Steak dinners. What’s so special about them?

22 comments

1. All depends on the steak dinner. In general though, a lot of people here really like steak, but it’s not something they eat all the time. So it’s something you’re willing to spend more on than a normal meal out to get the best steak possible and really enjoy it.

   As far as the cost range, it varies from one of the most expensive fine dining experiences that is widespread here, to the cost and quality of a fast food meal.

   Edit to add: my mouth is literally watering right now as I’m thinking back over a few really special steaks I’ve had before.

2. It used to be relatively expensive and the only kind of “nice” food available in most areas and thus the phrase was born.

   These days steak is available at an extremely wide range of prices, but a nice steak dinner can still be quite expensive and luxurious (as can any other fine dining).

3. If you’re going to a really good steak dinner then you’ll be spending hundreds of dollars for a few people to eat out. You can get a steak for cheaper at a chain restaurant, or you can get a normal steak for like $12/pound at the store (or $25+/per pound for some of the good stuff), but when someone says they’re going out for a steak dinner, they mean that they’re going to a restaurant where it’s going to be expensive and usually it’s to celebrate something or it’s for a big date night

4. A good steak is expensive, and a steak cooked by a known chef is very, very good. So, going to a nice steakhouse is a treat.

5. > Is steak really that expensive?

   Sometimes yes, sometimes no. You can get really cheap steak, or absurdly expensive steak.

   > Is it considered ‘fancy’?

   Sometimes. Again, it can be very fancy, or it can be very basic. It’s “fancier” on average than, say, chicken, but that doesn’t mean much in the abstract.

   > Is steak only served in higher calibre restaurants?

   No. You can get a $9 steak at Applebees if you want. Or, you can go a fancy place that specializes in steak and get a really expensive one.

   Basically, when you say you’re going out for a “steak dinner,” it probably means that you’re going to a steakhouse, which is a restaurant that specializes in steak. And it probably means that you’re treating it as a “fancy” and expensive dinner, at least in comparison to your usual restaurant choice. But again, there’s huge variance within that.

6. Honestly it’s been a big mystery to me too. I’m supposed to be impressed by some Chef taken 3 minutes of their time to make me a meal…. no.

   However I think the term comes from the olden days when meat was very very expensive. So a steak dinner was considered a splurge, a special event only because of the cost of the meat.

7. Oh man, there’s a lot to unpack here.

   The first thing to note is that Americans eat a lot more beef per capita than almost any other country (Argentina and Brazil are close). The culinary tradition in most of the world centers a lot more around pork or lamb, to the point where a high-quality steak dinner in our preferred style doesn’t really exist elsewhere.

   A good steak is definitely something we associate with luxury. There are plenty of shitty steak options: thin-cut, low-grade steaks from the grocery store, low-end steakhouses like Saltgrass or Texas Roadhouse, or even nice restaurants that don’t specialize in steak but have one on the menu. Put all of those out of your mind; we’re talking about the good stuff.

   A really good steak will cost around $18-25 in the grocery store, or about $60 in a steakhouse (steaks are *a la carte* at the good places). That’s about a pound (453 g) of meat before it’s cooked. This is a huge portion of meat for most people, which is kind of the point. When cooking steaks at home, it’s common for children and adults with smaller appetites to share, but for most Americans a steak is a bit of an exercise in gluttony.

8. A steak taco from a food truck isn’t expensive. Steak night at the local bar is going to be more expensive than the typical meal there, but not extraordinarily so. A USDA Prime filet mignon served in a fancy downtown restaurant is going to cost the most.

   It usually means going to a steakhouse. We have fine dining restaurants that aren’t steakhouses and we’d just use the term fine dining or the specific restaurant’s name.

9. If you heard that line in a movie or TV show, it’s a trope. It means “I’m taking you out for a nice dinner.”

10. A good steak ain’t cheap. And good steak is really the only way to go.

    Steak regularly is also terrible for your health, so it makes sense to see it as something you indulge in.

11. There are pricey steak houses (restaurants that specialize in steak and have things like dry aged, etc) but you can get a pretty good steak for 10 bucks a pound.

    Where do you hear the term “steak dinner”. I think maybe you are referring to old-timey movies?

    It’s not a term I hear often.

    It would just be like Hey, let’s go out for taco, or lets go out for burgers, or lets go get fried clams.

    I wouldn’t think “oh, posh!”

12. People say that because they aren’t going for Thai, or seafood, or fast food. It’s just to clarify.

13. It mostly just implies an upscale steakhouse.

    Steak ranges dramatically in price but you wouldn’t tell someone you’re taking them out for a nice steak dinner then take them to Applebee’s for a $15.99 steak. My wife and I met her brother and his wife out at a nice steakhouse after Christmas shopping Friday night. The [prices ranged from about $60 to $280](https://www.blackstonesteakhouse.com/dinner-menu/#steaks-chops-kobe-beef) for their steak.

14. Good steakhouses are usually on the higher-end of restaurant quality. Sometimes you just wanna go out for a nice dinner, ya know?

15. The price of a steak directly correlates to the quality of the cut. A rib eye is going to be more expensive than the tongue, for example. So when we say ‘steak dinner’ we are referring to a quality cut, because celebrating with a poor cut of meat isn’t really celebrating

16. Steak isn’t necessarily expensive, you can certainly get affordable cuts of steak in grocery stores. Well, “affordable”, I don’t think most people could afford to get steak as their regular protein for daily meals, but it’s not like outrageously expensive. Like, I could get a ribeye for 20/pound at my local grocery store.

    That said, steak is viewed as a celebration/prestige meal, so there are definitely a lot of expensive restaurants out there that specialize in steak, using very expensive and high quality cuts of meat prepared by skilled chefs. There, a ribeye steak could run you 60 or 70 bucks, or more. But it would also taste much better than whatever is for sale at the store.

17. At this point, it’s largely a colloquial term, although often a nice dinner out is getting a good steak from a restaurant. Nowadays, we have a lot more options for nicer restaurants (particularly in cities), so in those cases, the steak dinner is more of a term. But there are plenty of places in the country where the restaurant options are more limited and the steak dinner is more literal.

18. The term *steak dinner* implies a degree of fanciness that goes along with that steak. You can get a steak at Applebee’s, but you wouldn’t call it a *steak dinner*.

19. If you ever have a decent steak, you’ll understand.

20. There’s only so many good steaks in one cow. When it is a well raised cow, and a properly handled steak, it is a really indulgent meat. Like winter caught King Salmon (Chinook Salmon), more fat more flavor.

21. Nicer cuts of meat are more expensive. That’s not a new concept.

    So if you go out to a fancy dinner they usually have the nicer cuts of steak and then someone trained how to cook it properly. And usually better table service.

    I can get a steak at a chain restaurant/steakhouse, but it will be pretty normal, similar to what I can make at home. Going to a higher end steakhouse, I’m paying for better quality meat (supposedly/usually)

22. Because good steak is expensive enough that an average person does not eat it frequently, it takes on a special position. I eat steak maybe 4-6 times a year. One meal every two months tops. Every single time the steak tastes so good I wish I could eat it every day. But eating it every day would down grade how special it is. That’s where I sit on it. Steak prolly isn’t that special if it becomes a daily or weekly item. But it’s kind of our go to “ you did an important thing/celebration” meal.