One of the best steaks I've ever had was at The Benjamin in New York City.

I wanted to go to the almighty Peter Luger's but I found it to be such a hassle that you could only book a table by phone at special hours and only pay with cash. I've been to some very swanky Michelin * restaurants but this kind of ruleset makes Peter Lugers far more pretentious than any of those.

Embers in Brooklyn
 

Just had dinner at Embers in Brooklyn, NY
Location is 9519 3rd Avenue.

Filet stuffed with spinach, gargonzola, and bacon.
OMG....fantastic

Hands down less expensive than Peter Lugar's by a mile.

After dinner drinks with the owner, his wife, a NYPD Sargent, and others.
They shared cigars and Grand Marnier... ^

Prime
 

If there is anything in the whole world better than a New York Strip from Lobels on Madison Avenue in New York I have yet to find it. I may go to the poor house buying it but it is the best beef I have ever had and I have spend a lot of time eating steak at home and in restuarants. And to top it off everyone who works there is lovely and they have a branch at Yankee Stadium with awesome steak sandwiches.

wagyu has an odd taste
 

I love a good steak but wagyu, Japanese beef, is so oily it has a very distinct taste all its own and one I personally find disturbing for beef. Also, once cold, you simply cannot make a good sandwich out of kobe or other japanese marbled beef. The oil solidifies and tastes yucky. Japanese beef was cultivated for people who couldn't afford beef once a day and could only enjoy it occasionally on special occasions, so they nurtured a variety that is flavored by fats.

I like a good American chateaubriand.

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Not to go too far off topic but the pork chops from Lobels are good enough to bring tears to my eyes.

Best Beef in the world
 

Has anyone tasted beef from Namibia? I think Namibian beef ranks among the best in the world,second to Argentina.

This is certainly not as exotic as many of the other answers in this thread, but the best steak I ever had was at Gibson's in Chicago. It was a perfect New York strip that needed no marinade, sauce, sides or anything. Just bite after bite of perfection.

I discovered beef from Dexter cows this year. Dexter cows are mini cows, and we have a producer at the Edinburgh farmers market. The beef is fantastic - one of the best I've been able to buy myself. Proper good Scotch beef.

Used to be a "Beef-A-Holic" back when I ate red meat.
Never tried Kobe. Argentinian? Did not find it special.

It's been 10 or more years, but I thought that Chicago had the best beef. Consistently, restaurant to restaurant. You name a decent restaurant in Chicago, I thought their steak was great. Time after time. Gene and Georgetti's was one of my favorite haunts for a great steak.

These days, I have lost my taste for it. Ordered a steak about a year ago after a 9 year hiatus. Could not eat it. Shame. I guess my arteries are thanking me somehow. ;)

Namibian, Zimbabwean and South African. All awesome...

Hard to beat a side of beef grilling on a South African Brai as the sun sets over the bush.

I have eaten beef all over the UK, Argentina, Sao Paulo and all over the USA. In my opinion, nothing ranks with American beef/steak and particularly in the Midwest in the Kansas City area. Must be the corn they feed the cows.

I do confess the steak in Seattle and the Metropolitan Grill was outstanding. But Plaza III in Kansas City was even better.

I've had a lot of South American beef and I really have to say I think that it is some of the most overrated beef in the world. I really wanted to love Argentinian beef, but I just can't. It's not that good, IMHO.

I agree.

You are not alone. Almost everyone I know agrees with you. If the fat taste and tender texture is what you like in beef, corn fed, feedlot fattened beef is for you. If it is the beef (blood) taste you like, grass fed (never cooked beyond medium rare) is far superior. I cut every bit of visible fat off all my beef anyway, and I've got good teeth for chewing the less than melt-in-your-mouth grass fed So. American beef. I happen to prefer Brazilian to Argentine, but either is vastly more tasty to me than feedlot beef.