[tempedude]

Of this shortlist of steakhouses in the Phoenix area, which one do you consider the best?

My favorite is Durant's

I just came up with this fun idea as we await more development news in these slower times.

If your favorite is not on the list... add it below for sure

[Phxbyrd211]

can I put in a vote for Harris' steak house circa 1997?

[tempedude]

can I put in a vote for Harris' steak house circa 1997?
in remarks i already set the poll

[alphawolf]

Which one has the most bang for my buck?

[Buckeye Native 001]

Where's Montes La Casa Vieja? Not exactly high-end, but good steak nonetheless.

[tempedude]

Which one has the most bang for my buck?

Durant's of course

[sundevilgrad]

The Stockyard isn't on there? It's definitely one of the best!

[oliveurban]

Yea, lots 'o chains.

Durant's has a great, unique atmosphere unlike many in town (and is the sentimental fav to many on this forum), however, Donovan's and Mastro's without-a-doubt serve the best steaks in town.

[Phxbyrd211]

yes, I change my vote to stockyards.

[Vicelord John]

with no disrespect to Durant's, I love the place but it is absoltely NOT the best steakhouse in town. I'm sure it is getting votes here soley because it is "downtown." Donovan's is far and away the best. They are not a chain, as they have only two locations. DiRona magazine just named them #2 steakhouse in the country, behind Chop House in Palm Springs and ahead of Gibson's in Chicago.

[Phxbyrd211]

The Roaring fork and The Cork and Clever are also very good.

[Vicelord John]

The Roaring fork and The Cork and Clever are also very good.

Since when is Roaring Fork a steakhouse?:shrug:

Wildfish Seafood Grill has great steaks that a lot of my guests rave about.

[Vicelord John]

and why is Morton's on there if Capital Grille and Ruth's Chris aren't?

And why is Texaz Grille on there at all? that place is Outback quality.

[PHX NATIVE 929]

Chop House in Palm Springs was named #1 in the country?!?!

I've eaten there. There are five spots locally I'd prefer to eat.

[Phxbyrd211]

Ive been to Outback and TexAZ (formerly Lone Star Steaks) is better plain and simple. Further it makes up in ambiance and history what it lacks in an elite meat supplier.

[Vicelord John]

Ive been to Outback and TexAZ (formerly Lone Star Steaks) is better plain and simple. Further it makes up in ambiance and history what it lacks in an elite meat supplier.

dude... people would laugh at me if I sent them there.

[Phxbyrd211]

well dude, people might laugh at me if I sent them to the bar you want to open or the place where you work after they see your face. The point is people like different places. TexAz is a local establishment so it can't be labeled as a generic suburban chain. It has character and I like that and everyone I've been there with think the food is good although maybe 5% overpriced. Finally it's popular and long lasting which I think is the measure of success in the business.

[Vicelord John]

ok, just because you have a lack of experience with fine cuisines and like Texaz grill... doesn't mean that everyone thinks it is a good place. Hell, I've met people who think Olive Garden is good Italian... I feel sorry for them. A lady who I work with went to Marcellino, considered by most to be the finest Italian in the city, and she replied "that wasn't Italian, they had no breadsticks, and they didn't even have powdered cheese." I don't know what has been ingrained into peoples minds that good food/fine cuisine is alien to them.

and P.S. why are we bringing personal insults into this?

Or do you realize what you are saying is nuts, and feel the need to insult me because you can't think of a decent argument?

[atl2phx]

what happend to city hall and capital grill?
both have great steaks.
capital grill has an excellent wine list.
city hall has an awesome bar!

[bwonger06]

I ve been to TexAZ. Steak is horrible and their filet taste more like liver, although their steaks are cheap. Ruths and Mortons have very good steaks but wwayyy overpriced at 30 bucks for a small steak with no sides. Flemmings is a small step below Ruth's and the price reflect it. Houstons is a nice place if your looking at bang for your buck.

Cork and Cleaver used to be good a few years ago, but there steak has become bland. Pink Pony is a very nice prime rib stop in town, but their steaks stink.

Other non steak specific places to check out are benihanas and Roy's. benihanas have excellent filet mignons teppanyaki style. Roy's is one of my favorite restaurants and worth a try because most of their things are made Hawaiian style

[Vicelord John]

Houstons is a nice place if your looking at bang for your buck.


best sentence in this thread

[andrewkfromaz]

If you guys really want to chat about food, check out chowhound.com and look for the southwest board. Great recs. They're often looking for something more unique than steak (best Thai in NW Phoenix, for example) but they do have some really good info.

vvv Don't get me wrong, I think this thread is fine. I just wanted to mention a place to get great advice on restaurants. Carry on...

[tempedude]

If you guys really want to chat about food, check out chowhound.com and look for the southwest board. Great recs. They're often looking for something more unique than steak (best Thai in NW Phoenix, for example) but they do have some really good info.

lighten up....it was a simple thing just to kill time and for a little fun

[Phxbyrd211]

Vandercook, you're the pot calling the kettle black. I've seen you dish it out plenty of times but it's laughable to read you play the victim.

I know plenty about fine dining and have been to about every good restaurant in this town. But at least half the time I like casual look dining. I'm a native and I still like going to Bill Johnson's for breakfast. I still like going to Avanti for Lobster and love LoLo's for catfish. If you're going to take yourself so seriously then your going to need to handle your drinking problem.:cheers:

[Vicelord John]

dude thats fine if you want to go somewhere casual... i do too sometimes. but the QUESTION was about the BEST. not the best casual, or the shittiest.

LOL

[Phxbyrd211]

then why haven't you mentioned Cholla Prime Steakhouse or Pinicle Peak off the top of my head?

[Vicelord John]

because Cholla, as good as it is, is in a casino. Pinnacle Peak is just a kitchy touristy place with sub-par food.

as for making accusations that I have a drinking problem, what's that all about? I've never talked about drinking and you guys saw one picture of me at a party with a beer in my hand? anyone with a beer in their hand has a drinking problem...?

fuck off dude.

[CANUC]

I think the steak issue is way over played. IMO places like Ruth Chris, Morton’s, Houston’s and the like are just overpriced. If what, you’re looking for is the ambiance that accompanies the dining experience then these restaurant and the prices they charge should be expected. But if the question is quality of steak then it becomes a lot more subjective. What one persons considers a perfect steak may not be what the next person likes, example: my wife likes her steak medium well and uses steak sauce. I take my steak medium and cannot stand the sauces since all they do is mask the taste of the meat. On a visit to Vegas we dined at a place called Fior’s which fancies itself as “fine dining” and let me tell you it was probably one of the most disappointing experiences I have ever had. After a one of the most bland, over cooked, tendon ridden steaks I have eaten the reality that I was still stuck with a bill that charged $15 for two waters and totaled in the area of just under $250 not including tip I realized how foolish I felt and how ridiculous the notion was that price always equates to quality.

Now having said that I must say TexAZ grill by most standard does not serve ‘great’ steaks, again just my opinion but not ‘great’ steaks. I may catch some flak from some of its proponents but chain locations like Outback and Texas Roadhouse serve steak of better quality with comparable pricing. Carver’s also impressed me with their steaks, granted their prices are higher than the previous two but it’s still not as high as the ones listed above.

The point is that I have yet to taste a steak that I enjoyed as much as the ones that I buy from my butcher, cook on my grill, under my supervision, with my heat thermometer, with my seasonings all for less than most restaurants. And the best part is that I can enjoy a couple of Sam Adams while I grill…mmmm heaven.

[Phxbyrd211]

Hmm... interesting. Do you go to an actual butcher or just AJs? Do you settle for choice or do you splurge for prime, and do you just grill the T-bones or also the tenderloin instead of the broiler?

Vandercook, you seem like you know how to have a good time and therefore can not take your self too seriously.

[CANUC]

:previous: Well I’m also a native of the Valley and we owned a small farm in Buckeye which we eventually moved to Laveen, so the cuts that I was accustomed to growing up were to put it mildly very, very local. Now that I have to wear my big boy pants I tend to lean more towards an old family friend. However supplies are not always guaranteed so yeah I’ve tried everything from local grocery store to Omaha steaks – over rated as well. My preferred steak is a Porterhouse cut to 1.5 inch thick. I have a gas grill that I use for convenience but when time permits I’ll revert back to good old charcoal. I usually coat the exterior with a light brushing of olive oil before I add the rub – the olive oil just helps char and sear the outside and then let it rest about 3 minutes.

[loftlovr]

I think I have to go with Durants if the place you are dining in is factored in.

I will probably get shot for this but Ruths Chris makes a damn good steak... buttered and sizzling.... but it is pricey and is a chain.

I love City Hall's steaks and the atmosphere too.

Want to try Monte's!! I am ashamed to say I haven't been.
Who knows- maybe soon I can ride the rollercoaster down from Disneyland when it is built on top!

[PHX NATIVE 929]

What is it with "chain" bashing? Is this some part of a secretive urbanists pledge that I don't know about? Companies don't begin as chains. They evolve into them over time due to their success. Customers like the product in the original store and so the company expands because it's PROFITABLE. Is this bad?!?! If the product is undesirable, people stop spending, and the chain goes away.

Are chains unique? No. Does that mean they deserve ridicule? No.

Do morons like to appear "hip" by belittling them? Apparently.

[PhxSprawler]

The Keg has the most excellent Blue Cheese Fillet for a chain, and Rokerij on 12th street/Glendale has excellent steaks as well! Too bad they missed the list. :(

[loftlovr]

What is it with "chain" bashing? Is this some part of a secretive urbanists pledge that I don't know about?

Do morons like to appear "hip" by belittling them? Apparently.


Wow.
Morons huh?
I hope this is not in reference to my post.

[PHX NATIVE 929]

Wow.
Morons huh?
I hope this is not in reference to my post.

Moron applies to anyone that consistently rips into any and all chain restaurants without just cause. If this applies to you, then yes, you are indeed a moron. If not, then you are not a moron.

Helpful?

[Phxbyrd211]

Start naming these wonderful chains then my "friend". Otherwise keep it up in that gold plated brain of yours.

[PHX NATIVE 929]

Start naming these wonderful chains then my "friend". Otherwise keep it up in that gold plated brain of yours.

You're right guy. My bad. I'm sure you've never stepped foot into a Ruth's Chris, Target, Home Depot, Starbucks, Chipotle, Paradise Bakery, In & Out Burger, Chick Fil A, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. You're way above those evil chains. Probably make every one of your purchases through the local Mom & Pop. Again, my apologies "friend".

[Phxbyrd211]

I try not to go to Starbucks if I can help it. Paradise Bakery is locally owned and therefore get my patronage, as do Pei Wei, Coffee Plantation and Carolinas. In N' Out and Chick Fil A are unique privately owned chains that have more in common with the above than Chilis, McDonalds or Claim Jumper.

[andrewkfromaz]

PHX NATIVE, some people prefer to not spend money at chains. Some of them are overzealous, but lighten up. ALL of us drive cars that were manufactured by huge multinationals, and run them on fuel produced by some of the largest companies in the world. The point is that avoiding chains is merely a hobby, and it can be fun. Whether the chain vs. independent factor figures into a discussion of quality, I'll let you decide. For me, I wouldn't call a chain restaurant my favorite, just b/c I like unique experiences of independents.

[loftlovr]

PHX NATIVE 929-

A better way to get your point across may be to take out the insults....
I happen to love Chains.
When visiting other cities, perhaps-
I may visit something unique to the City vs. something I can eat at home.
And locally, I try to pay attention to both, as Cibo, fate, Lisa G's, Carly's and Drip seem to be my favorite environments....

Chains are here for a reason. I stated the fact I love Ruths Chris earlier.
Pei Wei Downtown is great- even the Schlotzkies near Durants is an amazing building....
Independants need more local help and support to keep alive so they have their place too.

-Moron

[vertex]

Hey everyone, here's a great solution for the troll (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/profile.php?do=addlist&userlist=ignore&u=19379) that continues to bless us with his enlightenment...

It's worked wonders for me.

[Vicelord John]

but Vertex, you took all the guesswork out of it... :-P

[PHX NATIVE 929]

Hey everyone, here's a great solution for the troll (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/profile.php?do=addlist&userlist=ignore&u=19379) that continues to bless us with his enlightenment...

It's worked wonders for me.

Dear Vertex,

I've already enlightened you with this statement: "Moron applies to anyone that consistently rips into any and all chain restaurants without just cause."

I thought I'd provide you with further enlightenment, free of charge:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green."
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome". Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Howard Dean & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Peter Jennings that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government. Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

Can you handle the truth, Vertex? "No pansies allowed" big guy.

[Vicelord John]

that was the stupidest thing ive ever read, and the only reason not to put you on ignore. I would miss those laughable attempts at comparisons.

[PHX NATIVE 929]

that was the stupidest thing ive ever read, and the only reason not to put you on ignore. I would miss those laughable attempts at comparisons.

Hit a little too close to home, Vandercook?

The fact that you are the voice of reason for the left says it all really. Thank you.

[andrewkfromaz]

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

Can you handle the truth, Vertex? "No pansies allowed" big guy.
This is comic gold. "Gang of spiders," indeed.

[vertex]

http://www.createaway.com/tellq/images/20050823182336_0.jpg (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/profile.php?do=addlist&userlist=ignore&u=19379)

[atl2phx]

Dear Vertex,

I've already enlightened you with this statement: "Moron applies to anyone that consistently rips into any and all chain restaurants without just cause."

I thought I'd provide you with further enlightenment, free of charge:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green."
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome". Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Howard Dean & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Peter Jennings that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government. Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

Can you handle the truth, Vertex? "No pansies allowed" big guy.

wow! is it the phoenix heat that brings out this kind of delusion?

[DowntownDweller]

TexAZ makes the best HAM steak in town. Only on Tuesdays though.

[jvbahn]

:previous: Well, chain or no, I want neither grasshoppers nor ants in my neighborhood, or where I choose to eat. I mean, let either into the area and the property values go down and the whole place goes to shit and it's time to flee to the suburbs.