The Steakhouse Chain With The Biggest Porterhouse, Hands Down

Is there any restaurant meal as tempting or luxurious as a sizzling, enormous porterhouse steak? A composite steak, meaning that it's two cuts in one, a porterhouse consists of a New York Strip steak (which is different from a ribeye!) and a filet mignon, separated by a T-bone. Cooked properly, it's a big, juicy treat. When nothing but the biggest porterhouse will do, Smith & Wollensky should be your destination.

With 14 international locations, Smith & Wollensky is a small chain of upscale steakhouses that take time to sweat the tiniest details. All the beef sourced for the restaurants is humanely-raised, USDA Prime steak. The chain even designed its own steak knives! You'll put those knives to work when you share the Porterhouse for Two, an immense 42-ounce beefy behemoth that's big enough to need its own plate. 

At Smith & Wollensky the steak is served sliced so that you can even begin to handle it in a gainly way ... such a massive piece of meat might otherwise encourage caveman tendencies, we think. Thick ribbons of rosy-rare beef crusted with gorgeously-caramelized exteriors fall off the charred bone, making your every carnivorous dream come true.

Just how impressive is a 42-ounce porterhouse, exactly? Well, at big nationwide competitors like Mastro's, Del Frisco's, and The Capital Grille, porterhouses range from 22-24 ounces. Compared to a dainty 8-ounce filet, these porterhouse steaks are certainly large and in charge; a challenge for any hearty appetite. Consider, however, that Smith & Wollensky's shareable porterhouse is almost double the weight of any of those. No doubt, this is a steak that will live on in your memory, long after you've laid your fork aside.

Over on Reddit, a commenter had nothing but gushing words for the porterhouse: "28 day dry aged. Perfect technique and steak quality. One of the best 5 steaks I've ever had in my life." Blogger Mitzie Mee was stunned by the size of the steak that was split with a dining companion: "One more bite, and I wouldn't have been able to walk out from the restaurant, but what a wonderful meal." Meanwhile, a Yelp review from the New York City branch of Smith & Wollensky wasn't afraid to speak in superlatives; "With so many reputable steakhouses in New York, it's difficult to know if you're selecting the right one but I can confirm that the porterhouse that we shared was one of the best pieces of beef that we have ever had the pleasure of enjoying."

Smith & Wollensky may not have been part of our worst to best steakhouse chain ranking, but it's worth a stop in for this massive porterhouse. Just don't make this rookie mistake when dining at a steakhouse.