Steakhouse

Steak house is the name given to those restaurants that only serve various types of beef steaks and relating side dishes. In some places steak house is also known as 'chop house' or 'grill house'. They offer variations such as the New York Strip, sirloin, tenderloin, porterhouse and so on along with side dishes which may be baked potatoes or rolls.

History

The range of steak house restaurants started in the United States towards the end of the 19^th century. During those times a number of inns and bars had just come up on the highways. They started offering an excellent selection of meat and thus transformed into steak houses serving good cuts of beef, barbecued, grilled, smoked or stir fried. Steak houses are found all across the world wherever beef is served. Steak houses have special steak chefs who are trained to prepare perfect steaks.

Each steak house specializes in a particular cut of beef or a different cooking method whereby the taste and flavour of the steak cooked is enhanced. In United States the most popular cuts of beef are the porterhouse, the New York strip, the sirloin, tenderloin, brisket, filet mignon, shank, round, short loin, top sirloin, bottom sirloin, chuck, rib, plate and flank.

The best beefs served in steak houses are known as the Black Angus beef. Both steak chefs and steak lovers know the significance and importance of the Angus label. The Angus label means that the diner will get a juicy and delectable piece of beef in his steak, each time he dines. The steaks in United States go through stringent evaluations before they are certified as Angus beef, and should contain a good amount of fat to ensure tenderness.

Popular Steak Houses across United States

• Bern’s Steak House is based at Soho, Tampa, Florida; founded by Bern Laxer in 1956. It has been rated the Best Steak House by Wine Spectator in 1996 and again as Best Restaurant in America by Rachael Ray in 2009. Former President George W. Bush has eaten twice at this restaurant during his presidency.

• Black Angus Steak house based at Los Altos, California with 103 branches across 13 states, was founded by Stuart Anderson in 1964. It is presently owned by the Versa Capital Management, Inc. and has only 46 branches across 6 states.

• Claim Jumper was founded by Craig Nickoloff in 1977, at Los Alamitos, California. They now have restaurants in over 45 locations spread across United States.

• Fleming’s Steakhouse and Wine Bar is a chain of restaurants across 64 different locations in the United States. It was founded by Paul Fleming and Bill Allen in 1998 with its first location at Newport Beach, California. However today they are headquartered at Tampa, Florida and owned by OSI Restaurant Partners.

• Gallager’s Steak House was founded by Helen Gallagher and Jack Solomon in the November of 1927. It was situated adjacent to the famous Alvin Theatre. This was the first steak house for Broadway and also where first time ever the “ New York Strip” steak was served. It currently has franchisees in Las Vegas, Denver, Newark Airport, Atlantic City and Tampa, Florida.

• Gorat’s Steak House is based in Omaha, Nebraska and was founded by Louis and Nettie Gorat in the year 1944. It boasts a celebrity clientele which includes Warren Buffett, Michael Eisner, Bill Gates and Martha Stewart. It is an Italian style steak house and its most famous dish is the  T-bone Steak, which is also a favourite of Warren Buffett.

• Houston’s Restaurant was founded in 1977 by George Biel, in Nashville, Tennessee, and presently operates 47 restaurants under various brands across America.

• Lawry’s The Prime Rib was founded by Lawrence L. Frank and Walter Van de Kamp in 1938, and was located at Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California. It is still run by the families of both the founders. The speciality on its menu is the Standing Rib Roast. Today it has restaurants in Chicago, Las Vegas, Jakarta, Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Osaka.

• Logan’s Roadhouse is yet another popular steak house located across United States. The restaurant was founded in 1991 and the first restaurant was located at Lexington, Kentucky. Presently the head office is located at Nashville, Tennessee.

• Lone Star Steak House & Saloon first opened at Tampa, Florida in 1987 and subsequently opened branches across America and also Austrailia. They are the proud receipents of the Golden Icon Award, for “Best Steak House Chain” for the year 2005 – 2006.

• LongHorn Steak house was founded by George McKerrow Jr. in 1981 and the first restaurant operated out of Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia. Today the chain of restaurants is owned by Darden Restaurants, with its headquarters in Orlando, Florida. They have 350 restaurants in Puerto Rico, Midwest, Southwest, Southern and Eastern United States. The speciality steak here is the Flo’s Filet.

• Sizzler restaurant chain was founded in 1958, by Del and Helen Johnson, with its headquarters at Culver City, California. It has over 270 locations across the United States, primarily concentrating in West United States. They also have branches in Austrailia, Indonesia, Japan, China, Singapore, Thailand and Peurto Rico. It was earlier known as Del’s Sizzler Family Steak House.

• Quaker Steak & Lube is based at Sharon, Pennysylvania since 1974, and was founded by George “Jig” Warren and Gary “Mo” Meszaros. Today they operate out of 42 locations in Ohio, Pennysylvania, Colorado, Florida and Canada. They have won over 100 awards and are famous for their range of hot sauces. The most fiery on the Scoville Scale being the Triple Atomic Sauce which is served only after a liability waiver has been signed by customer ordering it!

Mr.Steak restaurant chain started in 1962, founded by James A. Mather first operating out of Colorado Springs, Colorado. They went on to have 278 restaurants across America, before finally going defunct in the mid 1990s due to bankruptcy.