briand's i've ever tasted, another place the "Trout" a Hotel in Cockermouth-Cumbria.