The Chain Restaurant With The Best Steak On Its Menu

When you want a delicious steak but don't want to put in the work yourself, heading to a restaurant is a no-brainer. Which restaurant to visit, however, might lead to some head-scratching. While chain restaurants sometimes catch flak for unoriginality, the right one can be a great option for a night out with a delicious steak, particularly because chain restaurants often have the kind of equipment great cooks need, as well as access to the highest quality meat vendors. Mashed ranked 20 chain restaurant steaks, and the one that came out on top was the Wagyu beef Snake River Farms (SRF) tomahawk chop at Mastro's Steakhouse.

While Mastro's Steakhouse is certainly higher-end than some of the other chain restaurants included in our steak ranking, its 22 U.S. locations certainly qualify it as a chain restaurant, and the SRF tomahawk chop is the best of the best as far as its steaks go. Whether you order it extra large (32 ounces) or extra-extra large (40 ounces), you'll be getting a monster steak with Wagyu's incredible marbling and characteristic tenderness, as well as a crisp, flavorful sear with a perfectly rare to medium-rare interior. Because the tomahawk chop is a ribeye with the full rib bone left in, the behemoth cut is at least 2 inches wide. It's seriously impressive and seriously delicious.

Despite Mastro's 22 locations, you'll only be able to get the exact SRF tomahawk chop that topped our ranking in the western regions of the U.S.; East Coast locations primarily source the restaurant's Wagyu tomahawk chop from Durham Ranch rather than Snake River Farms. Luckily, even if you're unable to get the SRF tomahawk chop, you're in for a treat with the Durham Ranch tomahawk chop as well.

Both Snake River Farms and Durham Ranch raise American Wagyu, a cross between true Wagyu cattle from Japan and high-quality American cattle — usually Charolais or American Angus. While Snake River Farms has been raising American Wagyu since the 1980s and is considered a pioneer in the industry, Durham Ranch's Wagyu cattle are at least 50% full-blood Wagyu from Japan, which ensures the delectable and ever-important fat marbling in the meat that gives Wagyu (and American Wagyu) its tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. The Durham Ranch and Snake River Farms tomahawk chops are also the same price — $195 for the 32-ounce cut and $250 for the 40-ounce cut — so while you'll pay a pretty penny for either one, they'll both be worth it.