The Strict Standard Ruth's Chris Steaks Have To Meet

Many people are happy to pay premium prices to dine at acclaimed, well-known steakhouses like Ruth's Chris Steak House. There are good reasons for this, and they extend beyond the impeccable cooking results and mouthwatering sides. Ruth's Chris steaks must meet a stringent standard of quality, which includes how cattle are raised and the meat's qualified grade.

Ruth's Chris explains these standards on its website. First, the restaurant only serves prime beef or what it describes as "high cuts of choice." These descriptors come from the USDA grading scale familiar to most beef buyers, with prime serving as the highest ranking. According to the USDA, prime is most often found at high-end establishments like steakhouses and is known for its superior fat marbling. Choice, on the other hand, has less marbling and is the type of beef most commonly found in grocery stores. By selecting only prime and the best choice cuts, Ruth's Chris customers receive a product as good or better as any beef on the market.

The chain is also exacting in its standards for how its beef cattle are raised and fed. To create mouthwatering taste and texture, cattle feed on grass first and are finished on corn. This is generally considered the best way to fatten up the cattle and develop a rich, full flavor with improved marbling.

There isn't much detail about where Ruth's Chris gets its meat from, although there's some evidence the company's suppliers have changed over time as the restaurant and market evolved. The website states steaks come from Midwestern cattle, likely from multiple farms. Ruth's Chris also notes its suppliers must comply with rigorously high testing standards the USDA sets to ensure quality product. This kind of attention to every part of the process is among the ways high-end steakhouses avoid getting caught up in the biggest meat recalls in U.S. history.

Marbling is a major distinguishing factor between premium and ultra-premium beef, meaning it should be one of the top ways to choose the perfect cut at Ruth's Chris. If you're looking for the most marbling, the 16-ounce ribeye stands out, according to Ruth's Chris executive chef Abdiel Alemana. On the other hand, those who want to optimize for buttery, corn-finished flavor should consider New York strip or bone-in cowboy ribeye.

There are a lot of things that set Ruth's Chris Steak House apart from other places to enjoy a good steak. Still, sourcing and quality are among the most fundamental, helping propel the chain into the upper echelon of steak meals before your beef even reaches the broiler.