The New England Restaurant Known For Prime Rib Bigger Than Your Head, Made With A 60-Year-Old Recipe

Monumental steaks and roasts are nothing new — indeed, many restaurants across America offer titanic slabs of meat as a playful challenge, like the 72-ounce Texas steak once immortalized on the TV show "Man V. Food." But dedicated, yet discerning, carnivores know all too well when ordering such a meal that quantity may outweigh quality, thus rendering your feast more of a chore than an indulgence. Fortunately, patrons agree this is not the case at New England Steak and Seafood Restaurant in Massachusetts, which offers a 50-ounce "Flintstone cut" of slow-roasted prime rib au jus, prepared the same way for over 60 years.

Located in Mendon, New England Steak and Seafood focuses on traditional regional cuisine. The cozy, ambience-heavy eatery's most tempting menu item is so named for the unwieldy mountain of meat so weighty, it memorably overturned Fred Flintstone's car in the credits of the eponymous animated sitcom. While not quite matching the cartoonish dimensions, the Flintstone cut is nevertheless an intimidating endeavor, which can be served either house-style or blackened with secret "steak magic".

Appearing on the TV show, "The Phantom Gourmet," John Quirk Jr. — who co-owns the restaurant with his brother James after inheriting it from their father — boasted its enviable reputation for top-quality prime rib sets the restaurant apart from others and it's made the old-fashioned way every night. Quirk added that what truly makes the difference is the dark, luxuriant, pan-prepared jus made daily, which accompanies the meat. This market-price offering can be further augmented with caramelized onions, scampi compound butter, or mushroom or béarnaise sauce.

Despite decades of success, New England Steak and Seafood Restaurant had a difficult genesis. When attempting to fund its opening, John Quirk Sr. was denied and told it would never work in Mendon, per an interview with Milford Daily News. Nevertheless, the restaurant opened its doors in 1956. Seventy years of ensuing success have demonstrated how erroneous those financial institutions were in their skepticism. 

Over the span of its existence, the restaurant has drawn numerous celebrities, including Tina Turner, Aerosmith, and future U.S. President John F. Kennedy, the latter of whom dined there in 1959 while campaigning in nearby Milford. John Quirk Jr's mother was pregnant with him at the time, and she not only wished victory for Kennedy in the upcoming presidential election, but that her son would be born on Kennedy's birthday – remarkably, both wishes came true.

Reviewing the restaurant on Trip Advisor, one patron suggested that, if ordering the prime rib, "the recommended medium rare is best — pink, and very juicy", while also noting that if you arrive early, you may be able to get the prized end cuts. Also writing on Trip Advisor, another satisfied customer who ordered the Flintstone Cut described it as "probably the best I've had and I've had many". If you worry the Flintstone cut may be too overwhelming, however, the famous prime rib also comes in a more manageable 20-ounce King cut or a 14-ounce Queen cut. Should you be in the mood for seafood, the menu offers a live lobster dinner, bay scallops baked or fried, and a seafood fra diavolo of lobster, shrimp, scallops, garlic, red peppers, jalapeños, green onion, basil, tomatoes, and white wine, served over linguine.