Not all steaks are created equal. After all,
there's little point asking for a petite filet mignon to satisfy a mammoth appetite.
At 72 ounces, the steak served at The Big Texan Steak Ranch may just be the
largest in the country. And you don't even have to spend a cent to down the
mouth-watering masterpiece since it's a part of the restaurant's steak dinner challenge.
All you have to do to take the challenge is turn up — no reservations required.
Over 91,000 steak enthusiasts have attempted
to devour the gargantuan cut — plus the obligatory shrimp cocktail, baked potato,
salad, and buttered roll — with only about 11% succeeding. Comments from past champs include:
"Best steak I've ever had! Gotta love Texas!"
"The best free meal ever!" "Full. Just full."
Dating back to 1962, the steak dinner challenge follows some very stringent
rules. The entire steak has to be consumed within one hour.
"This is crazy."
Once the competition begins, the participant isn't allowed to leave the table or even stand
up. And since very few complete the mission, each contestant is required to pay $72 for
the steak before the challenge commences. Successful participants are reimbursed
once they down the mammoth feast, while losers get to take the leftovers home. Oh,
and there's a 24/7 livestream of each bout, for those wishing to watch from home.
With multiple locations around the U.S. and overseas, Smith & Wollensky is a renowned
steakhouse chain that delivers quality meat and an upscale dining experience. And while
the restaurant's menus differ depending on the location, some outlets cater to diners
with huge appetites. Let's take Smith & Wollensky in Boston as an example. The
largest steak on the menu is the 44-ounce black-grade Wagyu. Not far behind are the
42-ounce USDA-Prime dry-aged porterhouse and the 38-plus-ounce gold-grade Wagyu porterhouse.
Smith & Wollensky steaks have received mixed reviews. While one patron says
the steak was prepared exactly to their liking and well-rested,
others disagree. And when you pay over $200 for a steak, you should expect
perfection. One TripAdvisor reviewer says that while their tomahawk steak was good,
it was slightly underseasoned. Another steak aficionado agrees, saying,
"My steak was perfectly cooked but disappointingly
underseasoned. [...] We were disappointed at having to add salt to such expensive steaks."
Available in 10-ounce regular cut, 16-ounce king cut, 20-ounce
Howie cut, and 40-ounce supreme cut portions, the prime rib at Kelsey's Steakhouse is bound
to satisfy even the most voracious appetites. The Indiana restaurant ages then slow-roasts
its prime rib for 14 hours to ensure that the cuts are tender, juicy, and bursting
with flavor. Looking at a photo of the 40-ounce epicurean delight, one Facebook user commented,
"I have to bring my blood thinners before I eat this."
"Here come the meat sweats."
Kelsey's prime rib has received the thumbs up from steak enthusiasts,
with one TripAdvisor reviewer calling the 40-ounce slab of meat
"Some of the best I've ever had."
One of Ruth's Chris Steak House's signature offerings is the 40-ounce
porterhouse for two. Cut from the short loin, the porterhouse is a versatile steak that offers the
flavor of a New York strip on one side of the bone and the texture of a filet mignon on the
other. While similar to T-bones, porterhouse steaks need to be at least 1.25 inches thick
from the bone. However, what makes Ruth's Chris Steak House's porterhouse stand out from the
pack isn't just its mighty cut; it's also the restaurant's special high-heat broiling method.
One reviewer, who went to the restaurant for their anniversary, says,
"My grill is AWOL and I have been craving a porterhouse. [...] It was sliced in the
kitchen and put back on the bone. [...] The steak was just fine and what I was craving."
Another patron, who shared the porterhouse with their daughter, calls the steak excellent, adding,
"As usual, the taste [was] flavorful, cooked to perfection with impeccable service."
At around $250 a pop, the 40-ounce Durham Ranch Wagyu tomahawk chop from Mastro's Restaurants
isn't cheap. And there's a good reason why. Sourced from farms in Texas and Iowa, Durham Ranch
Wagyu is the result of a cross between Japanese Wagyu and American Angus or Charolaise breeds of
cattle. The beef is both juicy and tender due to its exquisite white lattice marbling. It's
also healthier than some other beef since its fat content consists mostly of unsaturated fat.
"Bon appetit."
"Oh good god."
Mastro's Durham Ranch Wagyu tomahawk chop is as colossal as it is impressive. After seeing a
photo of the bone-in steak, Facebook users have given it the thumbs up. One meat-lover writes,
"Mmmmm I need this in my life."
On the flip side, another Facebooker commented,
"Had to take out a 2nd mortgage for that baby!!!!!"
Fogo de Chão is well-known for its churrasco cooking style, which is a traditional Brazilian
barbecue method that involves grilling meats over an open flame. The chain's 36-ounce
tomahawk ancho is an a la carte extension of Fogo de Chão's rodízio-style experience
where patrons are served meat directly from huge skewers by waiters in traditional gaucho attire.
Dry-aged for at least 42 days, the tomahawk ancho has received praise
from hungry patrons. A satisfied carnivore who was one of the first customers to try
the long bone ribeye steak at the restaurant's Baltimore outlet says,
"It is spectacular upon presentation. [...] The ribeye was cooked medium to
perfection and served with all the wonderful condiments one comes to expect from Fogo."
With dozens of locations across the U.S. and the world, Morton's Steakhouse has
built a name for itself as a premier chain that offers high-quality cuts of
meat. Specializing in steak and seafood, the chain also serves appetizers, soups,
salads, and sides, all made with the freshest and highest-quality ingredients.
With the tagline "The Best Steak Anywhere," Morton's leaves little doubt that it's serious
about its cuts. One of the restaurant's most popular offerings is the 36-ounce tomahawk ribeye.
To optimize flavor and texture, Morton's ages its beef for between 23 and 28 days and custom
cuts it to the chain's exact specifications. Those interested in the restaurant's recipes
can delve deeper into its culinary secrets by reading the book Morton's Steak Bible:
Recipes and Lore from the Legendary Steakhouse.
Since opening in 1998, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar has
been committed to serving high-quality cuisine. The chain offers USDA-Prime
steak cuts aged for 21 days for optimal flavor and tenderness.
The largest steak on the restaurant's menu is the 35-ounce USDA-Prime tomahawk. The massive chop is
so popular with diners that the restaurant started offering it as a part of its 3-Course For Two,
A Taste for Twosday. Each week, the restaurant's patrons can choose either the prime tomahawk or
the chef's reserve and receive two salads, two sides, and two desserts for $135.
So how do diners rate the 35-ounce tomahawk? One TripAdvisor user writes,
"The tomahawk steak was brought to our table by a server who proceeded to slice it off the
bone and then cut it into several pieces for us — very nice touch."
Another reviewer comments that while the cut seemed smaller than
the first time they had eaten it, the steak was as delicious as ever.
So now that we've covered the largest — and they are
gigantic — which steakhouses serve the smallest steaks?
If you're partial to Japanese Wagyu, Alexander's Steakhouse has you covered. In fact,
the steakhouse claims to offer one of the most extensive ranges of Wagyu meat in America,
all served and priced in 3-ounce increments. Wagyu is known for its exceptional texture and flavor,
which is partly due to the high level of marbling in the meat. All of the Japanese wagyu served at
Alexander's Steakhouse has been graded 5A, the highest possible grade for Wagyu beef.
So what exactly is on the menu? Alexander's Japanese Wagyu offerings include the Hokkaido
Chateau Uenae Japan strips farmed in sub-zero temperatures; the soft-textured Shiga Ohmi Japan;
and the highly marbled Gifu Hidagyu Japan ribeye steak. The cuts aren't cheap,
with 3 ounces of Japanese Wagyu going for between $165 and $205. And you can complete your meal by
ordering side dishes such as Brussels sprouts, black truffle mashed potatoes, or caesar salad.
The Metropolitan Grill is well known on Seattle's fine dining scene for its high-quality steaks and
seafood. Located at the Marion Building, a historic structure dating back to 1903,
the restaurant has won numerous awards for its exceptional culinary offerings.
Aside from dry-aged prime beef from Eastern Washington and American Wagyu,
The Metropolitan Grill also serves 4-ounce cuts of Japanese A5 beef. More specifically,
the restaurant offers Ohmi beef, snow beef, and olive beef — all priced at over $100 per cut.
The Metropolitan Grill was America's first restaurant to serve olive beef tenderloin.
Sanuki Wagyu olive beef comes from Shōdoshima Island, where farmers feed cattle pressed olives
leftover from olive oil production. Snow beef from Hokkaido, meanwhile, is said to get its
delicate flavor and silky texture thanks to the region's cold climate. Last but not least, Ohmi
Gyu beef from the Lake Biwa region in the Shiga Prefecture is the sweetest of the three offerings.
Home to one of the most exclusive — and expensive — cuts in the world,
Barclay Prime has been a fixture on Philadelphia's fine-dining scene for
almost two decades. The restaurant is owned and operated by Stephen Starr,
who is the mastermind behind several other venues in Philly and elsewhere. Notably,
the restaurant is the home of the Barclay Prime Cheesesteak, a $140 culinary masterpiece that
consists of Wagyu ribeye, foie gras, truffled cheese whiz, and onions served on a sesame roll.
"We can track it all the way back to the farm where it was raised. It's so rich and flavorful."
And the deal comes with a half bottle of champagne.
At $210 for 5 ounces, Barclay Prime's Kobe striploin is the most expensive cut on the
restaurant's extensive menu. Described as "the world's most exclusive steak," the cut
comes from single-lineage Tajima-gyu breed cattle in Japan's Hyogo prefecture. In fact,
only 0.06% of all beef eaten in Japan is classified as Kobe beef, and this percentage is
even lower overseas. Barclay Prime has no grading specification on its menu, so we can't be sure
whether the restaurant's Kobe is classified as A5, the highest grade for Japanese Wagyu.
Comparatively affordable and delicious, The Keg's 6-ounce top sirloin will only set you
back $26. Unlike many steakhouses that simply serve sirloin, The Keg goes a step further,
separating sirloin into different parts to optimize each cut's flavor and tenderness.
There are two types of sirloin cuts — the more tender top sirloin butt and the bottom sirloin
butt typically used for tri-tip steaks. The Keg also serves teriyaki sirloin,
sirloin Oscar with shrimp, scallops, asparagus, and béarnaise sauce as well
as baseball top sirloin, which is cut so thick that it can only be prepared
to medium rare. In addition, the restaurant serves filets, striploins, and rib steak.
Aged and prepared to each patron's exact specifications — including blue rare where
the cuts are treated to the briefest of sears on the grill — the chain's top sirloin has received
praise from customers. One satisfied carnivore says that the cut is likely the best top sirloin
they have ever tasted. Another patron who also enjoyed the restaurant's top sirloin comments,
"Perfect medium rare, veggie side, and caesar salad dinner. Excellent
service. Upscale place. Needs reservation to avoid waiting."
With close to 2,000 outlets in the U.S. and around the globe,
Applebee's is a popular destination for those seeking an affordable, casual dining
experience. The family-friendly chain is known for its diverse menu of American-style dishes,
including items such as burgers, steaks, pasta, and seafood.
While Applebee's serves a range of steaks, its smallest offering is the top sirloin. Lightly
seasoned, the 6-ounce cut is graded USDA-Select. The grading qualifies it
as mid-range beef, lower in quality and leaner than USDA-Prime and USDA-Choice,
which means it may not be as juicy due to its lower level of marbling.
Applebee's top sirloin steak has received mixed reviews from meat
enthusiasts. Recipes.net praises the beef's crispy exterior, describing the dish as
"Tender, oozing with smoked flavor and mouth-watering juices."
On the flip side, Brand Eating is less enthusiastic, noting that the
steak arrived at the table slightly overdone and wasn't uniformly cooked, adding that,
while the cut was flavorful and juicy, it came with an unpleasant strip of connective tissue.