Best Steak You Ever Had?
 

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Washington, D.C. I had the filet, medium rare. It came out sizzling with a dab of butter on top. The thing was so tender you could cut it with your fork. Had it with some potatoes au gratin and asparagus. I can't wait for Ruth's Chris to come to Salt Lake...

My favorite steak joint resides at the mouth of the Ogden Canyon.....

Timbermine.

Great, great, tenderloin.....

I've eaten steak all over the country and still can't find a steak better than the one I eat monthly at the Timbermine....

The Picanha (top sirloin) served at the Brazilian restaurant found in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and Sao Paulo Brazil. It is called Fogo De Chao and it blows any brazilian BBQ any of you have ever had out of the water.

Be prepared though for th $40 a person charge if you go.


Oh...and best steak in the USA....has to go to a place in Chicago called the Chicago Chop House. Freakin' amazing. I had the New York Strip.

I've eaten at a couple of Ruth's Chris restaurants, and while it is pretty good, I've never been amazed at their steaks. They are definitely good....just not amazing.

The best steak I've ever had was at the Great Argentinian Steak house in Cancun. That was an awesome steak!

Fus....this Timbermine place you mention sounds tempting...

I'll second that with one exception... No restaurant steak has ever come close to good beef on my own grill.

Okay....guess I should have mentioned that. The BEST steaks I've ever had is when I go to the butcher and have him specially cut me a steak and then cook it myself.

The filet at Ruth's Chris in Vegas was very good.

But my favorite steak eating experience ever actually came at a hole in the wall bar in Wellington Utah called the Cowboy Kitchen.

Aside from that, I actually also really enjoy Ruby River steaks and the Porterhouse at Outback.

This is what I mean about Ruth's Chris. The steaks are better than what you get at Outback certainly, but not by a ton.

Mine was a steak that I got for buying tires at Les Schwab. I cooked it on my own grill and it was pure heaven.

Agreed. There is a butcher shop called Bisher's in northern San Diego (in Poway) whose cuts, when grilled correctly at home, are an orgasm in my mouth.

Besides the ones i cook on my grill, the best steaks in order:

3. Little hole in the wall restaurant right on the water in seattle, cant think of the name but unbelievable steak
2. Shulas steakhouse
1. Porters Place on Main street in lehi

A few rules:

First of all, I'd be very surprised if a chain restaurant made anything as good as it could be. There are a few very good chain restaurants such as Oceanaire seafood restaurant, but they invariably do not have a great many locations, and they specialize in serving their secialty cuisine at the highest level. That is their whole purpose in life. But the best locally focused places are still a little better than even the rare strong chain restaurant. Mass producing food precludes its greatness. Thus, Ruth's Chris is out. Needless to say, Outback is not a serioius contender.

Second, the best steak must either be a New York or tenderloin (filet mignon) cut, depending on whether your steak must be as tender as possible and how much fat you tolerate. Ultimately, probably the ternderloin is the greatest cut of beef by a paper thin margin, but I have picked many a New York depending on my mood. A porterhouse (T-Bone with the full eye) will give you the best of both worlds, but that's a lot of food, and you have to navigate the bone. The only caveat to the foregoing is that if you have a taste for fat (as I do) the Ribeye is an awfully good cut, and depending on my mood I have on occasion taken that over a ternderloin or a New York. This rule nixes those spitted "sirloin" cuts at the Brazilian places (but I do like the Brazilian places for different reasons).

Third, to qualify for among the best, the steak must be aged, preferably at least 20 days. Period. Again, this disqualifies the Brazilian places and most any chain. It also precludes any steak you buy in a market except the very highest end speacialty meat markets.

Fourth, a great steak cannot be fully enjoyed without a glass of decent Cabarnet Savignon. On a hot summer night try a Bombay Saphire martini with tiny shards of ice as an accompaniment.

Fifth, you cannot cook as good a steak on your grill as you can get at a great steak restaurant. No exceptions. You can cook a very good one at home, but a steak at a great steak reastaurant is always the pinnacle. You don't have the equipment, the know how, or probably the cut of meat it takes to compete.

My favorite places are Metropolitan Grill and El Gaucho, right here in Seattle.

Other than the steaks I grill at home, Alexander's Steak Pit in Chicago. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...

I'm sure Chicago has most of the great steak restaurants in the country within its city limits.

What about a non-alcoholic alternative beverage?

I would suggest a good bottled water, chilled. That would be the next best thing.

No raspberry lemonade? What about some Welch's?? ;)

I am curious. Which of your aforementioned rules (besides 1 of being a chain) does Ruth's Chris break?

Probably just that it's a chain. I believe the meat is aged there.

The meat there is aged and it is very good. I have been to a few steak houses here and there and Ruth's stacks up well. ALthouhg, IMO, not all Ruth's are created equal. The on in SF is much superior tot he one in walnut creek, for example, and the one in Vegas was in the middle somewhere.

Lack of consistency is one of the main problems with chains, especially ones with as many outlets as Ruth's. The problem becomes more acute as the food becomes more complex.

Actually, I think only the Ruth's Chris in Orlando dry ages the meat. The others wet age the meat.

Someday, I will build myself an enormous meat locker so I can dry age steaks to my heart's content.

All I have to do is persuade my wife...

:)

I'll have to go with Bob's Steak and Chophouse in Plano. Wonderful Steak. I had a good t-bone there a few weeks ago and an absolutely fantastic New York Strip steak there last year. Very tender & tasty. The funny thing is, the NY strip steak was the only one on the menu that wasn't prime. Go figure.


Bob's is the #2 rated steakhouse in America according to this.

That list has Spencer's but no Ruth's Chris. BOOOO. I have had both and Ruth's Chris is far better. Why am I obsessed with Ruth's Chris?

I have to 2nd SeattleUte ... the Metropolitan Grill in Seattle is fantastic. That said, I have found that all steak quality is regional, even chains. Outback here in Texas has much better steak than elsewhere (though it's still not great). Texas Land and Cattle and Saltgrass steakhouse are decent chains here in TX.

My list:

1. Metropolitan Grill
2. Bob's Steak and Chop House
3. Better chains (TLC, Saltgrass)
4. Home (sorry but you just can't get the aged, prime meat for home)