Ordering off a traditional steakhouse menu can be an unfamiliar task to the novice diner. No, you likely won't have a choice between a cup of soup or a house salad. And chances are your server won't ask you if you want those potatoes mashed, fried or baked.
A proper steakhouse offers a true à la carte dining experience, meaning that diners build their meals piece by piece, from appetizer to main course to sides, based on the depths of their stomachs and their wallets. The disadvantage to this type of dining is that everything, even the sides, has a price. To the resourceful diner, however, this can actually be a good thing.
As was mentioned in the review (see left), steakhouses often serve large portions of meat-too large to be finished by one diner with a moderate appetite. Sides, too, are often large enough to be split by two, and sometimes three, guests. A party of two could easily share a salad, steak, a side or two and a dessert and have a more than adequate meal. This isn't budget dining, but it won't break the bank either.
As far as ordering the steaks themselves, medium-rare is probably the best way to go. This way you give the grill enough time to put that satisfying char on the outside of your steak while still leaving it juicy in the middle. Fattier cuts of beef like ribeye can go until medium-the extra cooking time allows for more of the prized intramuscular fat to dissolve into the meat itself. If you insist on getting your steak well-done, just know that you are probably being served an inferior piece of meat. This is common practice at even the best of restaurants and should deter diners from ordering their meat in the form of a hockey puck.
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