Best steaks in DFW: the Eats Beat podcast edition

The World Steak Championships are coming to Cowtown this weekend, and that has our mouths watering.

The Eats Beat Podcast crew — host Bud Kennedy, DFW.com editor Rick Press and the Weekend Chef Steve Wilson — sliced into the topic of where to find the best steaks in DFW recently, and they were joined by their colleague and competitive eater Denise Harris, who just so happens to be one of the judges for Saturday’s Steak Championships.

Here are some excerpts from their conversation, with a few of their picks for the best steaks in town, both in the affordable range and the price-is-no-object category. Listen to the full podcast at dfw.com

Rick: Welcome back to the Eats Beat Podcast, the Most Delicious Podcast in the Metroplex.

Normally we talk burgers, but this week we’re going to try something a little more healthy: steaks.

The World Steak Championships are coming to town, and if you’ve seen any of these competition barbecue shows, it’s sort of the same thing but for steak. More than 60 teams will be cooking rib-eyes at Billy Bob’s for Denise and her esteemed panel of judges. And they’ll be competing for the title of World Steak Champion.

But first, we want to talk about where some of our favorite steaks are in town, and more importantly, where Bud, who has eaten his share of steaks in this area, would go for steak if price was no object.

Bud: If price is no object, if my in-laws are paying, I’m going to go to Grace in downtown Fort Worth. I’m not going to have the grass-fed steak because grass-fed steak is a little more chewy than the regular corn-fed steak. But I’m going to have a Grace steak — if price is no object.

If it’s my pocket and I’m paying and I want a good steak but for not much money, I’m going to go to Old Neighborhood Grill in Park Place because they’ve got a really good grill, and they do some nice little small strips and rib-eyes for less than $20.

Rick: I’m going with your in-laws. Nothing against Old Neighborhood Grill, but I want to go to Grace.

Bud: Where would you go?

Rick: Actually my favorite steak in the last couple of years, the one I lay awake at night dreaming about, is Clay Pigeon.

Denise: Does that happen often? You have a lot of steak dreams?

Rick: Yes, quite a bit lately. Must be the World Steak Championships. Clay Pigeon is not a steakhouse, but it makes an amazing filet and if Bud’s in-laws were paying I’d go there all the time.

If price was an object or I was paying, I’d say it’s probably a tie between Hoffbrau and Lucile’s (Stateside Bistro).

Bud: Lucile’s is good. Some of the best steaks are not at steakhouses. Like the one at Cooper’s that’s done out of the grill, and there are a couple of other barbecue joints and Mexican restaurants that do great steaks.

Rick: Ooh, yes. I love Gloria’s. Denise, do you have a favorite?

Denise: Well, I always love the steaks over at Bob’s Steak and Chop House; there’s one here in the Omni hotel downtown. You can’t go wrong. Their steaks are so tender and always cooked to perfection — and it’s the only place I’ll eat carrots.

Although, Bud and I tried Texas Bleu in Keller recently and the steak there was incredibly tender, you literally could cut it with a fork.

Bud: Judging from social media, their only smash hit is the steak, but they have a lot of great cocktails. It’s a new steakhouse in Keller.

Steve: Denise, I am surprised you ate vegetables. Carrots, huh?

Denise: It’s covered in gravy.

Bud: We’re sending you to judge the next national carrot contest, Denise.

Rick: OK, now here’s the tough one. Steve Wilson, our Weekend Chef, we have to ask it this way: Other than a steak that comes off your grill, where is your favorite place to go for a steak?

Steve: I recently had a 60-day dry aged steak for my birthday over at Max’s Wine Dive, and it was really good. Stefon (Rishel), the chef there, has been getting a lot of interesting cuts of meat to try out.

Rick: Is that only going to be available for your birthday or can I try to get that?

Steve: You could try.

Rick: Um, that sounds like a no.

Bud: Was that was a 60-ounce dry-aged steak?

Steve: No, 60-day. It was his daily special.

Rick: So, when it’s not your birthday, and price is an object, where do you go, Steve? Do you have a mid-range steak you like?

Steve: I really like Saltgrass for a chain steakhouse. And Little Red Wasp — it’s the same 44 Farms steak they use at Grace, but it’s a little cheaper.

Bud: For a good deal, too, Cattlemen’s, the tried-and-true steakhouse in the Stockyards, has a steak salad at lunch that people love with the Parmesan dressing and you get the sliced tenderloin on the salad for about 15 or 16 bucks.

Denise: Del Frisco’s Grille has a really good steak salad, too.

Rick: Bud mentioned there are a lot of places that serve great steaks but aren’t steakhouses. Let’s talk about a few more pure steakhouses. One of my favorites, which is a mid-priced chain, is The Keg.

Bud: The Keg is from Canada, and their little baseball sirloin is a great little steak. Very affordable. The Keg in Arlington Highlands is still open. The one in Cityview closed.

I like just going to the Stockyards because I think Cattlemen’s has a pretty good steak, the tenderloin. I like the flavor off the grill at H3 Ranch. And I love Star Cafe, which is like the original Hoffbrau. It has a really good lemon-grilled steak.

Rick: And if the in-laws are paying, Lonesome Dove, right?

Bud: Lonesome Dove for the huge steak, or if I’m going for chicken-fried I’d go to Horseshoe Hill, but that’s a whole other segment.

Steve: I like Capital Grille.

Denise: And Pappas Bros. in Dallas. It always comes up as the No. 1 steak in the area on all the national lists.

Bud: Pappas Bros., which is out in Irving suburbanland, always ranks among some of the best restaurants.

Denise: They do have a helicopter landing pad, so when you go there with your in-laws you’ll have a place to park.

How do you like your steak prepared, Bud?

Bud: I like it medium rolled in black pepper. I went to Wild Mushroom the other night, a really good place for steak, and I had a Groupon and I felt like I came out of there with a real bargain. I had a New York strip rolled in black pepper.

Rick: Another couple of places that serve surprising steaks: Daddy Jack’s, a seafood restaurant, has a really good filet. And of course Eddie V’s, also known for seafood, serves great steaks.

Bud: Eddie V’s and Captital Grille are the same company, so you get the same quality in that high-priced steak category. And we also have Del Frisco’s and Mercury Chop House downtown, which are also really good.

Rick: Yes, we have no shortage of great steaks here in Cowtown. So go check those out and check out the World Steak Championships at Billy Bob’s in the Stockyards on Saturday.

Bud: And if you really want to see the other side of Texas steak, just go down Northwest 28th to the M&M, which only takes like five minutes but it’s like you drove to Sweetwater. It’s this little cinder block hole in the wall.

They have a fairly decent steak there, but the thing that they do there is cover it in a snowfall of garlic.

Rick: It’s not just the steak, actually. The salad and sides are covered in garlic, too.

Bud: And the seats, the beer mugs, they’re all covered in garlic.

Rick: With Halloween coming up, vampires lurking, it’s a good time to go back to the M&M.

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 3:52 PM with the headline "Best steaks in DFW: the Eats Beat podcast edition."