When it comes to steakhouses, Milwaukee has one of the best in the nation. At least, Rachael Ray thinks so. Her magazine, "Every Day with Rachael Ray" recently published a list of the best steakhouses in America and our very own Five O'Clock Steakhouse made the cut.
And apparently we Milwaukeeans agree. The local perennial favorite, located at 2416 W. State St., was voted Milwaukee's best place to grab a juicy steak in OnMilwaukee.com's 2008 readers' poll.
So what is the No. 1 steakhouse in the nation? According to the magazine's editors, it's Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa, Fla.
The competition was set up in a bracket format to mimic the upcoming NCAA tournament. For each of the 16 finalists the magazine hired 16 eaters to try each restaurant, and every eater was armed with worksheets and a rating system that totaled 100 points. They scored the knowledge of their servers, the sale and the savor of the side dishes, and of course the pedigree and provenance of their hunks of meat, says spokesperson Ashley Dodd.
The 16 winners by reagion:
The West
Cut -- Los Angeles (Sweet Sixteen)
Perini Ranch Steakhouse -- Buffalo Gap, Texas (Sweet Sixteen)
Carnevino -- Las Vegas (Elite Eight)
El Raigón -- San Francisco (Final Four)
Midwest
Five O'Clock Steakhouse -- Milwaukee (Sweet Sixteen)
Plaza III, The Steakhouse -- Kansas City, Mo. (Sweet Sixteen)
Gorat's Steakhouse - Omaha, Neb. (Elite Eight)
Archie's Waeside -- Le Mars, Iowa (Final Four)
Gulf South
Pappas Bros. Steakhouse -- Houston (Sweet Sixteen)
Doe's Eat Place -- Greenville, Miss. (Sweet Sixteen)
Kevin Rathbun Steak -- Atlanta (Elite Eight)
Bern's Steakhouse -- Tampa, Fla. (Champion)
East Coast
Peter Luger Steakhouse -- Brooklyn (Elite Eight)
Robert's Steakhouse -- New York (Sweet Sixteen)
Barclay Prime -- Philadelphia (Sweet Sixteen)
Grill 23 & Bar -- Boston (Final Four)
Saveur magazine gave Five O'Clock a similar distinction a few years ago, too.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
