How Much A Steak Dinner Cost In The 1960s

Food trends come and go, but in the United States, a steak dinner has long been seen as the ultimate middle-class luxury. It's not something you are going to have every day, or even every week, but being able to sit down at a restaurant and carve into a chunk of sirloin at a reasonable price has been a cornerstone of American dining for generations. Unfortunately, those steak dinners have become a little less reasonable lately, with prices jumping 17% over the past year alone, and rising over 60% since 2020. So when we look back at steak dinner prices in the 1960s, it's hard not to get a little jealous of those post-war diners.

The exact price of an average steak dinner at a restaurant back then is hard to judge because, just like now, there were both quality and regional differences, and old menus are not comprehensive. Still, it was pretty common to find popular cuts of steak for $3 to $4. This was true even of higher-end steakhouses. A menu from the now-defunct Raleigh Hotel in Washington, D.C., considered one of the finest in the city, had a sirloin steak for only $3.85. Around the same time, Johnny's Steak House in Chicago was serving USDA Prime sirloin for $4.25, which included a salad, potato, and, interestingly, a cup of coffee. The filet mignon went for the same price.

There were cheaper options, too. Another spot from Chicago, and one from Spokane, Washington, had sirloin for $2.75 and $3.25, respectively. Early 1960s budget steakhouses like Bonanza, the era's equivalent of Texas Roadhouse, went as low as $2 for sirloin. And ribeye was somehow even less.

To put those prices in perspective, the higher-end steakhouses priced around $4 would be the equivalent of $45 today. The midrange around $3 would be $34, and that cheap sirloin at Bonanza would be $22.50. Believe it or not, that isn't that different from today's prices. At Texas Roadhouse, a half-pound sirloin will currently run you around $20, depending on your location. It's on the higher end where things have gotten a bit more out of control. Even at a chain like Ruth's Chris, let alone a local spot, steaks now cost more than $50 and often over $60.

However, the rising cost of eating steak at a restaurant has been tempered by the price of steak at the grocery store, even after all the recent inflation. Government statistics from the '60s weren't as comprehensive as today, but sirloin and round steak prices were tracked as part of grocery inflation back then. In the early '60s, the U.S. Department of Labor showed that sirloin steaks were $1.15 and round was $1.11 per pound. The equivalent price today would be about $12.68 for sirloin and $12.24 for round. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's most recent meat price tracking, the average nationwide price for sirloin today is $10.84 per pound, and only $6.90 a pound for top round steaks. So while those price tags from back in the day may look amazing, it's good to remember that wages have risen a lot, too. A night out at a nice steak place is more out of reach, but budget chains still offer a good deal, and a nice steak at home is quite a bit more affordable than it used to be.