The Best Steakhouse Chain Wagyu Melts In Your Mouth, According To Customers

Some of the best steakhouses in the United States are actually chains, which is great news for diners across the U.S. You won't have to travel to a far-away city to enjoy a high-end steakhouse experience. If you are in the market for a fancy cut of Wagyu beef, Smith & Wollensky is the best steakhouse chain for a melt-in-your mouth steak. Smith & Wollensky features various cuts of Wagyu steak on its menu, but its magnum opus is the 44-ounce swinging Wagyu tomahawk file. At a whopping $250 a pop, the tomahawk feeds two people and is well worth the price both for the taste and the presentation. True to its name, waiters bring the steak to your table hanging from a rack, its buttery fat dripping onto a bed of confit herbed potatoes on a plate beneath it.

Customers took to Reddit, Facebook, Yelp, and TripAdvisor to rave about the flavor, texture, and presentation of Smith & Wolensky's swinging Wagyu tomahawk steak, most of them posting pictures to convey the theatricality of the dish. One TripAdvisor customer wrote, "yes it comes out on a hanger over yukon gold potatoes, they then seared one more time with a torch to get the fat to render over the potatoes, truly amazing." Another TripAdvisor customer proclaimed "the taste and quality of their in-house aged beef is superb," while a Yelp review described the steak as having "melt in your mouth good flavor." One Facebooker said "it was one of the best steaks I've ever had."

Wagyu steak is arguably one of the most expensive on the market, and for good reason. Originally from Japan, Wagyu beef comes from four different breeds known for inimitable marbling and a high monounsaturated fat content that renders both a highly nutritious and utterly flavorful cut of steak. Of course, as Wagyu quickly becomes more popular, there have been newer types popping up in different countries. For example, Australian Wagyu is a less expensive alternative to Japanese Wagyu that doesn't sacrifice flavor. If you decide to make Wagyu steak at home, you can dry age the beef yourself to maximize its buttery flavor and make the most of its hefty price tag. We interviewed an expert who instructs you to dry-age Wagyu beef by wrapping it lightly in cheesecloth and keeping it in the fridge for a minimum of three weeks. Grilling and sauteeing are the best methods to cook dry-aged Wagyu.

Smith & Wollensky knows how to cook an utterly decadent, melt-in-your mouth Wagyu steak, but it is not the only menu item worth ordering. The chain also makes the most delicious porterhouse steak of them all. The quality of any cut of steak at this popular chain has a lot to do with where they source their steaks. Their Wagyu comes from Snake River Farms, a company specializing in American Wagyu, a crossbreed of Japanese Wagyu bulls and Angus cows. Essentially you are getting the best of two standout beef steak breeds.