When we set out to find the steakhouse with the highest-priced menu items in America, we scoured the menus at both highly-rated and lesser-known outposts to find who serves the most expensive cuts of beef. Two things were particularly surprising about the steakhouse with the priciest meats. One, the actual price. While SW Steakhouse in Las Vegas and Mastro’s Beverly Hills include hefty price tags on their prime cuts, the prices at Nusr-Et in New York blow them out of the grass-fed pasture. The second surprise is that Nusr-Et, run by Nusret Gökçe, known to his online followers as Salt Bae, is one of the fancy steakhouses that earned scathing critic reviews.
We suspect that an outing to Nusr-Et is for the spectacle of it, to see Salt Bae extravagantly salting and butchering meat, or perhaps for bragging rights, to tell people that you ordered a $2,000 steak. That’s right, per the New York restaurant’s menu at the time of writing, the family-style New York steak featuring a 4-pound Wagyu steak coated in 24-carat gold is priced at $2,000. Sure, it’s intended for sharing, but it still rings up as the most expensive steakhouse menu item that we found after extensive online research.
Then there’s the 2-pound Wagyu for $1,500, a rack of lamb for $800, and short ribs at a cool $600. But if salt-throwing theatrics, mediocre (at best) reviews, and gold-dusted food aren’t someone’s idea of a worthwhile outing, there are a handful of other expensive steakhouses around the country for carnivores to flex their spending power.
Other expensive steakhouses around the country
Among the absolute best steakhouses in every state are also some of the country’s most expensive. In America’s capital, diners can fork out $640 for an 8-ounce Snow Beef steak at Bourbon Steak Washington, D.C. Further north at David Burke Prime in Connecticut, the Grade A5 M12 Kobe filet mignon rings up at $360 for this single-serving steak.
Heading west to Las Vegas, which boasts the most steakhouses per capita, there are a number of expensive steakhouses worthy of diners’ dollars, including the well-reviewed Cote, where a Kobe ribeye, at $82 per ounce, costs $492 for a 6-ounce serving. SW Steakhouse offers its 4-ounce Wagyu for $345, plus $85 for each additional ounce, meaning a 6-ounce steak rings up at $515. The Snow Beef at Boa Las Vegas, priced at $64 per ounce, costs $384 for a 6-ounce steak. The Bazaar by José Andrés offers four Wagyu variations, all for $60 per ounce, which means a 6-ounce steak costs $360. A 6-ounce Wagyu filet mignon at Prime in the Bellagio is the same price ($360), while a 9-ounce piece is $540, and a 12-ounce filet is $720. Further west in Beverly Hills at Mastro’s, a 6-ounce Kobe steak will also set you back $360. If you’re scratching your head at the high prices, here’s why Wagyu beef is so expensive and why it’s worth the price.