A Cut Steakhouse
Across America, the steakhouse has become an institution, a place where big slabs of beef are given the sheen of refined décor and service. They’re the kind of restaurant that’s able to meld an air of fine dining and comfort food. But for as much as Americans love steakhouses, Michelin is very particular about the ones it will give its stamp of approval. After all, there are more Michelin three-starred restaurants in American than there are one-starred steakhouses in the entire world.
The precursors to steakhouses as we know them today—chophouses—opened in London in the 1690’s, catering more to a working-class clientele. They ventured across the pond to New York City with a similar aim, but in the U.S. there was also the “Beefsteak,” which were big meat-filled banquets that served the Big Apple’s upper crust. Eventually, the modern steakhouse was born in Gotham, with higher-quality cuts than a chophouse and diners of the same elevated social class as the Beefsteak attendees. Places like The Old Homestead in Manhattan, which arrived in 1868, started popping up in the city. Eventually, they spread across the country and cities with meatpacking bonafides like Chicago established their owned steakhouse traditions too.
While there’s a comfort to the classic steakhouse, plenty of proprietors have pushed the envelope by experimenting with aging, sourcing high-quality beef from around the world, incorporating global flavors, and playing with live-fire cooking. Michelin has taken notice, too. The gourmet bible has been handing out stars of late to steakhouses. Here are the eight around the world that the tire company has deemed “worthy of a stop.”
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Cote, New York City
Image Credit: Gary He We start in New York, where restaurateur Simon Kim and executive chef David Shim launched the Korean barbecue and American steakhouse mash-up that’s been imitated across the country. The restaurant (one of our 10 Best New Restaurants in America when it opened) has an in-house aging room and every table comes equipped with a smokeless grill where a server sears beef to perfection. Cote’s signature is the generous Butcher’s Feast that comes with an array of banchan, an egg souffle, and two stews to accompany a selection of four cuts of beef that include the diamond-cut galbi short rib. The meal is capped with a cup of soft serve and a soy caramel to end the night.
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Cut by Wolfgang Puck, Singapore
Image Credit: Cut by Wolfgang Puck While the ubiquitous celebrity chef no longer boasts a Michelin star at his flagship Cut in Beverly Hills, Wolfgang Puck’s global steakhouse empire still has the guide’s stamp of approval in Singapore. At the restaurant that’s held a star since 2016, chargrilled steaks are finished in a 1,200-degree broiler, while the famous onion rings are just as crispy as you’d hope. Beef connoisseurs will be seriously spoiled for choice thanks to Kagoshima bone-in craft Wagyu, coveted Japanese “Snow” beef from Hokkaido, and heritage breeds such as Red Poll and Longhorn. It’s also a reminder of the global reach this icon of the kitchen still has.
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Beefbar, Hong Kong
Image Credit: Beefbar Monte Carlo-based Riccardo Giraudi Hospitality Concepts has dozens of restaurants worldwide, with the crown of the jewel being the steak-focused Beefbar, which has also spanned the globe, including a New York outlet that opened in the spring of 2024. Despite global acclaim their Hong Kong branch is the only one to have ever merited a Michelin star. Diners come for top-class cuts from farms in the U.S., Australia, Japan, Korea, and more. Their best seller is a ribeye cap, which the kitchen has developed a cooking technique where chefs broil the steak and then chargrill it to ensure that crust is king. Big spenders hit up the Hyogo Tajima filet from Kobe at a cool $120 per 3 oz.
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Niku Steakhouse, San Francisco
Image Credit: Niku Steakhouse Japanese Wagyu aficionados know that few spots can match the luxe Niku Steakhouse in San Francisco’s Design District. A 16-seat counter lets guests catch executive chef Dustin Falcon—formerly of the French Laundry—work his magic on both a binchotan charcoal and wood-fired yakiniku grills. World class Wagyu comes from Japan, Australia and the U.S., while a deep wine list features plenty of Napa and Sonoma selection alongside a deep bench of Burgundy and Bordeaux. The carnivorous offerings don’t stop with the main course, as a Wagyu fat browning with Wagyu fat caramel graces the dessert menu.
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Capa, Orlando, Fla.
Image Credit: Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts The Four Seasons Orlando is home to Capa up on the 17th floor; so, yes, there are views of Disney World’s fireworks show. But chef Malyna Si—the only female chef helming a Michelin-starred restaurant in Florida—does plenty to hold your attention to the table. This Spanish-influenced steakhouse starts diners with an assortment of tapas from croquetas with ham and caramelized onions to classic pan con tomate. Steaks are prepared over a hickory-fired grill with the restaurant’s Creekstone porterhouse arriving at the table with Capa steak sauce, salsa verde, and pickled shishitos, while the Platinum X Wagyu short rib from Texas enjoys a Rioja glaze.
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Gwen, Los Angeles
Image Credit: Ray Kachatorian Chef Curtis Stone closed his little jewel box of a Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant in Beverly Hills, Maude, in 2024, but his Hollywood meat paradise, Gwen, remains. Stone’s beautiful space is a restaurant and butcher shop in one. Named for his grandmother, Gwen’s menu includes an array of cuts from Creekstone Farms, including a 36-ounce ribeye that has been aged for 36 days. That big, beefy boy can ordered alongside some housemade charcuterie, lobster toast, duck fat potatoes, and octopus al pastor.
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A Cut Steakhouse, Taipei, Taiwan
Image Credit: A Cut Steakhouse In the 2023 edition of Michelin’s Taiwan guide, A Cut Steakhouse, located inside the Ambassador Hotel Taipei, joined the ranks of more than 40 restaurants with a star on the island. Offering both a tasting menu and a la carte, the jewel of its prix fixe comes from one of California’s best beef purveyors: Flannery. Diners are given the choice of a bone-in ribeye, dry aged for 30 days or the same cut aged for 21 days with Islay scotch. The a la carte offerings include beef from America, Australia, and Japan, along with steakhouse classic sides like whipped potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and a baked potato.
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Cote, Miami
Image Credit: Andre Mathur We finish as we started with Cote, this time down in Miami’s Design District. Unlike the New York flagship, the South Florida outpost is open for lunch with specials geared for the middle of the day. But just as in N.Y.C., proprietor Simon Kim and chef David Shim indulge in the finest beef—American Wagyu, A5 Japanese, and dry-aged USDA Prime—with delicious Korean accompaniments like kimchi Wagyu “paella,” fermented soy stew, and house-smoked crispy pork belly. If you’re going really big on the night, make sure to indulge in the Grand Plateau seafood tower, and the restaurant’s signature Steak and Eggs, where hand-cut filet mignon tartare caviar and toasted milk bread. Will we see more Cote outposts on future best steakhouse lists? That really depends on whether Michelin decides to go back to Las Vegas in time for Kim, Shim, and Co. to arrive there as they plan their expansion to Sin City.
