Eric Wareheim, the media and food-world multihyphenate, has been to a lot of steakhouses — at least 65, in fact, while conducting research for his newest book, Steak House. While Wareheim’s book first started as “an excuse” for him to “have a good time every night,” he “knew deep down that pure pleasure was not what all this obsession was about,” he writes.
Steak House, co-written with Gabe Ulla, explores why we’re so drawn to these martini-filled, leather-boothed haunts and what that fixation says about the state of American dining and desire. Through Steak House, Wareheim offers more than just recipes; it serves as an anthropological — and distinctly Wareheimian — study of the people who make the country’s classic steakhouses what they are.
Wareheim spoke to Eater about his steakhouse likes and dislikes, the mark of a good chophouse, and why he’s currently skipping the shrimp cocktail.
Eater: What made you fall in love with the steakhouse as a genre?
Eric Wareheim: The reason I wrote the book is that I went to this place in Charlotte called Beef ‘N Bottle and it just felt like a hug. It’s all different kinds of people. It was like, fully America; I loved it. I started going to steakhouses a lot around the pandemic times. I’ve been around the world 100 times and eaten everywhere and what I come back to is the comfort and consistency and joy that the steakhouse provides. It’s simple and I can enjoy it the same as my dad, as my granddad. It’s this unifying thing in a country that has a lot of very, very bad things; it’s a good thing that I think is uniquely American.
What’s your ideal steakhouse order?
The whole beauty of the steakhouse is the level of comfort that you know what you’re getting. I’ll always start with a gin martini, one olive, no vermouth. If you’re at a medium-level place, you add a little more olive juice because it’s probably not a good gin. If they have garlic bread, garlic bread. Wedge salad, blue cheese. Steak is a rib-eye, medium rare.
Sometimes I’ll ask for the extra char; I’ll go blue [rare]. It’s a complicated thing because you have to know the steakhouse. If it’s a really beautiful cut of meat — I’ll do a tomahawk rib-eye and have it cooked black-and-blue, so rare with a char.
Shrimp cocktail used to be on my must-order list, but I went to 65 steakhouses — I’ve had some shrimp I shouldn’t have had a bite of.
What sides are nonnegotiable?
It’s a baked potato, loaded, but I have to have the accoutrements on the side; I like to do it my way. And then creamed corn.
I want the same menu. I don’t ever want it to change.
When you’re sussing out a steakhouse, what are the signs that you’ve found a good one?
Instantly, you look at the sign. How old is it? Is it aged? Well, except for Bavette’s [in Chicago] and it’s probably the most delicious steakhouse in the country. [But] in general, the sign, the decor. What is [the staff] wearing? Do they take pride in their outfits? All of that stuff is so important to me. How is the bar lit? How comfy are the bar seats? Modern bars nowadays just jam seats in. The comfort of a steakhouse is really important. And then the service: You want someone that knows the menu and how to guide you.
Obviously, the steakhouses in New York City and Los Angeles are great, but based on your research, what’s an underrated steakhouse?
We went to one steakhouse in Tampa called Bern’s and it’s the most iconic wine place in the whole country. It’s a surprise that that’s there, and it’s a surprise that the steakhouse is so good there; it’s not a steakhouse city. I went there for the wine because it has the most insane wine list maybe in the whole country and you can’t access it unless you know the right somm. It’s this whole thing. I don’t like that whole gatekeeping, but we were allowed to document it and they’ve never documented the cellar ever. For wine lovers like me, it’s really special, and the food’s very good and it’s humongous — you would not believe how much business they do.
The whole question of the book was: What is a steakhouse?
What are things you don’t like in a steakhouse?
When steakhouses try to be fresh and innovative. Artistically, I love fresh and innovative. I redefine my life every two years; that’s what I do. But a steakhouse is different. I want the same menu. I don’t ever want it to change. I love a menu that has six items and a martini.
When we went to the first place, Beef ‘N Bottle in Charlotte, our server, named Jerome [Williams, who is featured in the book], walked up to us and was like, “Y’all gonna have a fun night tonight. I’m your server and your bartender. What kind of martini do y’all want?” There’s so much beauty in that statement. The main point is: We just do martinis; you should only have a martini before dinner. I like how simple it is.
So you’re not looking for anything that diverges too much from the classics?
I’m open to it. The whole question of the book was: What is a steakhouse? I documented 65 establishments, but I had to cut 200 pages. It hurts my soul that I had to do that. But I was like, What is the Vietnamese American steakhouse? My friends took me to Little Saigon in LA and we did this thing called “seven courses of beef.” It wasn’t a steakhouse, because I have rules of what [a steakhouse] is, but it was an interesting exploration.
There are certain places like Chi Spacca in LA. It’s not technically a steakhouse, but it’s a steakhouse. It’s like, the best quality steak in town and [has] a lot of the accoutrements, but it doesn’t have the leather booths. I’ll go to a place [like that] that’s not technically a steakhouse sometimes, for the quality.
But let me go back to what I don’t like. It’s the excessive meat consumption. A lot of people look at this book and they see the word “steakhouse” and they think it’s about meat. It’s really not about the actual beef at all. I go to a steakhouse sometimes and I sit at the bar. I get a great ice-cold martini, I do a wedge, and sometimes I call it a day. Or I usually go with a group of friends and we order one large rib-eye and we share it with three people.
Having finished this book, what is the steakhouse really about then, to you?
The book is really a guide to America. It’s really a study of the people and the places. I honestly have never been more proud of a piece of work: to remove myself and put these people in the foreground who deserve to be highlighted. We shot portraits of the dishwashers all the way to the owners in every single place. I’m proud of that and I think it’s a powerful piece.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Steak House text copyright © 2025 by Eric Wareheim. Photographs copyright © 2025 by Marcus Nilsson. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group.
