^ Same here.....I'll finish the butchering at the table :D

I've always liked Medium-rare. I want my cow soft and pink but not still moving.

It makes me cry when someone want their steak so well done that no hint of juice is present.A crime against a good cook.I understand why Bourdian tells us about throwing the steks in the fryolater!
Medium Rare(very juicy,pinky red,but cooked through)otherwise I will order Carpaccio!

UGH, this is where my boyfriend and I differ at the restaurant. I cannot stand a piece of medium or rarer meat on my tongue! The consistency almost makes me sick. Meat flavor becomes stronger and better (IMHO) as it cooks.

If done properly, well done meat is not dry, it is not hard, it is soooooooo good! I tell the waiter at Morton's to butterfly and get all the pink out of my filet mignon. Then it melts in your mouth...no butter, no sauces, no salt or pepper. Just the wonderful flavor of beef.

I am a big fan of red meat. Ostrich, Bison, Lamb, Beef, even African Impala. All taste so much better if cooked!

The lions have to eat it raw because they can't make fire! :)

While there are cuts of meat that enjoy-in fact are enhanced by long slow cooking,the cuts of meat destined for steaks and good roast are not those IMO.
I love brisket,short ribs,pot roast,and the various beef stews of the world.But I would never subject good,expensive, beef-such as the steaks at Mortons or other fine restaurants-to over cooking.That is why steakhouses usually have a non steak option on the menu.
I grew up in a household where beef,even fillets,were ruined by over cooking.Now I love the look on my mothers face when I order a steak or prime rib roast medium rare!

There are plenty of great steaks out there for a lot less than $40. Yes, I like Shula's, Ruth's Chris, and Morton's...but there is another side. For a big chain, Texas Roadhouse is actually quite good.

I also tend to find the opposite is true in California. I used to order medium-rare, expecting the centers to be between cool and luke-warm, but still deep pink or lighter red. But lately, it's been warm to hot center that is an ash or pale pink...this is what medium is supposed to look like! I worked at a place that prided themselves on their steaks and seafood in the midwest, so I was a little surprised when I came out to California and had to change the way I order steaks. Now I order all my steaks "rare to medium-rare. I like my steaks to be cool to luke-warm in the center."

That's what I usually say and it seems to work-out most of the time. I'd rather they err on the side of rareness than mediumness. Truth be told, raw beef suits me fine.

My one visit to Bern's Steahouse in Tampa was truly an epiphany in terms of how fine a line you can "have it your way." Warm rare for my 8 oz fillet was truly heaven: crispy charred on the outside, bloody and just palpably warm inside. Slurp! If a steakhouse claims right on the menu they can cook it that way, I'll take 'em up on the offer. Otherwise I'll just order a NY Strip or Porterhouse medium-rare to keep things simple, b/c that way slightly over- or under-done isn't going to make me send it back.

Mm-ooo!

Meat temps that go along with rare, medium-rare, etc, are set and haven't really changed. It causes a problem for waitstaff at good restaurants when they are asked, "What is your medium rare?" They will answer, it is medium rare. If you're finding that your medium-rare is more rare than it used to be, then either your tastes are changing, the places you usually go to overcook the meat or the place you are going is undercooking their meat.

The question really is akin to, "Are there still 60 minutes in an hour?". Some clocks might be too fast. Some might be too slow. An hour is an hour though.

I, too, wish any error would be made toward the side of rareness but it sure hasn't worked that way over the past year or more. Frequently my steak arrives medium-ish, even though I ordered rare to medium-rare. Lately I've even tried ordering rare, but it arrives warm in the center more often than not. :(

Mmmmm... raw beef. I want my steak so rare that a shot of penicillin will revive it.

Maybe in theory meat temps haven't changed, and obviously in your experience they haven't changed, but for many of us there is something going on. I have always preferred my steaks very rare. My taste in that has not varied... ever. Yet I am finding it harder and harder to actually receive a piece of meat prepared the way I like it.

Yes, I believe that was the point of the thread. ;) Some (like me) have reported encountering restaurants that are over-cooking steaks. And according to the OP some restaurants are under-cooking them. (I can only dream of finding one of those places.)
If the number of posts here are in anyway significant, it seems to be a common occurance. So do you have any helpful suggestions? You say that quizzing the wait staff is not appropriate, so what else should we do to insure we receive our steak exactly like we want it?

Return the steak if it is not how you want it. The metric system hasn't changed since its inception and the idea of how hot a steak should be on the inside in order to be classified as R, MR, etc, hasn't changed. If it's not as you want, send it back, but be sure that you know what each temp should be. The overcooked part of dining can often be explained by restaurants that keep food heated on the line until the server picks it up. If they don't get it right away, the meat can easily be cooked up a grade or two. If you're finding that one place is over/undercooking commonly, then mention it to the manager. Another alternative, would be to request that they use a meat thermometer to make sure of the temp on the inside. In any case, the difference between R/MR and M is quite a bit and a cook/chef will definitely know once the meat is sliced open. If you want more info, I'd suggest heading to a bookstore and reading through the meat section of something like Professional Cooking. Hope this helps.

Actually, as noted in another post, I went to Mortons this past weekend. Ordered the usual done rare-medium rare with empasis on the coolish center. They came back with a medium. It was ash/pale pink in the center and it was hot. I sent it back for another...hey, if I'm plopping down $50 for a piece of meat a la carte, then it better be perfect! Anyway, they always seem to get it just right the second time around...which makes me wonder why they can't do it the first time???

I wonder that as well.