Texas Roadhouse Vs Longhorn: Who Sells The Better-Quality Steak?

If you want a mouthwatering steak without requiring a reservation or fancy tie, a neighborhood steakhouse like Texas Roadhouse or LongHorn is perfect. While both restaurants have a broad menu with delicious mains, sides, and desserts, the steak lineup is what really gets a lot of happy patrons in the door. 

Texas Roadhouse prides itself on offering great food and service since 1993, describing both as "legendary." The kitchen cuts steaks fresh each day and many of the sides are made in-house as well. Customers can even pick out their exact steak from the case at the front of the restaurant, then enjoy it prepared exactly how they like it. Some of the best Texas Roadhouse steak options include massive Porterhouse t-bones and tender filets. Meanwhile, LongHorn Steakhouse has been master of the grill since 1981 and focuses on steaks. Each one is cut to order and grilled with signature seasoning blends. The best LongHorn Steakhouse steaks, such as the Outlaw ribeye and fire-grilled t-bone, are tender and full of bold flavor thanks to the seasonings added.

We went to both spots and tried a selection of their steaks to find out which one sells the better-quality cut. The two restaurants feature many similar favorites, such as ribeye, filet, and t-bones, but put their own blend of seasonings and extras on top.

Both restaurants had flavorful New York Strip steaks with plenty of seasoning on the outside. In both cases, they were leaner than some other cuts, which is expected given where the steak is cut from. A New York Strip comes from behind the ribs and often has less fat throughout the meat than many other cuts. Known as marbling, this fat melts as the steak cooks to keep it tender and provide a ton of flavor.

As of this publication, Texas Roadhouse offers New York Strip steaks in an 8 ounce or 12 ounce size. The smaller steak is thick cut, while the larger of the two is a traditional cut. This helps keep the steak from drying out as it sears on the hot grill. In March 2025, the New York Strip costs between $20 and $26, although you can add extras like shrimp or blue cheese for a few dollars more. The steak seasoning was particularly nice and when we tried the Texas Roadhouse version, it was more tender than we expected for a New York Strip.

In contrast, the LongHorn New York Strip only comes in 12 ounces and costs just over $27. It's a bit pricier and wasn't as tender as the Texas Roadhouse version when we sampled both. So Texas Roadhouse remains our go-to choice when it comes to picking up a nice New York Strip thanks to its better texture, not to mention a cheaper price.

LongHorn Steakhouse has a couple of ribeye options, including some very large steaks, which gives them a slight edge when it comes to this super tender cut. Texas Roadhouse has a few more size options, however. The ribeyes from both restaurants were some of our favorites, so it was really hard to name one the winner over the other. Ribeye steak is the perfect cut for grilling, making this one of our top choices.

At Texas Roadhouse, the Fort Worth ribeye comes in 12, 14, or 16 ounces and costs between $26 and $31 as of this publication. The bone-in ribeye is a massive 20 ounces for $33 and is even more tender thanks to the being grilled on the bone. They were a bit on the salty side, but paired well with beer or cold water.

The LongHorn ribeye only comes in a 12-ounce size, which is $28. It's the best-selling steak at the restaurant, because it is so tender and well seasoned. There was very little gristle that we needed to cut away, so it was a full 12 ounces of delicious steak. Our favorite was the Outlaw ribeye, the LongHorn version of a bone-in cut. It had a really nice char on the outside and was the tenderest steak we tried. It's 20 ounces and $34. Even though Texas Roadhouse ribeyes had more size options and the steaks are a bit cheaper, the higher quality has to go to LongHorn Steakhouse for ribeyes that practically melted in our mouths.

The sirloin is a good budget-friendly option at both steakhouses. Sirloin is a a flavorful steak cut that won't break the bank, but it sometimes gets hate for being dry and tough, which tends to happen if you cook it too long. It's cut from the back part of the cow, just above the tenderloin. Since it doesn't have nearly as much marbling as other cuts, it won't be as tender as some of the other options you'll commonly find at steakhouses. But we found that the sirloin at both Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse were well-seasoned and full of flavor.

The Texas Roadhouse version is a bit cheaper as of the time of writing, which put their sirloin a cut above what's available at LongHorn Steakhouse. You can get a 6-ounce sirloin, plus two sides, for just $15. Considering many of the entrees at steakhouses are closer to twice that, it's hard to beat the sirloin for value. It also comes in 8, 11, and 16 ounces but the most expensive is still less than $27.

At LongHorn Steakhouse, sirloin is available in 6 or 8 ounces and costs between $16.50 and $19.50. We actually liked the seasoning blend used at LongHorn better than Texas Roadhouse's, but both were similar in terms of size and tenderness. It was ultimately the slightly lower price that gave Texas Roadhouse the edge on this one.

The filet is known as a super tender cut of steak and it did not disappoint at either restaurant. This cut comes from the tenderloin and is a leaner cut without being overly chewy. It tends to have just enough marbling to add flavor and keep it from drying out without being too fatty.

At Texas Roadhouse, the filet is known as the Dallas filet and comes in either a 6-ounce or 8-ounce steak as of this publication. It costs between $25 and $29, but we promise it's worth the higher price tag compared to other similarly sized steaks. Its tenderness is what really sets this cut apart.

The LongHorn Steakhouse Flo's filet was even more tender than we expected and the thickness was based on the way that we ordered it. You can get a 6-ounce or 9-ounce steak for between $26 and $31.50. It's one of their most popular items, and one that has been on the menu since they opened. When we took the first bite, we could see why. The signature LongHorn seasoning blend on this filet is what we liked most about the steak, but its super tender texture was a very close second.

If you're in the mood for a large steak that will make you think you're gathered around a campfire and not in a booth at a neighborhood steakhouse, the Porterhouse is it. It's part New York Strip and part tenderloin, with a massive bone running right down the middle to connect it all into one large cut. The t-bone has less tenderloin than a true Porterhouse, but is still a satisfying combination and great for those who are really hungry or plan to share.

At Texas Roadhouse, the Porterhouse t-bone steak is 23 ounces and that largest cut on the menu. It's $36 as of this publication, making it the most expensive steak as well. It was our favorite of the steaks at Texas Roadhouse, mainly due to the delectable tenderloin. The addition of the New York Strip made it sizable enough to share as well.

LongHorn Steakhouse has a Porterhouse and a t-bone on the menu, while Texas Roadhouse only has one combined option. We liked having additional choices at LongHorn, and both were equally tasty. The 22-ounce Porterhouse was great and cost $36, comparable to the Texas Roadhouse option. But the fire-grilled t-bone had a nice fire-grilled taste thanks to the char seasoning, in addition to the tender texture of the steak. It's a slightly smaller 18 ounces for just under $31 and was enough for us to share, but we were a little reluctant to do so just because it was so good.

At the time of writing, Texas Roadhouse was the only one that had this on the menu, so the restaurant won by default. But it's worth noting that it wasn't our favorite cut of steak, even though the quality was top notch. Prime rib is unlike other options on our list because it's cut from a larger piece of ribeye, which means considerably less seared exterior when it makes its way to your plate. Because that's where a lot of the flavor gets added, especially if you like salt, pepper, and other seasoning blends, this cut can be a little bit less bold. Even though luxury beef cuts prime rib and ribeye come from the same part of the cow, the end results are quite different.

However, it's hard to beat a prime rib when it comes to tender meat. It's the same cut as the ribeye, which means plenty of marbling and a high-quality part of the cow. At Texas Roadhouse, it comes in 12, 14, or 16 ounces for between $27 and $32 as of March 2025. Our piece had more fat than we expected, and we ended up needing to cut around quite a bit of our steak. This cut down on the overall amount of meat that we were able to enjoy. But if you're looking for prime rib, it's best to stick with Texas Roadhouse since LongHorn Steakhouse doesn't have it on the menu.

When it comes to quality, both Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse serve great steaks with plenty of marbling and rich flavor. The tenderness of your meat varies based on the cut, but none of the options that we tried were so tough or chewy that we didn't enjoy them. Those that stand out include the filets and ribeyes, which are offered at both spots. 

We liked being able to choose our steak from the case at Texas Roadhouse. You can see exactly what the steaks look like, evaluating for marbling, color, and size before you make your selection. We had to trust a bit more in the kitchen to pick out the right cut at LongHorn Steakhouse, which worked out for us but might be an issue if they get especially busy. Both Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn cut most steaks by hand at the restaurants, so you can make special requests. This also lets them adjust the thickness based on how you want your steak, going with thicker options for rare and medium rare steaks and thinner cuts for well done.

As of this publication, Texas Roadhouse has better prices and more size options, so you can get exactly what you want and not spend a ton on a large steak that you won't finish. Their sirloin is an especially great value, since you can enjoy a tasty steak for less than $15.

LongHorn Steakhouse steaks tend to be a few dollars more for the same size and cut, but the price differences are not astronomical. We liked the seasoning blends used on the LongHorn steaks better and were happy to pay a bit extra for so much flavor. They weren't as heavy on the salt compared to Texas Roadhouse, and the meatiness really took front and center in every cut.

The one option that you'll have to go to Texas Roadhouse for is the prime rib, since it's not offered at LongHorn Steakhouse. If you're a prime rib fan, the value of that cut at Texas Roadhouse compared to other steakhouses is fantastic, especially for the large size and thick steak. 

It was a close call, but LongHorn Steakhouse narrowly won based on the quality of their delicious steaks, which had tons of marbling, great seasoning, and a tender texture. From the budget-friendly sirloin to the super tender Flo's filet and the smokey Outlaw ribeye, there weren't any steaks that we would skip. In fact, it was hard to choose between all of them to determine a favorite, since all of the cuts were full of flavor and had their own appeal.

Texas Roadhouse is still a great option, especially if you want more menu options and their delicious signature honey butter and rolls. And let's be honest, second to a great steak, you need to have some tasty bread to soak up all of the juices on your plate. We liked that we could choose our exact steak when we first arrived at the restaurant and that there were numerous sizes available. If a broader selection is top priority, we'd recommend Texas Roadhouse.