Las Vegas is at peak steak. Prime sizzle. Making the cut all over town.
More than 100 fine dining steakhouses (chains like Outback excluded) populate the Vegas metropolitan area, according to figures drawn from business license records, health department permits and OpenTable — that’s the most ever.
Last year saw significant openings such as Bazaar Meat and Boa Steakhouse in The Venetian, High Steaks Vegas at the Rio, and Butcher &Thief in the southwest.
This year already marks the debuts of Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian steakhouse, in The Venetian, and Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse of New York City in Wynn Las Vegas.
Maroon, a Caribbean steakhouse from James Beard Award-winning chef Kwame Onwuachi of New York, is set to launch this spring at Sahara Las Vegas. Along with the recent debut of Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse, it’s one of the city’s most anticipated restaurant openings for 2026.
No less than Food &Wine magazine recently sliced into steakhouses in the valley, from classic rooms to modern incarnations, and declared that Vegas “rivals New York as America’s steakhouse capital.”
In a sort of brawny back-at-ya — and in a testament to Vegas’ Prime-grade cred — Golden Steer Steakhouse, of Rat Pack lore, brought its 24-ounce, bone-in ribeye to the Big Apple, opening an outpost in January on the ground floor of 1 Fifth Ave., one of the most famous restaurant spaces in Manhattan.
Beef prices are at record levels, tourism to Vegas is down and folks are worried about the economy, but steakhouses continue to flourish in the face of these challenges. Why? The answers speak to the ability of steakhouses to continually find new ways of fulfilling that core Vegas mission: giving people what they want, abundantly.
Tradition and its twists
Vegas is spoilt for choice with steakhouses.
There are old-school mainstays like the nearly 70-year-old Golden Steer, Oscar’s Steakhouse in the Plaza, Hugo’s Cellar in the Four Queens, The Steak House at Circus Circus and Michael’s Gourmet Room in the South Point.
There are spots that do a sleek take on tradition, like Don’s Prime in the Fontainebleau, Delmonico Steakhouse in The Venetian (still showing its chops after almost 27 years), Scotch 80 Prime in the Palms, Bourbon Steak in the Four Seasons, Prime at Bellagio, Barry’s Downtown Prime in Circa, and Peter Luger Steak House at Caesars Palace (a New York institution given some Vegas va-va-voom).
There are places that mingle party with porterhouse — STK at The Cosmopolitan, Papi Steak at the Fontainebleau — and neighborhood standouts like Harlø Steakhouse, Herbs &Rye and Mae Daly’s Fine Steaks &Whiskeys.
In other words, a style of steakhouse exists in Vegas for anyone who wants a great steak.
Grilling up experience
That diversity informs the ongoing appeal of the steakhouse
“It is the quintessential American restaurant. It checks off so many boxes: for the average diner, for the quote-unquote foodie, for the family. It fits so many people’s desires,” said Cory Harwell, chef-owner of Butcher &Thief.
“If I were putting together a dinner with a bunch of colleagues — some I know well, some I don’t know well — I’m putting together a steakhouse dinner because it will please the most people, and I think that lends itself to having so many more opening up.”
In Vegas, the flair for which the city is famous also plays a part, helping to explain why steakhouses are full when many chops easily cost $100 or more.
“Las Vegas remains the world’s stage for the ‘ultimate splurge.’ When people come here, they want an experience that matches the energy of the city,” said Amanda Signorelli, whose family owns Golden Steer. “As long as we over-deliver on that experience, the value stays there for the guest.”
In fact, the steakhouse menu might be beside the point, at least in part. How’s that?
“Because Las Vegas doesn’t really sell food — it sells experiences, a scene to be seen. And the steakhouse has always been the easiest experience to justify spending money on,” said Marko Greisen, CEO of Vegas-based Titan Brands Hospitality Group. “You know what you’re getting, it feels like a special occasion, and if the room is buzzing, people really don’t question the bill.”
Distinctive approaches
With more than 100 fine dining steakhouses in Vegas, competition exists, of course, but for many chefs and restaurateurs, celebrating their particular approach, what sets them apart, is the focus, not their rivals.
“I believe the more, the merrier, quite honestly. I believe there is a lane for every steakhouse,” said Marty Lopez, executive chef of Scotch 80 Prime. “At the end of the day, it’s meat and potatoes, so what matters is the uniqueness and variety the steakhouse offers, how the steakhouse makes itself unique.”
For Lopez, that means highly allocated beef from certain Japanese producers, a Monday-to-Thursday social hour with items 30 percent off, and seasonally changing nonsteak dishes, like toasted Hawaiian rolls sandwiching Filipino sausage and swipes of roasted bone marrow.
“That’s where it’s fun. That’s what gives Scotch 80 its personality,” the chef said.
At Butcher &Thief, the goal is for the average couple to dine for $150 or less, including gratuity. Chef-owner Harwell is achieving that goal by offering less-familiar steaks, like a tender marbled zabuton (also called Denver steak) or a bavette flap steak that’s rich and flavorful when cooked hot and fast and sliced against the grain.
“People are told that Prime is the only meat they can eat and enjoy, but as a chef, you can take a less expensive cut of meat, a product that’s still comparable, and treat it properly and cook it well,” Harwell said. “We’ve proved that at Butcher &Thief.”
Perhaps more than any steakhouse in Vegas, Golden Steer has successfully integrated social media into its operation, making it part of its brand identity, with 577,000 followers on Instagram and 4 million likes on TikTok.
“When the world paused in 2020, we weren’t sure how long it would take for Vegas tourism to recover. We turned to social media as an experiment to tell our story ‘outside the four walls’ while people couldn’t visit us in person. That experiment turned into an engine, and we never took our foot off the gas,” co-owner Signorelli said.
“An important caveat is that while we modernized how we reach customers, the story we told didn’t change. Preserving the history and legacy of Las Vegas remains at the center of everything we do.”
Steakhouse as spectacle
In November 2001, Nine Steakhouse opened at the Palms, an event that, in retrospect, would become a milestone in the evolution of the Vegas steakhouse.
Nine, which lasted until 2017, “wasn’t just a steakhouse; it was the center of gravity for everything happening in this city at that moment,” said Greisen, the Titan Brands Hospitality CEO, who once worked for the 9 Group.
“Ghostbar was 55 floors up with breathtaking views, Rain Nightclub was down the hall with fireballs shooting through the center of the club, and the celebrity energy was constant, and we didn’t have to pay any of them to show up. What we built there basically became the template every major Strip resort copied afterward.”
Greisen, a third-generation Las Vegan, knows plenty about steakhouse history.
“Growing up here, steakhouses were sacred. You put on a jacket, the lighting was dim, the booths were deep leather, and dining room captains provided high-touch service,” he said.
“Today, it’s two completely different markets. On the Strip, it’s a spectacle — massive builds, celebrity chefs, wagyu by the ounce. Off the Strip, you’re finally seeing serious chefs open accessible neighborhood steakhouses because they know locals have been underserved for years.”
What’s ahead? “More cultural diversity in the format,” Greisen said. “The Korean steakhouse, the Caribbean steakhouse — the old white-tablecloth-and-wedge-salad definition is expanding.”
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at [email protected]. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.