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The eight best steakhouses in the world, according to Michelin

By Chris Dwyer 20 September, 2024

The ultimate destinations for all beef connoisseurs

Across America, the steakhouse has become an institution, a place where big slabs of beef are given the sheen of refined decor 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.”

A steak omakase at Cote. Photo by Gary He