Walking into a steakhouse feels like entering a carnivore’s paradise. There’s the sizzle of prime cuts hitting the grill, that unmistakable aroma of char and beef fat rendering, and the promise of an indulgent meal that’ll probably cost you a week’s worth of grocery money. Yet here’s something most diners don’t realize: the very chefs who prepare these impressive spreads often sidestep certain menu items with the precision of someone dodging spoilers for their favorite show.
These culinary professionals spend countless hours perfecting steaks, but they’ve also witnessed what goes on behind the kitchen doors. Some dishes get the side-eye treatment for reasons ranging from questionable quality to simple logic about what a steakhouse actually excels at preparing. So what exactly are these menu landmines that make seasoned chefs mentally hit the brakes?
Well-Done Steak: The Kitchen’s Silent Frustration
Let’s be real about something controversial. Cooking a steak to well-done robs it of its natural juices and flavors, leaving you with a tough, dry piece of meat, according to Chef Dennis Littley of AskChefDennis.com. Chef Adonis Ouano Icalina admits, “My kitchen staff knows, if someone orders a well-done steak, they’re gonna get a little side-eye from me”. The science behind this frustration is straightforward: as the steak cooks longer, it loses more of its natural juices and fats, which carry much of the meat’s flavor.
Here’s what most people don’t understand. More than a third of customers prefer their steak medium-well or well done, and most restaurants won’t outright refuse to serve a steak well-done. The problem isn’t just about taste preferences clashing with culinary ideology. Well-done steaks take longer to cook, which can impact kitchen efficiency, especially during busy service times. Some chefs even confess to a darker reality: when you order well-done at certain establishments, you might not be getting the restaurant’s finest cut.
Fish and Seafood: Swimming Against the Current
Executive chef Jeremy Shigekane of 100 Sails & Bar at the Prince Waikiki Hotel advises, “Never order fish at a steakhouse”. This isn’t snobbery – it’s practical wisdom. Chef Dennis Littley explained, “While many steakhouses offer seafood options, they often don’t hold a candle to what you’d get at a dedicated seafood restaurant. The kitchen’s expertise and equipment are geared towards perfecting steaks, not seafood, so you might find the quality and preparation lacking”.
The sad fact is that a lot of steakhouse chefs just don’t know how to treat this protein, and they can end up searing all of the moisture out of the fish, leaving you with a dry, tasteless portion of food that’s not worth the price you’re paying for it. The price point makes this gamble even riskier. At Smith & Wollensky, seared yellowfin tuna costs $52 – marginally cheaper than its most affordable steak, but way more expensive than a lot of other entrées. You’re basically paying steakhouse prices for what might be a seafood restaurant’s B-game execution.
Chicken Dishes: The Overcooked Afterthought
Chicken at a steakhouse seems safe, right? Not according to the professionals who’ve seen too many dried-out birds leave their kitchens. Executive chef Ryan Ososky of The Church Key warns, “I will order almost anything when I go out – but never chicken because it tends to be overcooked at most restaurants”. While fried chicken can offer comfort and satisfaction, it may not reach the quality standards that steakhouses uphold. The chefs at these establishments often excel in grilling or roasting meats, honing their skills to perfection in these areas, but frying chicken requires specific techniques to ensure that it is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Honestly, it’s hard to say for sure why steakhouses even bother with elaborate chicken preparations when their reputation lives and dies by their beef. LongHorn Steakhouse’s Parmesan Crusted Chicken dish clocks in at 1,120 calories, with 28 grams of saturated fat and 3,160 milligrams of sodium when ordered in a 12-oz size – way more than the maximum of 2,300 mg that you should be eating in a full day, in a single dish. You’re essentially ordering something that doesn’t showcase the restaurant’s strengths while potentially damaging your health more than just ordering the actual steak would.
Pasta and Vegan Menu Fillers
Josh Mouzakes, executive chef of ARLO at San Diego’s Town and Country Resort, advises, “Stay away from any kind of pasta or vegan options they threw on the menu for diversity. Steakhouses are designed to grill, so eat off the grill”. This blunt assessment cuts right to the heart of why certain menu items exist: they’re there to accommodate someone in your party, not to highlight the restaurant’s capabilities. Chef Jeremy Sharpe explains, “When dining at a steakhouse, pasta is often a misstep. Dishes made with alfredo sauce pasta or deep-fried macaroni and cheese bites, while trendy at chain restaurants, simply don’t pair well with a high-quality steak”.
The lobster mac and cheese deserves special mention here. Executive Chef Samuel-Drake Jones warns that “unless you are in a restaurant that offers some type of lobster dish or is passionate about their seafood program, the lobster meat was brought prefabricated in a sealed bag. Furthermore, because lobster is so expensive, chefs and owners are less likely to throw this item out and will hold on to it longer, potentially past its time of peak deliciousness”. Nothing kills the steakhouse vibe quite like suspecting your upscale side dish came fresh from the freezer.
Filet Mignon: The Overpriced Crowd-Pleaser
This one might surprise you. Filet mignon has somehow achieved legendary status as the ultimate steakhouse order, yet many chefs privately roll their eyes at its popularity. Diana Manalang, chef-owner of Little Chef Little Cafe in New York City, offers an unpopular opinion about this popular cut: “Yes, it is tender and juicy, but because it’s so lean, it has no real flavor. Sauces are vital for this cut because its flavor is lacking in comparison to my favorite, the rib-eye”.
Chefs routinely complain that filet mignon has a one-dimensional, flat flavor and a lack of tenderness. The vast majority of steakhouse veterans will tell you the same thing: if you want actual beef flavor, you need fat marbling. At Alexander’s Steakhouse, a filet mignon costs $71, and Delmonico’s owner Dennis Turcinovic states that filet mignon is an unadventurous choice, and one that you can get pretty much anywhere. You’re paying premium prices for what’s essentially a boring cut that needs heavy dressing to taste like anything memorable.
Desserts: The Frozen Afterthought
The problem with ordering a dessert at a steakhouse is that it’s usually the least considered part of the meal, and steakhouse chefs spend years perfecting how to cook the perfect ribeye but when it comes to dessert, they’re often “buying cakes from a store, cutting them, and putting them on a plate,” according to Delmonico’s owner Dennis Turcinovic. Some of these cakes can cost $20 per serving, which is a lot to pay on top of an already expensive meal.
The ice cream situation isn’t much better. For many incredible restaurants, making desserts from scratch is simply too resource-intensive to even consider – you need space, specialized equipment, and expert pastry chefs. Often, it makes more sense to contract out a local bakery, and have desserts delivered each morning. Most steakhouses bring in high-end ice cream or gelato, and scoop it right from a tub. Save room in your stomach and your wallet for something that actually showcases what the restaurant does best, or skip dessert altogether and hit up a dedicated bakery on your way home.
The pattern here becomes pretty clear once you see it. Chefs privately avoid ordering anything that diverts from a steakhouse’s core competency: perfectly grilled, well-marbled cuts of beef cooked to medium-rare perfection. Everything else is either a compromise, a concession to dietary restrictions, or a profit-driven menu addition that doesn’t reflect the kitchen’s true capabilities. Next time you’re flipping through that leather-bound steakhouse menu, maybe take a page from the professionals’ playbook and stick to what these restaurants were actually designed to do brilliantly. What surprises you most about these chef confessions?
