The 21 Essential Los Angeles Steakhouses, 2015
Steaks, whether grilled or broiled, grass or grain fed, are one of life’s great comforts. L.A. has become a hub for fantastic beef in a variety of cuts, served in settings that range from old school to positively luxurious. Learn about 21 of the best steak experiences in the city, listed in alphabetical order.
1 Alexander’s Steakhouse
This Bay Area newcomer hits Pasadena with what might be the most elegant and suave steakhouse to open in L.A. this year. Though it’s labeled as a steakhouse offering the widest selection of Wagyu beef in the city, it’s much more than that. Chef Matt Bata prepares finesse-laden starters, such as the uni-topped chawanmushi, that would befit a Michelin-starred white tablecloth establishment. The wines, cocktails, and service are also top flight, making Alexander’s a compelling new place for beef in LA. [Photo: Wonho Frank Lee]
2 Arroyo Chop House
This longtime Pasadena chop house isn’t going to go beyond the basics: quality prime steaks, solid sides, and stiff martinis. But that’s exactly what the regulars want. The shareable porterhouse is a prime-grade monster that could probably three or four, but runs a mere $89. Though you won’t get steaks with a long age statement or dry-aging, it’s very reasonable for what you get, making this one of the best value steakhouses in town. —Matthew Kang [Photo: Yelp]
3 Baltaire
This sprawling Brentwood steakhouse next door to sister restaurant Coral Tree Café features an L-shaped bar and chic patio with retractable roof. Executive chef Travis Strickland presides over the grill, which starts with petite Prime filet and quickly escalates to dry-aged Porterhouse and dry-aged cote de boeuf, both designed for two people. Bolster your steak with a classic French sauce like Bearnaise and au poivre or dive into the deep end of indulgence with King crab Oscar, foie gras, or blue cheese fondue. [Photo: Elizabeth Daniels]
4 Bourbon Steak
Michael Mina’s steakhouse at The Americana at Brand features a marble countered café up front, dining room with sumptuous tan booths and drum-shaped lanterns, and live piano music. Considering each meal comes with complimentary duck fat fries and a trio of dipping sauces, expectations start high. Executive chef Kyle Johnson helms a hickory wood grill, which sears American Holstein and Angus varieties. Wagyu is available from America, Australia and Japan’s Kagoshima Prefecture, if you’re willing to go there. The latter will run you $32 per ounce, so beware. Bourbon Steak keeps sauces simple, with classics like green peppercorn and Bearnaise, but go big on accompaniments like herb-roasted bone marrow and blue cheese crust. Is that a Japanese whisky cart that just passed by? Yes it is, so order up a dram. [Photo: Yelp]
5 Carlitos Gardel Restaurant
The mid-city establishment features Argentinian-grilled USDA prime steaks at prices that are generally more reasonable than a classic American-style steakhouse. Opt for the parrillada for two, which comes with skirt steak, short ribs, sausages, and sweetbreads for a sampling of all the grilled glory here. And don’t forget the chimichurri. —Matthew Kang [Photo: Yelp]
6 Chi Spacca
Meat maestro Chad Colby has moved on from Mozza’s culinary compound, but Joe Bastianich, Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton replaced him with longtime B&B Hospitality Group veteran Zach Allen, who continues to produce charcuterie in-house while handling the showcase wood grill. Chi SPACCA remains a destination for the Bistecca Fiorentina, a 50-ounce beast that looks like a giant’s doorstop, but is actually Prime dry-aged Porterhouse. If you’re feeling skittish, costata alla Fiorentina, a Prime dry-aged, bone-in New York steak, registers only 36 ounces. No wonder the restaurant’s logo is a cleaver. [Photo: Facebook]
7 CUT by Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck has had his finger on the pulse of L.A. luxury for more than three decades, and CUT is his minimalist masterpiece. His original steakhouse, located in back of the Beverly Wilshire hotel, features an upraised exhibition kitchen, wood tables, and art lined white walls, but no tablecloths. Prime beef is pretty much ground zero at CUT, where American Wagyu from Snake River Farms and “true Japanese 100% Wagyu beef from Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu” are also available. You can even get a tasting of New York sirloin. No matter the source or cut, meat’s grilled over hard charcoal, finished in a 1200-degree broiler for sear’s sake, and rested so juices don’t bleed. This meat needs no embellishment, though you can score sauces like Armagnac & whole grain mustard, or additions like wild field mushrooms or a fried organic egg. [Photo: Joshua Lurie]
8 Dal Rae Restaurant
Brothers Kevin and Lorin Smith now own this Pico Rivera institution, which their father and uncle founded in 1958 and named for racehorse Sir Dal Rae. The restaurant houses big black leather booths, umbrella shaped lanterns and walls both wood and mirrored. Still, Dal Rae is more than just a time capsule piece. Appetizers and desserts were full size, but the entrée was half size. Beef remains in high demand at Dal Rae, particularly the pepper steak. Whether it’s filet mignon or Prime New York, both cuts are lavished with spicy pepper sauce. There’s also a “poor man’s” pepper steak starring ground sirloin, if you’re on a budget. [Photo:Joshua Lurie]
9 Fogo De Chao
This Brazilian-born chain now has L.A. branches in Beverly Hills and Downtown, both celebrating the gauchos who grilled meat over campfires. They have a massive buffet, but the real action takes place tableside, where “gauchos” shave 10 different spit-roasted meats from skewers. Top picks include picanha, Prime sirloin with a sizeable fat cap that’s seasoned with sea salt and garlic. Alcatra is top sirloin, fraldinha is bottom sirloin, and ancho is Prime rib-eye. Set your placemat to green to keep the meat coming, or flip it to red to put on the brakes. [Photo: Yelp]
10 Jar Restaurant
Chef Suzanne Tracht’s enduring mid-century modern steakhouse along Beverly Blvd still serves some of the best steaks in town. The swanky room is an ideal place to start with a cocktail then move onto the meats, which range from tender prime ribeye to a hulking porterhouse for two. Or get Jar’s signature pot roast, if you want something more comforting. —Matthew Kang [Photo: Yelp]
11 L’Assiette Steak Frites
Jacques Fiorentino maintains a single-minded focus at his small Melrose restaurant with a red awning, wood panel walls, and long zinc bar. Steak frites are the specialty. Nebraska-raised culotte gets cooked sous vide then finished on the grill, for the sear’s sake, before getting slathered with an herbaceous French butter sauce. Each meal comes with creamy sorrel soup and Kennebec potatoes fried in beef tallow. Better yet, they serve your meal in two halves, so the steak and frites stay hot throughout. [Photo: Yelp]
12 Mastro’s Ocean Club
This seaside meat shop has one of the best views in town, period, with unfettered vistas of the Pacific Ocean. And as with their main Beverly Hills location, the steaks are pretty terrific, especially the bone-in ribeyes and New York strip steaks. The lobster mashed potatoes are a must order, as well as the epic buttercake for dessert. The steaks are wet-aged, so they won’t have that deep funk that dry-aged specialists carry, but the tenderness wins out in the end. —Matthew Kang [Photo: Mastros]
13 Pacific Dining Car
Pacific Dining Car dates to 1921, when Fred Cook and wife Grace opened the restaurant on a downtown lot in honor of the bygone Red Car. The original restaurant resembled an actual dining car, but moved across what is now the 110 freeway to create more room. The 24/7 spot now features Prime, corn-fed beef that’s dry-aged and butchered on site. Two of their cuts are somewhat uncommon. Baseball steak is a thick top sirloin that deals nothing but strikes. Cowboy steak is a bone-in rib steak. Complimentary sauces include French truffle butter, cracked black peppercorn and Bordelaise. [Photo: Matthew Kang]
14 Pistola
Chef Vic Casanova and partner Seth Glassman took over the former A.O.C. space in 2014 and they’ve pivoted the restaurant into an Italian-American destination. Yes, you can get pasta and composed plates, but a lot of people come for Pistola’s steaks, which are all Prime. Their tomahawk, bone-in rib-eye, which Casanova noted has a “fabulous, sexy, 10-inch bone,” is grilled with compound butter and herbs, finished with sea salt and herbs, and if you like your steak spicy, served with a side of Calabrian chile butter. [Photo: Elizabeth Daniels]
15 Steak & Whisky
The latest South Bay restaurant from Jed Sanford, chef Tin Vuong and their Blackhouse Hospitality resides near the Hermosa Beach Pier and features brick walls, star tile floors, wood rafters with skylights, and a tiny marble bar backed by whisky shelves. 30-day, dry-aged steaks are cooked in high heat with a broiler, including a 20-ounce Kansas City Strip with a winning sear that comes topped with rosemary, roasted tomato and plenty of sea salt. Multi-person cuts include a Tomahawk rib-eye and Porterhouse, both of which make for culinary workouts. [Photo: Wonho Frank Lee]
16 STK Los Angeles
This newly minted steakhouse in Westwood is as much of a party as it is a meat palace, which is great for people on dates or looking to have a fun night out with friends. The steaks themselves are expertly grilled and presented with creative sides (and appetizers) from chef Robert Liberato. Most opt for the tender petit filet, but the New York strip steak, aged for 21 days, might be the finest pick on the menu. —Matthew Kang [Photo: Wonho Frank Lee]
17 Taylor’s Prime Steak House
Bruce Taylor carries on the original vision of parents “Tex” and Margie Taylor. The family started in 1953 and has been anchored to the same Koreatown location since 1970. People slide into black and red booths and disappear into times past with help from Martinis and high-value steaks. Chef Fernando Mendez prepares dry-aged, Prime beef in a 700-degree gas broiler, including the culotte, a three-inch-thick, center-cut top sirloin. Prime sirloin pepper steak is another popular choice if you’re looking for less heft and a different flavor profile. [Photo: Yelp]
18 The Arthur J
This Mid-Century Modern steakhouse from Manhattan Beach restaurant mavens Mike Simms, Chris Simms, chef David LeFevre and front of house partner Jerry Garbus relies on a white oak grill to deliver delectable steaks to the South Bay. Meaty options fall into two primary categories — USDA Prime Beef and Certified Angus Beef — though you can also score deluxe Japanese Wagyu beef rib-eye cap for $36 per ounce. Kansas City strip, 22 ounces, dry-aged for 28 days and served on the bone, is especially satisfying. Yes, ballers can top their steaks with seared Hudson Valley foie gras. They also make serious sauces and butters in-house, including black truffle butter, foie maple butter, and Arthur J Steak sauce. [Photo: Stan Lee]
19 The Grill on the Alley
Chef Israel “Izzy” Camacho started on the opening crew in 1984 and now runs the entire kitchen. This restaurant in Beverly Hills’ Golden Triangle still features pristine white tablecloths, servers in similarly crisp jackets, sumptuous booths and framed caricatures. The kitchen broils plenty of steaks for Hollywood power players and civilians alike, all USDA Prime and wet-aged 28 for days. New York steak is popular, though it’s hard to resist Filet Oscar, a center cut with asparagus, jumbo lump crab and Bearnaise sauce. [Photo:Joshua Lurie]
20 The Royce: Wood-Fired Steakhouse
The marquee restaurant inside Pasadena’s historic Langham hotel features prime views of well-manicured grounds, a pair of glass-fronted wine closets and sumptuous seats. Chef de Cuisine Perry Pollaci handles an Aztec grill that feeds on white oak and prepares five primary types of beef: U.S. Prime Cuts from Pennsylvania’s Moyer Farm, California’s Brandt Beef and Arizona’s Cedar River Farm, plus Global Cuts from Greg Norman’s Australian Wagyu ranch and Wagyu from Japan. Australian Wagyu Tomahawk is the piece de resistance, a 48-ounce, bone-in beast that’s cooked with garlic and rosemary. Steaks come with sauces like chimichurri and horseradish cream. If you’re feeling flush, add seared foie, bone marrow gratin, black truffle or grilled Madagascar gambas. [Photo:Joshua Lurie]
21 Wolfgang’s Steakhouse
Wolfgang Zwiener, who was the headwaiter for 43 years at Peter Luger’s in Brooklyn, teamed with son Peter on a series of steakhouses. Wolfgang’s Steakhouse landed in Beverly Hills in 2008. They now have a dozen locations throughout the U.S. and Asia. Zwiener still selects all the corn-fed beef in New York, which is dry-aged for 28 days, increasing flavor and marbling. Only the filet is un-aged. Sure, they sell other cuts, but it’s pretty much all about the Porterhouse, which is grilled at 800 degrees and served on a sizzling 300-degree platter with butter to deliver a terrific sear. From there, you won’t need much embellishment, though the tomato-based steak sauce is nice and tangy and German potatoes tossed with onions can come in handy to soak up the jus. [Photo:Yelp]