Steak Paradise: What's your "go to" steakhouse?

[Stewie]

I'm watching Steak Paradise on the Travel Channel and it got me to thinking. Where do you go for a consistently great steak? Plus, where did you have the "best steak ever" in your culinary adventures?

For me:

Most consistently great steak = Ruth's Chris

Best "steak" ever = Prime Rib at a restaurant on the Cal/Nev border next to Lake Tahoe. The name escapes me, but it was at a casino that Sinatra frequented.

I know prime rib isn't a steak by definition, but that meal was so good it has stuck in my mind for a decade.

[WV]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Yeah, unless they're grilling up some dry-aged steaks or taking the freshest blue-ribbon beef they can find (like literally right off the hoof in the stockyards and aged on-site), they're full of shit.

I know that I can make a better steak in my back yard than I can get at Applebees or some other slophouse like that. But an elite steakhouse has cuts of beef that you're going to have to have flown in to get quality that's anywhere close.

My steaks as all my beef is straight from the local farm, so I'd put them up there with some of the best out there (not saying there better but still). We buy beef a half at a time and it's butchered by Mennonites. Tough to beat, but I'd still agree that a "Great" expensive steak house would be hard to beat for most people.

[gblowfish]

I can get my Weber up to about 600 degrees to sear as well.
Also use olive oil, spices, dry mustard, etc. It may not be Ruth Criss, but it's pretty damn fine. And certainly won't cost over $100 for dinner for two

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Donger

No. There aren't any tiles in it, ceramic or otherwise. When I sear, I do it directly over a burner, so there aren't any hot spots.

Your next, and last, reason while gas grills suck is because of the water in the propane, right?

No, there are a myriad of reasons why gas grills suck. They're not as versatile, the flavor isn't right because there's no legitimate 'combustion' taking place, the heat isn't as even, etc..., etc...

They're easier, they're a hell of a lot easier. But they aren't as good.

[the Talking Can]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Again, not buying it.

I can get a ribeye at Outback that's better than your $5 chuck.

Again - it's all about the meat. Cooking steak is the easiest damn thing in the world to do. Oh there are some techniques to it (I like searing mine over a white-hot cast-iron skillet for maybe 10 seconds/side before putting it on the hottest fire I can build), but when it comes down to it - it's all about the quality of the meat.

Chuck steak sucks. I don't care if you salt-pack it before. I don't care if you do the reverse-osmosis patdown prior to grilling it. I don't care what you marinate it in to tenderize it - it's still going to suck. Even if it's some higschool kid slapping a standard USDA Choice ribeye on the flat-iron in back, it's going to come out better than the most carefully prepared chuck steak you can come up with because the fats not there for the flavor or the whatever flavor that was there has been disguised by whatever you did to tenderize it.

It's all about the meat.

no, you can't

i don't care about tender, flavorless pieces of meat...

the fattiest piece of meat at a grocery store is usually the chuck eye, and I'll take it every time over their $15 ribeye or t-bone...which I know from experience are generally flavorless crap (and of course, I've had good ribeyes from a store before, so spare me the hyperbole police...)

don't care if my meat is a bit tougher if I pay 5 bucks and can render flavor out the fat...if it isn't a great piece of meat, I'd rather pay less for more fat satisfaction...

now in a good restaurant, of course...you'll get a good steak

and I wouldn't eat a steak at outback if you paid for it

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

That's the frustrating thing for me. Even with quality meat, I can't get my heat high enough to get that restaurant-quality crust. I just can't compete with a professional-grade broiler that can sear at 1800 degrees.

The trick I learned from a guy in texas is to get a nice cast-iron skillet and the most powerful torch you can find. Set that skillet on your fire to heat it up, then take that torch to the face of it to 'supercharge' it.

Then set the meat on it and you'll get that crust. It works really well actually.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

I can get my Weber up to about 600 degrees to sear as well.
Also use olive oil, spices, dry mustard, etc. It may not be Ruth Criss, but it's pretty damn fine. And certainly won't cost over $100 for dinner for two

600 doesn't give a great sear. It does the job, but give that torch method a try sometime. I think you'll be impressed.

(And then cook it over charcoal )

[Bill Lundberg]

Originally Posted by Pants

J. Gilbert's on 91st and Metcalf. We go there all the time.

J. Alexander's when the wait is too long at J.G.

I second this. If I want a fillet J. Alexander's is one of the best in town. I usually get a Ribeye at J. Gilberts.

[Pants]

Originally Posted by Bill Lundberg

I second this. If I want a fillet J. Alexander's is one of the best in town. I usually get a Ribeye at J. Gilberts.

Yeah, another nice thing about JA's is that a dinner for two won't cost you over $100 unless you start getting wine.

JG's calamari are freaking amazing, on the other hand, especially considering that we're talking about Kansas. All in all, I don't think you can go wrong with either place.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

No, there are a myriad of reasons why gas grills suck. They're not as versatile, the flavor isn't right because there's no legitimate 'combustion' taking place, the heat isn't as even, etc..., etc...

They're easier, they're a hell of a lot easier. But they aren't as good.

I can understand the even heat thing, but only with regard to direct grilling (i.e., the food is directly over the burner.) Just like a charcoal grill, I can "move around my heat source" because my grill has three burners.

I see where you are coming from with regard to flavor though.

[Bill Lundberg]

Originally Posted by Pants

Yeah, another nice thing about JA's is that a dinner for two won't cost you over $100 unless you start getting wine.

JG's calamari are freaking amazing, on the other hand, especially considering that we're talking about Kansas. All in all, I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

I didn't realize they were all owned by the guy who owns Houston's until a couple of months ago.

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

600 doesn't give a great sear. It does the job, but give that torch method a try sometime. I think you'll be impressed.

(And then cook it over charcoal )

I use an iron skillet to cook my steaks (2.5" fillets). By the time the center is just warm (steaks starting at room temperature), I have plenty of crust just from my electric eye. In fact, if I leave the burner on HI the outside will be burned by the time the center is warm. If the fillet was 1", then I could see using a blowtorch, but for thick steaks it's overkill.

[Bwana]

The Grizzly Bar, Roscoe, MT.

[Pants]

Originally Posted by Bill Lundberg

I didn't realize they were all owned by the guy who owns Houston's until a couple of months ago.

What's Houston's? And are you talking about JA or JG? Or both?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by cdcox

I use an iron skillet to cook my steaks (2.5" fillets). By the time the center is just warm (steaks starting at room temperature), I have plenty of crust just from my electric eye. In fact, if I leave the burner on HI the outside will be burned by the time the center is warm. If the fillet was 1", then I could see using a blowtorch, but for thick steaks it's overkill.

Don't get me wrong - you don't cook on the skillet.

You sear on the skillet, then you get it over a fire. I agree, if you tried to cook steaks on something that hot, they'd be burned to a crisp before the inside was even close to rare.

I'd imagine you could do Tuna steaks like that, but certainly not beef. The torch is just for a 10-20 second sear.

[Marcellus]

My gas grill has a sear burner on the side that gets ridiculous hot. Works fine.