Has anyone tried Charlie Palmer in DC or NY? I'm heading there for restaurant week.

I've been to Wolfgang's NYC on 2 occasions and the second time was even better than the first -- great porterhouse and excellent apps & sides.

Here are a few of my most memorable steaks....

The Latin King - Des Moines, IA
Vito's Chop House - Orlando, FL
Metropolitan Grill - Seattle, WA

For you meat cravers, check out Sal & Carvao in the Chicago area (Schaumburg and Downers Grove). They have the best rump roast around.

Ruths' Chris in NYC... I rarely will order steak, but their filet was amazing... ^

A New Yorker putting down the Holy places of beef?
Seriously, thoses places are " the old school" of steak houses. I tend to agree with you. I have been going to Gallaghers for many years and get treated very good, but they know me.
I like Sparks in NYC and of course another, The Old Homestead Steak House.

I've tasted some great steaks fom New York to San Francisco (both chains and small holes in the wall) but have to say, the best one's are at my own kitchen table! We live in the middle of Kansas and can get consistently excellent grain fed beef from our local butcher shop. ^ Cut exactly the way you like it, and then seasoned the same way, I must say we are spoiled! We fire up the ol grill at least 2 or 3 times a week (52 weeks out of the year) and we're doing beef at least once and most times twice a week. Saute a few mushrooms and grill a few onions, a little cabernet.............Excuse me while I sign off. I've just convinced myself tonight would be a good night so I'm going to go season a couple of big ol ribeyes!!!

Pete's Steak house in Redding, CA is a hidden gem.

I have to say the best prime rib I have ever tasted was at, uh, The Prime Rib at the Radisson Warwick Hotel in PHL. Huge slab of meat, aged perfectly and cooked just right. There are three Prime Rib's, PHL, Baltimore, and DC -- have not tried the other ones, but I salivate at the thought of it!!

The best steak value I ever had was in Omaha. I can't remember the name of the place, which is too bad, because it was a super steak at a ridiculous price -- something like $14.95. Wasn't the best I've ever had, but it was terrific.

I hear you, Road King. The only time I really bother with eating steak at a restaurant anymore is when I'm in the mood for one of the absolute best places, and I'm not paying. We get a really high quality of meat down here, and I'm content to do it myself at home -- all for $4.59 a pound (since I buy the whole, untrimmed top loin). Every once in a while, maybe a couple times a year, though, I need to go out to the original Morton's or somewhere else I like a lot just to be reminded of the best quality of beautifully aged meat. That's the one thing I can't replicate at home -- getting that superbly aged meat with the special tang to it. Love it. But I'm with you all the way ... home it is! Though I'll take a Pinot over the Cab

That's a really good place in Austin. We go there a few times a year, and it's been very consistent. Not the absolute peak of quality, but it's very good indeed. You can add a little extra tenderness by getting the cowboy steak, as they call a bone-in rib steak here in Texas. They've got great service, too. Wonderful atmosphere. Kicks the pants off Texas Land and Cattle Co., if you ask me.

From my Palm experiences, which I've never liked, I think they've got the same quality control problems with the meat, too. It's inevitable, honestly. Cows differ so much from animal to animal, you can have two people at the same table getting a steak and one be sublime while the other's just really good. They probably got meat off two different cows. I agree, however, that at the highest level, you've got to be able to minimize that sort of variation. And I've found it is pretty consistent -- you're going to get a really damn good steak when you go into a USDA Prime steakhouse. The crap shoot is if it's going to be sublime or not -- I've there are certain times when a place is just on its game more than other times. There are a lot of variables, I suppose. The meat that particular day, as well as the aging.

I drool anytime I read this thread. Good thing I'm having steak tonight. Good steak, good conversation ... gotta love the FT.

Initially it was our concern over mad cow disease (and love of beef) that started my wife and I ordering steaks and other beef from a few selected places on the internet. However, we found that the quality was so much better we would had done it for that alone had we known. We order from several places. One is Niman ranch. I believe we have also ordered from the wagu place mentioned above in Austin. One thing we have noticed is that in general, we really prefer grass fed beef to grain fed and find the standard grain fed midwestern beef to really not be as good as either Niman or several grass fed places. We get grass fed from a couple places in the US (one nearby in VT or CT, forgot which) as well as Australia. Ive read that the Aussie beef is as close as you can get to Argentine beef in the US (until they lift the import ban). I find the Aussie beef much more flavorful than corn fed beef. The Niman "cowboy steaks" are a real favorite on the grill as well. All said and done though, I just havent found any that top the steak for two at Peter Lugar.

My vote is for Delmonico's in Las Vegas
Second goes to Smith and Wollensky's in Columbus followed third by the Golden Ox in Kansas City.

Grass fed beef just has never done it for me. It does have a more intense beef flavor, but it's a more likely style to be tough. Grain fed develops fat more, and you get better marbling. I'm trying to find out, but is it even possible to get prime grade, grass fed beef?

It's just not my thing because, for the most part, I've found grass fed beef to be tougher.

Of course, that being said, grass fed beef is obviously more healthful -- it's got Omega-3 oils, even -- and better for the environment. I guess I'll just have to sit down and make a side-by-side comparison of the two, but I'd be willing to wager that, for hardcore tenderness -- the kind where you don't need a knife to cut it -- you've got to go with grain fed beef. I'm going to keep an open mind, though.