Steakhouses That Never Use Frozen Steak

Food trends may come and go, but steakhouses will never go out of style. Whether sizzling with rustic charm or unapologetically upscale, steakhouses offer a broad appeal. There are tens of thousands of steakhouses in the United States, and if you want to dig into your favorite cut in a restaurant setting, we're going to guess that you'd prefer the meat to be fresh, not frozen.

The good news is that steak lovers don't have to splurge on an expensive restaurant to indulge in quality steak — plenty of casual sit-down chains take beef quality seriously and don't keep the steaks in the freezer. The other good news is that many steakhouses in the fine dining realm have uncompromising views on how the steaks are aged and cooked, so if you do want to drop some extra cash at a high-end spot, never-frozen steak is the general expectation.

In the mood to make it a steakhouse night but not sure where to turn? To help you on your way, we've investigated how some of the most popular steakhouses in the country approach preparing steak. And if that process happens to involve thawing, those restaurants didn't make the, uh ... cut. Take a look at our list of steakhouses that never use frozen steak.

Peter Luger Steak House was established in Williamsburg Brooklyn, in 1887 and is a landmark of New York City — albeit a polarizing one. Here, you can only pay by cash, check, debit card, or Peter Luger Card (no credit), the beer hall decor has never changed, and new menu items drop once every few decades. Some call the steakhouse iconic, others might accuse it of being just another Big Apple tourist trap, but no one, and we mean no one, can accuse Peter Luger of freezing its steak.

On-site steak aging is another of Peter Luger Steak House's well-worn traditions. The refrigerated dry-age room in the Brooklyn location's basement is a maze of fresh USDA Prime beef that undergoes a month-long aging process before being expertly trimmed. Up in the kitchen, the steaks are salted and cooked in broilers that reach over 800 degrees. They are traditionally cooked medium rare, sliced, and served sizzling atop a puddle of clarified butter. 

Despite the craft that goes into the restaurant's steak, not everyone thinks it's worth it. In 2019, an infamous zero-star review in The New York Times blew the doors off of Peter Luger's elite reputation, with food critic Pete Wells musing, "You start to wonder who really needs to go to Peter Luger, and start to think the answer is nobody." Strong words indeed, but Peter Luger stands by the way it does steak, and time is on its side.

A steakhouse that has its own master butchers and climate-controlled butcher shop has an uncommon dedication to fresh steak. Then again, Steak 48 isn't your average steakhouse chain. Steak 48 may be named after the 48th state of Arizona but its flagship restaurant debuted in Houston, Texas in 2016. Within a few years, it has steadily expanded to six locations throughout the U.S. because people love fresh steak and are willing to pay for it.

Steak 48 is a recent venture of brothers Jeffrey and Michael Mastro, who first got a taste of the business through their father Dennis Mastro, a veteran restaurateur. They carried on their father's legacy by opening restaurants like Dominick's, Mastro's, and Steak 44. With this kind of résumé, you better believe that the steak at Steak 48 is never frozen — and more than that, it's exceptional. Wagyu beef tartare with deviled egg mousse is on the appetizer list and a slew of prime steaks and chops fill the steak menu, all of which are responsibly farmed, wet-aged for 28 days (or dry-aged for 45 days), and butchered in-house. Is it the grass-fed NY strip steak you desire, or a bone-in filet mignon? Whatever steak you choose will be fresh, USDA Prime beef prepared with care.

Sure, the piles of shell-on peanuts served at Texas Roadhouse feel like a gimmick, but picking your favorite cut from the showcase near the entrance is not. All Texas Roadhouse locations employ an in-house butcher to hand-cut the restaurant's steak inside 34-degree coolers. Frozen steak is never used in any of Texas Roadhouse locations and each facility cuts more than $1 million worth of meat each year.

Texas Roadhouse first opened in 1993 in Clarksville, Indiana but has never strayed from its Texan cowboy theme (the servers are known to break into a line dance). The chain is a mega-hit, with 661 locations in the U.S. and 10 other countries. Using USDA Choice beef allows Texas Roadhouse to sell its steaks at lower prices than the competition. The atmosphere and menu keep it casual — each steak comes with sides included, unlike fine-dining steakhouses where an a la carte menu is the standard. The modesty works. In 2021, Texas Roadhouse smashed the competition in annual U.S. sales, topping the list at $3.72 billion.

It may be a relatively new kid on the restaurant chain block (at least in the U.S.), but the Brazilian-themed, all-you-can-eat steakhouse Fogo de Chão is gaining ground in America and fresh steak is on the menu in abundance. The eatery was one of the first to introduce Americans to the art of churrasco, which involves skewering large cuts of steak and grilling them over an open flame. Fogo de Chão's steaks are hand-cut and cooked by fire in front of guests before being carved tableside. Freezing the steaks beforehand is definitely not part of the deal.

Fogo de Chão's roots lie in the south of Brazil, where the Coser brothers bought the business and set out to perfect the churrascaria experience and take it beyond their native land. That was back in 1979, and by 1997, Fogo de Chão had opened its first stateside restaurant in Dallas, Texas. The goal of the restaurant was to add a fine dining flair to the traditionally no-frills serving style of traditional Brazilian churrascarias. Americans have caught on. In the U.S., Fogo de Chão has expanded to around 60 locations and proudly uses 100% U.S. beef aged in in-house meat lockers before it heads to the dining room to kiss the flame, so freshness is always guaranteed.

If you want to wear fancy clothes and eat in a multi-floored setting reminiscent of the dining room from "Titanic", Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse is calling your name. Seafood gets due recognition on the menu, but if you're in it for the steak, trust that whichever one you choose has never seen the inside of a freezer. Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse uses aged, corn-fed USDA Prime beef that is hand-cut after you place your order. The restaurant also offers more steak varieties than most.

Dry-age enthusiasts will be pleased knowing Del Frisco's Double Eagle commits to a 45-day aging process for its dry-aged Prime strip and Prime ribeye cuts. The steakhouse isn't shy about touting the taste of luxury either. Menus vary slightly by location, but there is always a section dedicated to Wagyu beef sourced from Japanese cattle breeds that are genetically blessed (or cursed depending on how you look at it) with an exquisitely marbled meat-to-fat ratio and are regarded as an international delicacy. At Del Frisco's Double Eagle in Manhattan, Kobe beef is also offered. This is an ultra-exclusive form of Wagyu that hails directly from Kobe, a scenic region of central Japan where the mountains meet the sea. A three-ounce portion of Kobe at Del Frisco's Double Eagle will set you back $120, compared to $93 for standard Wagyu of the same size — but it will be fresh. Putting Wagyu beef in the freezer is surely a crime against food.

You hear a lot about steakhouses having butchers on staff and dry-age rooms on site, but these details are largely kept at a distance from diners — unless you're at Alpine Steakhouse. It may not be a chain operation, but the one-of-a-kind steakhouse out of Sarasota, Florida keeps things fresh by combining its restaurant with a butcher shop and specialty grocery store. Since 1975, the family-run facility has brought freshness to the table in a near-unrivaled fashion. Alpine Steakhouse's website states that "virtually nothing comes out of a box or shrink-wrapped." Never-frozen USDA Prime and dry-aged steaks are here for the taking, alongside other fresh-made, unique meat products (Guy Fieri stopped in to sample Alpine's turducken on an episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives").

All of the traditional cuts are accounted for at Alpine's Butcher Shop, even Wagyu. It's tough to argue with Alpine's dedication to butchery and the unique take on the steakhouse experience. For the majority of the last decade, Sarasota Magazine has crowned Alpine Steakhouse as the best restaurant to get steak in the city, and we're convinced.