Red Flags You Should Look Out For When Eating At A Steakhouse

For indecisive or picky diners, a steakhouse always seems like a safe bet. Whether you choose an affordable, family-friendly spot or splurge on a white-tablecloth expense-account restaurant, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect: lots of red meat, fluffy baked potatoes, and familiar sides such as freshly grilled vegetables. Plus, a few seafood and poultry dishes and a smattering of meatless options for any vegetarians who might be tagging along. A steakhouse's predictability is part of its appeal; sometimes, there's nothing more comforting than a menu of dependable favorites with no surprises.

The devil, however, is in the details, and not all steakhouses are created equal. You can't expect the same meat quality or service experience at an entry-level steakhouse as at a special-occasion spot such as Ruth's Chris. So if budget is a priority, keep your expectations in check. And while grilling a steak may sound simple, getting it right every time requires skill and practice — and not all cooks at all restaurants are equally gifted. Thus, if you want a good steakhouse experience, regardless of budget, it helps to know what to look for and what to avoid when choosing a restaurant. To help us identify some red flags, we've enlisted the help of Eric Rose, former executive chef at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

A good restaurant is like a good football team. Just as a great quarterback can't win a game unless the other team members do their jobs, a pleasant steakhouse experience requires more than a qualified chef and an inventory of decent steaks. Even in a modest steakhouse, you have the right to efficient, respectful service, and for Eric Rose, a huge red flag is unorganized or uncaring front-of-the-house staff.

For instance, a big peeve for Rose is "not being seen in a timely manner." Even if you have to wait for a table, the host or hostess should quickly acknowledge your presence when you arrive and let you know they're getting ready for you. And while beauty is only skin deep, staff appearance and presentation matter, especially at high-end steakhouses. "Servers need to be dressed appropriately with clean aprons, if that applies, and shoes," Rose said. "Also, any back-of-the-house staff that must go into public areas should have clean aprons, jackets, etc." In addition, Rose considers fake friendliness by waitstaff to be a turnoff. "I hate when a server kneels down next to the table and says 'How are you guys, what can I get you?' or tries to be overly familiar with you and your party," he said.

For diners who aren't devoted carnivores, a visit to a steakhouse can be a bit intimidating. The names of the different steaks (ribeye, filet mignon, porterhouse) may sound vaguely familiar, but they tell you nothing about what these steaks look and taste like. So if a steakhouse is serious about delivering a great dining experience, it should ensure its waitstaff can educate diners about the steaks on hand and help them find one that suits their tastes and appetites. (Serious steak connoisseurs also respect a restaurant with servers who can share deep-dive details on various steaks and their quality.)

Thus, because steaks are the whole reason steakhouses exist, a huge red flag is waitstaff who are unfamiliar with the menu and unable to speak knowledgeably about the available options. "They should know what grade of meat they're serving," Eric Rose said. If they can't, it means that either the server doesn't care — or the management responsible for their training doesn't. Either way, it's a warning sign of lackluster service ahead.

While followers of Anthony Bourdain's food destination adventures know that any number of bare-bones, undecorated holes-in-the-wall serve spectacular food, Rose says the appearance of the public areas of a steakhouse can reveal a lot about what goes on in the kitchen. You don't need starched napkins or bouquets in crystal vases to have a great meal, but basic cleanliness matters.

"The restaurant should be clean, air-conditioning vents cleaned on a regular basis, [and] any area visible to the public should be uncluttered," Rose said. According to Rose, the unglamorous details many diners overlook also offer important clues about the level of care the restaurant puts into its work. "I sometimes go to the restroom when I arrive and check," he said. "If they can't keep the restroom clean and smelling nice, what does the kitchen look like!" And if cleanliness is a big priority for you, he offers another tip. "Same for the outside trash area. Take a look around back if possible before going in." 

In addition to passing these tests, a steakhouse should also offer décor appropriate for its price point. "Depending on the caliber of the establishment, it should be decorated well and, again, kept clean," Rose said. "A greasy table, [or] unclean silverware or plates is a red flag for me. The front of the house sets the stage for your hoped-for good meal."

If steak is going to be the centerpiece of your meal, you have a right to be sure you're getting what you paid for. And a steakhouse that takes pride in its offerings should be happy to be transparent. "Ask to see the cut before it's cooked," Rose advised. While he added that not all reputable steakhouses are willing to do this, restaurants that do offer an extra degree of assurance that what they advertise is what they're selling.

So what should you look for? Obviously, it should be the cut and size that you requested. It should also look fresh, meaning vibrantly colored and moist. And finally, uncooked steaks should look properly prepared for the grill or broiler. If anything looks seriously off to you, don't accept it. "If your steak is dry, extremely fatty, or poorly trimmed, I would think about sending it back to the kitchen, especially at a high-end joint!" Rose said.

As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. And when you're planning a trip to a steakhouse, especially a high-end one, Eric Rose said it pays to know ahead of time how to tell a good-quality steak from a rip-off. In particular, he said, diners should familiarize themselves with Prime and Choice grades of steak (those most likely to be found at good steakhouses) and what they look like.

Prime and Choice are the two highest USDA grades for meat, and are distinguished by the relative age of the animals and the percentage of marbling in the meat. Choice is by far the more commonly encountered grade — if you've ever purchased steak to grill at home, chances are it was Choice. Prime is the highest and rarest grade, comprising only 2% of all meat sold. It's the most heavily marbled and tender of the grades, as well as the most expensive. 

Whether your steakhouse serves Prime or Choice steaks, Rose said you should expect your steak to be well-marbled. "A Prime or Choice steak should be well marbled throughout, leading to a very juicy steak," he said. And if you want to enjoy your steak at its best, order it on the rare side. "Degrees of doneness also affect juiciness. Cooking a steak past medium ... is a no-no," he warned.

You don't need to be a creative genius to design a steakhouse menu. Indeed, the modest inventory of familiar comfort foods at most steakhouses is part of their appeal — no one has to think too hard or wade through a lot of unfamiliar terminology when choosing their starters, sides, or desserts. Nevertheless, according to Eric Rose, a good steakhouse should have a menu that reflects consideration for guests and their dining experience.

"The menu should have a decent appetizer selection, it doesn't have to be grandiose, a few well-prepared items," Rose said. "A salad and/or soup selection would be a must for me, an interlude before a heavy steak dinner." And when it comes to the main event — the steak — a good menu should spell out exactly what diners will be getting. "The entree menu should feature a selection of steaks as well as their descriptions, grade, and weight," he said.

For steak purists, a good piece of meat is at its best when it's as close to its natural state as possible: simply cooked and seasoned with nothing more than a touch of salt and pepper. But many diners, including Eric Rose, prefer a little more bling with their steaks, and a good steakhouse should have an appropriate inventory of condiments to complement the steaks on offer. For Rose, this could mean "some horseradish with roasts, maybe a béarnaise sauce with the steak or another of the myriad of sauces for beef out there."

What these sauces should be will depend on the level of ambiance offered by a steakhouse. The more you're paying, the more refinement you have the right to expect. "Bottled sauces might be all right for a lower-end steakhouse, but if I'm paying a pretty penny, I want the béarnaise made from scratch and done well," Rose said. Thus, a huge red flag for him at higher-end steakhouses is poorly made or presented sauce. "At a local steakhouse I asked for a bit more béarnaise and I was served an ice cream scoop of barely warm sauce ... unacceptable!" he said.

You can never be 100% sure you'll enjoy an unfamiliar steakhouse until you actually try it. But you can increase your odds of choosing a winner by researching the restaurant before you go. To get a good feel for what to expect at a steakhouse, Eric Rose recommends checking reviews or relying on word of mouth from people who've eaten there. Depending on what you find, these reviews can either confirm it's worth a try, provide a warning to proceed with caution, or serve as a big red flag urging you to stay away.

Another hint that a steakhouse might be worth a try is its longevity. If a steakhouse has been around for several decades, that's a pretty good indication that it's managed to please enough diners over the years to keep its doors open. "As far as being around awhile goes, I feel that is a fairly good indicator of their quality, but not always," Rose said.

Steak lovers are far from a monolith. This co-ed fraternity includes fans of tiny, tender filet mignons or the more substantial beefiness and chew of a sirloin, as well as lovers of big T-bones. And while no steakhouse can (or should) offer all possible cuts of steak, Rose said a good one will have a diversity of options, including choices for steak lovers with smaller appetites. While steakhouses have long had a reputation as the haunt of big men with big cigars, this is no longer the case. "An offering of smaller steaks would also be nice, not just a Diamond Jim Brady," Eric Rose said.

So what kinds of steaks can you expect from a well-run steakhouse? Regardless of price point, you should expect an assortment of steaks of different sizes and flavor profiles. For instance, Ruth's Chris and Texas Roadhouse, despite their vastly different price points and ambiance, offer similar steak options (albeit Prime at the former and Choice at the latter.) Both offer variations on filet mignon, ribeyes, and strip steaks. The filets appeal to light eaters as well as those for whom tenderness is paramount; ribeyes, with their intensely beefy flavor, are a treat for serious carnivores; while strip steaks combine the best of both worlds — tenderness and hearty flavor.

We won't lie: Good steak is expensive, and having a restaurant prepare it for you means paying over three times what you'd pay to buy and cook a steak yourself. And at some high-end steakhouses, the prices can be jaw-dropping — but the food quality and ambiance are enticing enough to keep well-heeled customers coming back. "The high-end steakhouses that have been around awhile, such as Ruth's Chris, charge very high prices," Eric Rose said. "But, as their longevity suggests, their model is working."

But is the price premium really worth it? If someone else is paying for you or you crave the experience of being pampered, yes. But if you're a proficient home cook with access to good-quality fresh ingredients, you might be able to enjoy an equally good meal at home for a fraction of the cost. You don't need advanced culinary training to make a wedge salad or whip up a classic side to accompany your steak. The DIY approach is Rose's option of choice. "Buying a good steak and cooking it at home works the best for me," he said.

On the flip side, suspiciously low prices for steak are another red flag. There's a good chance prices such as this indicate poor-quality meat, which can be tough, gristly, or worse. As the old wisdom goes, beware of anything that looks too good to be true — because it probably is.

By definition, steakhouses are geared towards the meat-and-potatoes crowd, and they don't apologize for this. But even dedicated carnivores have friends and family who don't eat meat or have other dietary restrictions. And since steakhouse feasts are often organized as celebrations, vegetarians and others with special requirements sometimes find themselves celebrating with a loved one at a steakhouse. According to Eric Rose, a considerate steakhouse will have attractive meatless options (such as flavorful vegetarian pasta) as well as choices for those with allergies or gluten intolerance. Thus, another red flag is a steakhouse without the flexibility to accommodate all diners. A well-run restaurant, Rose said, should have enough menu options and trained staff to make this happen.

That being said, Rose advised those with special dietary needs to be proactive and let the restaurant know ahead of time. "Catering to vegans or the myriad of other diets should be done in consultation with the appropriate employee BEFORE you arrive, preferably a couple of days in advance," he said.