Favorite Steakhouse?

Welcome to the board, gwog!

Thanks Canada.

rdub wrote:

I went to Ruth's Chris this weekend. The chop salad was excellent. The carrot cake was excellent but my fries were overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside and the strip I had just wasn't that great. Their was very little carmelization on the outside and the overall flavor just wasn't great. I partially blame myself. I usually get the bone-in ribeye and it's never disappointed. For the amount of money I was spending, I should have just stuck with what I know.

i'd rather eat at outback than at ruth's chris.

HND wrote:

i'd rather eat at outback than at ruth's chris.

--ditto--

I'll take the money from one overpriced meal there and eat twice at the Outback and get a) a better meal and b) have a better time.

Our company took us to Ruth's Chris, back in July, for our V.P.'s engagement party and I've heard him say several times that he was disappointed by the under staffed service and quality of food for the price of the meal.

I didn't think the meal was all that bad. We had a much better meal at Del Frisco's Double Eagle but it was just my wife and I. When cooking for a large group and trying to time 25-30 meals to arrive at the table together, you sacrifice some quality.

gwog wrote:

I'll admit that I didn't read all nine pages but has anybody mentioned Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa?

I've eaten some of the best offerings from many different locations but Bern's still ranks the best for me.

I mentioned it as one of the best places I'd been, but I think that "Shula's" in Phily and "Texas Steak and Cattle Company" in San Antonio have "Bern's" beat. Not by far, but their filets were a wee bit more tender.

Another_Q_Lover wrote:

"Texas Steak and Cattle Company" in San Antonio have "Bern's" beat.

Spent a long weekend in San Antonio and never went for steak. I couldn't get away from the Mexican offerings!

BTW...On the outskirts of Abilene, TX, Buffalo Water Gap to be exact is Perini's Ranch. A must visit IMHO.

I know what ya mean about the Mex in SA! Next time I'm in the area I'll definitely check out Perini's. Thanks for the heads-up!

Here's the link Q_Lover

http://www.periniranch.com/

gwog wrote:

Here's the link Q_Lover

http://www.periniranch.com/

Thanks gwog! I'll have to check that out the next time I'm down there!

The best steak in Oklahoma is at The Spudder in Tulsa. You order a steak and potato, you get a steak and potato. Too many of the steakhouses around here try to fill you up with cabbage rolls and stuff and then give you a second-rate rate, figuring you've had so much junk already you won't care. The Spudder is pure good stuff. The filet is almost fork-tender. Sirloins the size of frisbees. Chargrilled on an open flame, expertly seasoned just enough to emphasize the meat flavor, not hide it. Good solid help, no pretentions, not fancy at all. They spend their money where it should be spent.

Just my opinions but:

Best ribeye - Longhorn Steakhouse and their Outlaw Ribeye.
Best Porterhouse - Longhorn Steakhouse and their signature Porterhouse.
Best Fillet - Alpine Inn in Hill City, SD because that's all they serve for the last 30+ years and practice truly does make perfect.

I'm still looking for a better prime rib than Main Street Station Buffet in downtown Vegas but I'm not too sure their meat is all that great but their horseradish sauce is outstanding. I guess I'll be forced to reveal to all that my favorite prime rib is still from Quiznos.

I've heard many times that I have to shell out the big bucks and go to Hereford House or Ruth's Chris but spending that much money just doesn't appeal to me.

Welcome aboard, Reverend Wolf!

I'd add another excellent steak joint up here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and that would be Yeoman's Steak House. They dry-age their own beef for a minimum of 21 days, and it's incredible steak at a very reasonable price. My second choice has always been Hy's Steak House even though it's almost as overpriced as Ruth's Chris.

However, I dropped by there yesterday only to find that both places have been closed for a while now. So I'll have to go looking for a new place I guess...

Nah - I'll just spend the price of a meal on a week's worth of bone-in rib eye and some chuck-eye steaks.

for now, my favorite steak house in the U.S. is "Firebrids"

They are a smaller chain (16 total restaurants) and their food is ala cart (like some of the other fancier steak places) but they wood fire grill their meat. They have good grilled chicken (wife gets it on her salad) and their steaks are always cooked the way I ask. They have a pepper crusted sirloin that is very good.

In Canada, I haven't had much experience with steak houses but "The Keg" was a good meal (despite it being a chain). The baseball sirloin was VERY GOOD.

In the entire world, me favorite is Siga La Vaca (Follow the Cow) in Argentina (asado style cooking). For about $18 USD, you get all you can eat meat cooked in front of the ordering window on a wood fired grill along with 1L of beer, wine or soda and a potato side (fries usually) and salad bar plus desert. They had all different cuts of meat, pork, lamb, chicken and sausage to choose from but the most popular was ojo de bife (rib eye). Very tasty!

phlydude wrote:

In Canada, I haven't had much experience with steak houses but "The Keg" was a good meal (despite it being a chain). The baseball sirloin was VERY GOOD.

The Keg is an excellent chain of steak houses up here. We've got Outback and Ruth's Chris up here as well, but the Keg seems to outdo them for business overall - probably because they're a smaller franchise and a private company (so far as I know). There's also a chain called The Sawmill that does a decent job at a reasonable price, too. Another decent restaurant up here is Tom Goodchild's Moose Factory.

As for restaurant chains, I tend to visit the smaller ones as they're often just regional franchises. As a result they tend to have a lot more originality and quirkiness compared to the big chains. They also tend to cut corners a lot less too - some of the chains above still serve dry-aged beef, which is very hard to find with the big chains as it's costly and time-consuming.