Today's Trivial Outrage

steakhouses01

Just pulled the above box off the new Yahoo front page. They're probably right about Peter Luger's, which serves the best steak I've ever had. But let's be accurate here, people. Prime rib is not steak. The prime rib at Lawry's is quite wonderful but it's wonderful prime rib. It's not steak. Steak is one thing. Prime rib is another. If the guy who made up this chart ordered steak in a restaurant and they brought him prime rib, he'd say, "Hey, this isn't what I asked for."

Has he been to some of the more acclaimed restaurants in L.A. that actually serve steak? Mastro's? Arnie Morton's? The Palm? Taylor's? Porterhouse Bistro? Did he actually sample these and decide that Lawry's The Prime Rib (that's the full name of the establishment) was a better steakhouse in spite of the fact that the word "steak" appears nowhere on its menu? This matters. If I issued a list of the best places to eat in each city in Ohio and put down Burger King for Cleveland, it might be relevant for you to know that I've only eaten one meal ever in Cleveland and that was at a Burger King. Which also, by the way, is not a steakhouse despite the fact that they serve broiled beef.

I expect weasely steakhouse ratings in those in-flight magazines. The ones listed pay to be on those lists. I also notice that are about eleven hundred "Top 10" and "Top 20" steakhouse lists on the Internet. You'd have to serve a pretty lousy steak to not get on someone's "best" list. But you'd still have to serve steak. It would be nice if it was good steak but based on some of the places I've seen on those lists, that's not mandatory.

This has been your Trivial Outrage for today.