6 Steakhouse Chain Wagyu Beef Steaks Ranked By Customer Reviews

Prized for its rich taste and melt-in-your-mouth texture, Wagyu beef is a meat lover's dream and one of the most sought-after types of steak worldwide. As Wagyu has gained international popularity, many steakhouse chains have added it to their menus in one way or another. But every steakhouse does Wagyu differently, and if you're not a beef expert, it can be difficult to pick the right one. 

When you see the term "Wagyu" on your local steakhouse's menu, you should know that it doesn't refer to any one particular cut or preparation. Instead, it describes multiple variants of Japanese cow breeds whose muscle has a high fat content. Japanese farmers have historically employed cows as draft animals — livestock designated to pull heavy loads — so, over time, they created several breeds with an abundance of intramuscular fat. It's all that fat that creates Wagyu beef's characteristic marbling, intricate patterns that swirl throughout the meat. 

When cooked, this fat melts at a lower temperature than other kinds of beef fat, making for an incomparably tender steak with a naturally indulgent, buttery flavor. But order a dubiously sourced, improperly cooked, or overpriced Wagyu, and you'll walk away disappointed. Below, we've ranked six chain restaurant Wagyu steaks from worst to best based on common themes in customer reviews. Only national or international chains with at least ten locations total were considered. See below for a more detailed explanation of our methodology.

Prices are as of the publication and may vary based on region.

Just because a steak is advertised as Wagyu doesn't mean it's imported from Japan; Australian farms also dish up Wagyu beef using breeds descended from Japanese Wagyu cows. And just because a steak isn't authentic Japanese Wagyu doesn't mean it's bad. Australian Wagyu can offer a comparable experience, with similar tenderness and taste at a significantly lower price.

That should be the case with STK Steakhouse's Australian Wagyu flat iron, which is available across most, if not all, of its locations. You get an 8-ounce steak for around $70, which is perfectly reasonable at just under $10 per ounce. The chain also offers a Japanese A5 strip and filet at some locations.

Despite the variety, customer reviews for STK's Wagyu cuts are negative across the board. Some diners find the Japanese Wagyu surprisingly dry, while others say the Australian flat iron is tough. One Yelp reviewer said, "The Wagyu also came out well done and did not taste like Wagyu at all." 

This should never be the case for a Wagyu steak, no matter what its country of origin; if the marbling does its job, even an overcooked Wagyu steak should still be fairly juicy and tender. Or, as another diner on Yelp put it, "My Wagyu wasn't Wagyuing." You could certainly do a lot better than STK without having to pay too much more.

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse is a national chain with 14 locations in major American cities. Although menus vary slightly by location, several Del Frisco's locations offer a Japanese A5 Wagyu steak, available in 3-ounce ($80) and 6-ounce ($160) cuts.

A5 is the highest quality of Wagyu beef, which ranks beef on its yield, marbling, color, fat, firmness, and texture. For Wagyu beef to be graded A5, it must score the highest possible marks across all of those categories.

That certainly explains the cost; $80 is a lot to pay for a 3-ounce cut of any kind of meat. Many of Del Frisco's diners have found that the quality of Del Frisco's steaks simply didn't meet expectations for A5 Wagyu, due to the inconsistent or even nonexistent marbling. One Yelp review of A5 Wagyu reads, "There was no marbling. The bill revealed $85 for the cut ... Not what I ordered or what was presented."

At Del Frisco's prices, risking these quality discrepancies may not be worth it. Speaking of an overly fatty piece of beef served at Del Frisco's Boston Waterfront location, one Yelp reviewer said, "I've had many different Wagyu ... and this was by far the worst." That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but customer concerns over inconsistent marbling are too common to ignore.

Steakhouse chain Fogo de Chão offers the ultimate all-you-can-eat steakhouse experience. Following the Brazilian tradition of the churrascaria rodízio, Fogo de Chão employs a troop of roving waiters who circulate the dining room with enormous chunks of meat on massive metal skewers.

Some Fogo de Chão locations offer special à la carte Wagyu steaks as an add-on to the typical churrasco experience, costing $170 for a 24-ounce Wagyu ancho ribeye or $165 for a 20-ounce New York strip. It's pricey on top of your regular $80 per-person churrasco experience, but these cuts are big enough to be shared between at least two people.

However, many Fogo de Chão customers appear to be disappointed by the Wagyu, not because anything's wrong with the meat, but because of its risky presentation. Fogo's Wagyu steaks are served on sizzling hot salt blocks , which some say leads to inconsistent cooking; according to one Yelp user, "Some pieces were medium well and some were the medium as ordered." Another customer notes that the salt block also has a tendency to overseason the meat: "Could not enjoy the flavor of the meat because it was overpowered by salt."

Still, some customers seem to like Fogo de Chão Wagyu steaks, with many reviews suggesting a melt-in-your-mouth texture and delicious taste. It may not be the most universally beloved chain Wagyu steak, but diners almost never take issue with the quality of the meat.

With more than 60 locations throughout the United States, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar is a chain that doesn't sacrifice on high-end steakhouse trappings. It offers two cuts of Wagyu beef: an Australian strip and an A5 Japanese strip. The more expensive of the two, at $145 for 4 ounces ($36.25 per ounce), the Japanese strip steak is worth the money. It's served on a sizzling hot stone (which seems to garner fewer complaints than Fogo de Chão's similar presentation), with a miso glaze and side of grated horseradish.

Customer reactions to Fleming's Wagyu are generally positive, with many reviewers calling it perfectly cooked, tender, and flavorful. However, some diners reported that their steaks weren't quite as fatty as expected, while others complained of small portions at high prices.

Still, a small portion may be all you need. As one diner on Reddit said, "The richness of [four] little slices of this had me good on steak for the night." Fleming's Wagyu is one of the more expensive options on this list and, while many customers seem to think it's worth the price, you may be able to get an equally excellent Wagyu steak elsewhere at a lesser cost.

Morton's The Steakhouse has over 65 locations throughout the world. Each location features a variety of different cuts and preparations, including two Wagyu options: a filet mignon and a ribeye.

Most reviews of Morton's Wagyu cuts are overwhelmingly positive, with the Wagyu filet edging ahead as a special customer favorite. Coming in at $111 for a 10-ounce steak (just over $11 per ounce), the Wagyu filet left one Yelp reviewer speechless: "I have no words, just the sound of 'Mmmm' as I ate it."

Morton's Wagyu does have its critics, as some diners have mentioned that their steaks were either under or overcooked. However, multiple customer reviews went out of their way to mention that, despite the improper cooking, their steaks were still delicious. "My husband had ordered his steak medium rare and it came out medium well, but he said it was so good that he didn't mind," one Yelp customer reports.

With a good balance between price and flavor, Morton's Wagyu is exceptional, and well worth trying. However, if you're willing to pay a premium, there may be a better option out there.

In its near-50 years of continuous operation, Smith & Wollensky has grown from an iconic New York steakhouse to a massive international chain. Branding itself "America's steakhouse," the chain highlights American Wagyu beef, with multiple Wagyu steaks on most of its U.S. locations' menus.

The crown jewel of its Wagyu menu, though, is its 44-ounce swinging tomahawk filet, paired with confit herbed potatoes. It may be pricey at $250, but it's massive, easily big enough to be shared by two people. That comes out to about $5.68 per ounce, making it the most reasonably priced Wagyu steak on this list.

Ordering the swinging tomahawk steak is an event: It comes to your table hanging from a rack, and is seared tableside while the fat drips onto a side of roasted potatoes. This creates an irresistible aroma and an incredible show that many diners note in their reviews. But it's not all smoke and mirrors; the Wagyu tomahawk doesn't sacrifice on taste. As one Yelp reviewer noted, "Great little fire and butter show that you get for the Wagyu tomahawk. Was melt in your mouth good flavor." 

It's the main subject of many a five-star review, and a customer on TripAdvisor said Smith & Wollensky's swinging tomahawk ribeye was "the nicest meat my husband and I had ever eaten! Absolutely delicious." Scoring full marks on price, taste, tenderness, quality, and presentation, Smith & Wollensky's Wagyu is some of the best you'll get at a chain steakhouse.

To determine which chain restaurants had the best Wagyu steaks, we sought out reviews of various steakhouse chains that specifically mentioned the Wagyu offerings as a positive or negative point of the experience. We identified trends in the reviews to determine the ranking: if multiple customers complimented the tenderness of the Wagyu, for example, we noted it here. Chains with a larger proportion of positive to negative trends were ranked higher.

Since Wagyu breeding and grading is a complicated subject, we also considered each chain's Wagyu beef sources where data was available. And finally, since you'll often pay a premium for even a small portion of Wagyu steak, we weighed the price per ounce of each chain's best Wagyu offerings against the quality of experience as described by customers.