5 Chain Restaurant Steaks To Order, 4 To Avoid

When you want to go out to eat, your decision about what restaurant to visit should be a simple one. But we all know it isn't. Though we wish every restaurant delivered top-notch food, unfortunately, not all of them do. And when you're looking to specifically order, what is hopefully a big, juicy, well-seared steak, we tend to be even pickier about where to get it. No one wants a blah piece of meat, especially when you've taken the time to physically go to a restaurant, spend more money than is necessary, and just want to enjoy a nice, peaceful, and tasty dinner.

Because we know how frustrating it can be to attempt dining out for a great steak dinner, we compiled a list of chain restaurants that deliver the best cuts and those that missed the mark. Not surprisingly, The Capital Grille, Ruth's Chris, and Smith & Wollensky are solid choices for finding a satisfying cut of steak. Places like Texas Roadhouse, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Outback Steakhouse can be a little bit trickier when perusing the menu. But we've got you covered — these are some of the best chain restaurants to order steak and some to avoid.

The Capital Grille really is the absolute best steakhouse chain to dine at. Overall, you're probably going to be pretty happy with whatever you get, but you might really miss out if you don't at least consider ordering one of the ribeye options. The restaurant uses an in-house butcher to carve its beef steaks fresh, so whether you choose the sought-after 22-ounce bone-in ribeye or the loved porcini-rubbed version with 15-year-aged balsamic reduction, you're bound to get a delicious dish from The Capital Grille. Of course, if a fatty, tender, juicy steak isn't your thing, then we also recommend trying the seared tenderloin with butter-poached lobster tails, which just might be one of the best surf-and-turf meals we've had.

Restaurant goers have raved online about The Capital Grille's regular ribeye, sharing that it was delicious from start to finish, cooked perfectly, and is highly recommended. Other patrons said the porcini-rubbed ribeye, which is a ribeye seasoned with a rub consisting of dried porcini mushroom powder and seasonings like salt, pepper, and garlic, was amazing, generous, and worth every penny.

Outback Steakhouse offers a 13-ounce ribeye or a 20-ounce bone-in ribeye, but you're better off avoiding either. In a Tasting Table ranking of chain restaurant ribeye steaks, Outback Steakhouse came in dead last because patrons were so disappointed with their meal, stating the ribeye was over-seasoned, dry, tough, and chewy. I haven't had good luck ordering a ribeye either at multiple Outback locations, and I'll only order it so many times before I call it pointless to try again. Other restaurant-goers felt Outback's ribeye was too thin, overly spicy, and pretty chewy. But should you find yourself at Outback and you enjoy fish, we suggest trying the ahi tuna instead.

Bloomin' Brands, the parent company of Outback Steakhouse and multiple other eateries, is overhauling operations after it experienced a 40% decline in its stock. This prompted a quick closure of 21 Outback locations, with 22 more closing in the future. This is somewhat understandable, though, with the recent dip in customer satisfaction, and many online restaurant reviews are mixed across the board. In fact, there are so many complaints about Outback that we're all asking the same thing: What happened?

Ruth's Chris Steak House is a well-loved restaurant, even if the name is a slight tongue-twister, infuriating some people with all of its multiple s's. But the steakhouse was named after the owner when she relocated the restaurant following a fire. And it's not just the name that's connected with owner Ruth Fertel. Whether it's your first time dining at Ruth's Chris or not, the best cut of steak to try is the New York strip, which was also Fertel's favorite cut.

New York strip comes from the short loin of the cow, meaning it's a cut of meat higher in muscle and lower in fat. It's a robust piece of beef with a denser chew than fattier cuts like ribeye, but it's also a tender cut, and, when cooked right, it melts in your mouth. You have a choice of ordering a 16- or 19-ounce steak, the latter of which is bone-in, and all cuts arrive at your table on a sizzling hot 500-degree Fahrenheit plate — one of Ruth's Chris's signature serving moves. This extra step not only keeps the meat warm but also helps melt the accompanying pat of butter.

When ranking porterhouse steaks from a dozen steakhouse chains, we placed Smith & Wollensky first — this one is a must-try. Made up of the New York strip and tenderloin, porterhouse is the giant cousin of the T-bone. You get a hearty side of beefy strip and a soft, succulent tenderloin divided by a large T-shaped bone. It's a great option for people who would like to enjoy more than one type of cut during their meal. Smith & Wollensky offers the option of ordering a USDA prime 42-ounce porterhouse that's dry-aged or a 38+-ounce gold-grade wagyu porterhouse. Though the menu states its porterhouse is meant for more than one person, we won't judge if you're just really hungry and want it all for yourself. Personally, I wouldn't share it.

Unlike some other chain restaurants that serve steak, Smith & Wollensky is a fairly high-end establishment that uses high-quality beef like USDA prime and gold-grade wagyu. Beef is labeled as prime when it's sourced from young cattle that have been plumped up. This gives the meat extra marbling from the higher amounts of fat. It's considered top-tier beef. Gold-grade wagyu is an American wagyu with a higher grade than prime in the beef marbling system. Either way, the porterhouse is a favorite of customers with reviews stating it was amazing, and perfectly cooked to order, full of flavor, and seasoned just right.

Among all of the choices on the menu, and based on reviews, we'd suggest staying away from the porterhouse at Morton's The Steakhouse. Considered to be "for the table," which is still a solid option for a table full of people eating various other foods, the 36-ounce dry-aged porterhouse just didn't overwhelm customers with feel-good vibes. Some patrons received improperly cooked meat or felt it was too thin or lacking flavor. Another customer claimed it took way too long to chew and sent it back. Overall, customers enjoyed other dishes more, and with that said, one should perhaps consider the 16-ounce proprietary prime Cajun ribeye. As one Yelp reviewer noted, "The Cajun ribeye is our jam!"

Porterhouse can be a tricky piece of meat to cook, given the large bone separating the strip and tenderloin, and Morton's uses infrared broiling to cook its porterhouse, which uses super high heat that could lead to inconsistencies in cooking. With two cuts that cook in slightly different ways, one side may become overcooked while trying to keep the other side from being undercooked. It's a balance. Dry-aged throws another taste variable in the mix since not everyone likes the deep, almost gamey beef flavor that dry-aged is known for. So keep that in mind if you're considering the porterhouse.

Either you think filet mignon is overrated or it's as decadent as it sounds; this largely depends on preference — what type of cut you're looking for and, probably, who's cooking it. Though filet mignon is sourced from the small end of the tenderloin, which is the most tender cut of meat, cooking it either showcases its stellar butter-soft quality or scorches it into oblivion, creating dry, leathery meat. Luckily, Mastro's Restaurants creates a filet mignon worth remembering — one that has patrons oohing and aahing and continuously going back for more. One customer stated it was the best filet they've ever had, while others also thought it was exceptional and outstanding.

When we ranked chain restaurant filet mignons from worst to best, we placed Mastro's at the top — the filet cut, available in multiple sizes, is a clear winner. The majority of patrons absolutely loved it, citing great flavor and super tender meat. Many stated their filet was cooked to perfection, and one Yelper wrote that it "literally melted in your mouth."

Texas Roadhouse offers its hand-cut filet mignon in 6 or 8 ounces, but it also serves filet medallions — you get three 3-ounce filet pieces with a choice of peppercorn or portobello mushroom sauce. But if you're looking for a really good cut of filet, when compared to other chain restaurants, Texas Roadhouse just doesn't deliver a high-end filet mignon. However, when we ranked every Texas Roadhouse steak, we thought the Dallas filet was rich and buttery with perfect seasoning and a seared crust. The medallions, on the other hand, were merely palatable.

But really, the bone-in ribeye at Texas Roadhouse is pretty popular for a reason. It's our favorite order at this restaurant. It's not that the filet is a horrible piece of meat; it's just that up against establishments that crush the competition and with other, better cuts at Texas Roadhouse, we feel it makes more sense to pass on the filet mignon.

Texas de Brazil does it differently than most steakhouses — it's a Brazilian steakhouse with Texas roots. Instead of simply ordering one cut of steak off the menu, this restaurant serves steak churrasco-style: Various cuts of meat are slow roasted over open flame, brought to your table, and carved to order while your mouth is watering. You'll receive a myriad of meats, such as picanha, ribs, filet, sirloin, and flank. Though this may not be the place you'd think to dig into sirloin, which is characteristically a lean cut of meat, it actually is.

The spicy sirloin is surprisingly delicious with just the right amount of heat. When we ranked all of the available cuts of meat (including pork and lamb) at Texas de Brazil, spicy sirloin was the best beefy bite. Our reviewer felt the marinade — a spicy and smoky punch of flavor — helped tenderize the meat. It was so good that we think you need to try it for yourself.

LongHorn Steakhouse isn't a fancy restaurant, and it offers the standard variety of steak cuts you can also find at Texas Roadhouse and Outback Steakhouse. But that doesn't mean you can't get a good steak here; we just don't recommend the sirloin. In a taste test with five of LongHorn's signature cuts, I ranked its sirloin next to last on the list because, while it was a decent piece of meat, it wasn't remarkable enough to warrant ordering it again. Even if you're a lean steak fan, go for gold and order the filet mignon.

Sirloin is a common cut and comes from a large area on the cow, which is why it's typically cheaper in price. It's a leaner cut and doesn't feature as much fat as a ribeye or strip, but it is rich and full of flavor. LongHorn Steakhouse offers sirloin in 6 or 8 ounces, and I found the 6-ounce version to be just okay. It had a spicy seasoning that went well with the beef flavor, but it just reminded me of a regular grocery store sirloin.

We chose our list based on various taste tests in our Tasting Table kitchen. Additionally, I looked into online reviews and considered what other customers had to say about certain cuts at each restaurant within the last few years. 

However, we didn't want to leave you hanging. So if we recommended avoiding a particular cut, we made mention of an alternative to hopefully ensure you have a good experience wherever you go.