The 9 Best Steakhouses in the World, According to Michelin

The precursors to steakhouses as we know them today—chophouses—opened in London in the 1690s, catering more to a working-class clientele. They ventured across the pond to New York City with a similar aim, but in the US 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 own steakhouse traditions too.

While there’s a comfort to the classic steakhouse, plenty of proprietors have pushed the envelope by experimenting with ageing, sourcing high-quality beef from around the world, incorporating global flavours, 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 nine around the world that the tyre company has deemed “worthy of a stop”.

Cote, New York City

Photo: Cote Korean Steakhouse

We start in New York, where restaurateur Simon Kim and executive chef David Shim launched the Korean barbecue and American steakhouse mash-up that’s been imitated across the country. The restaurant (one of our 10 Best New Restaurants in America when it opened) has an in-house ageing room and every table comes equipped with a smokeless grill where a server sears beef to perfection. Cote’s signature is the generous Butcher’s Feast that comes with an array of banchan, an egg soufflé, and two stews to accompany a selection of four cuts of beef that include the diamond-cut galbi short rib. The meal is capped with a cup of soft serve and a soy caramel.

Cut by Wolfgang Puck, Singapore

Photo: Cut by Wolfgang Puck

While the ubiquitous celebrity chef no longer boasts a Michelin star at his flagship Cut in Beverly Hills, Wolfgang Puck’s global steakhouse empire still has the guide’s stamp of approval in Singapore. At the restaurant that’s held a star since 2016, chargrilled steaks are finished in a 1,200-degree broiler, while the famous onion rings are just as crispy as you’d hope. Beef connoisseurs will be seriously spoiled for choice thanks to Kagoshima bone-in craft Wagyu, coveted Japanese “Snow” beef from Hokkaido, and heritage breeds such as Red Poll and Longhorn. It’s also a reminder of the global reach this icon of the kitchen still has.

Kali, Los Angeles

Photo: Wonho Frank Lee

For nearly a decade, Kali served chef Kevin Meehan’s modern California cuisine, garnering a Michelin star for his tasting menu and à la carte fare. But this year Meehan reimagined the space and the offerings and leaned into a steakhouse suffused with a little old Hollywood glamour. The steakhouse staples are here from the wedge salad to the shrimp cocktail to the ample selection of beef. And so far Michelin has been willing to take this journey with Meehan and the team, acknowledging the remodel in the guide while this new incarnation of Kali retains its star.

A Cut Steakhouse, Taipei, Taiwan

Photo: A Cut Steakhouse

In the 2023 edition of Michelin’s Taiwan guide, A Cut Steakhouse, located inside the Ambassador Hotel Taipei, joined the ranks of more than 40 restaurants with a star on the island. Offering both a tasting menu and à la carte, the jewel of its prix fixe comes from one of California’s best beef purveyors: Flannery. Diners are given the choice of a bone-in ribeye, dry aged for 30 days, or the same cut aged for 21 days with Islay Scotch. The à la carte offerings include beef from the US, Australia, and Japan, along with steakhouse classic sides like whipped potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, and a baked potato.

Capa, Orlando, Fla.

Photo: Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

The Four Seasons Orlando is home to Capa up on the 17th floor; so, yes, there are views of Disney World’s fireworks show. This Spanish-influenced steakhouse starts diners with an assortment of tapas from croquetas with ham and caramelised onions to classic pan con tomate. Steaks are prepared over a hickory-fired grill with the restaurant’s Creekstone porterhouse arriving at the table with Capa steak sauce, salsa verde, and pickled shishitos, while the Platinum X Wagyu short rib from Texas enjoys a Rioja glaze.

Gwen, Los Angeles

Photo: Ray Kachatorian

Chef Curtis Stone closed his little jewel box of a Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant in Beverly Hills, Maude, in 2024, and it looked like his Hollywood steakhouse would shutter as well and relocate to a different part of Los Angeles. However, fans of the Michelin-starred destination for live-fire cooking expressed their support and Gwen will remain in its beautiful space that is also a high-end butcher shop. Named for Stone’s grandmother, Gwen’s menu includes an array of cuts from Creekstone Farms, including a 36-ounce ribeye that has been aged for 36 days. That big, beefy boy can be ordered alongside some house-made charcuterie, lobster toast, duck fat potatoes, and octopus al pastor.

Beefbar, Hong Kong

Photo: Beefbar

Monte Carlo-based Riccardo Giraudi Hospitality Concepts has dozens of restaurants worldwide, with the crown of the jewel being the steak-focused Beefbar, which has also spanned the globe, including a New York outlet that opened in spring 2024. Despite global acclaim, their Hong Kong branch is the only one to have ever merited a Michelin star. Diners come for top-class cuts from farms in the US, Australia, Japan, Korea, and more. Their best-seller is a ribeye cap, for which the kitchen has developed a cooking technique where chefs broil the steak and then chargrill it to ensure that crust is king. Big spenders hit up the Hyogo Tajima fillet from Kobe at a cool US$120 per 3 oz.

Niku Steakhouse, San Francisco

Photo: Niku Steakhouse

Japanese Wagyu aficionados know that few spots can match the luxe Niku Steakhouse in San Francisco’s Design District. A 16-seat counter lets guests catch executive chef Dustin Falcon—formerly of The French Laundry—work his magic on both a binchotan charcoal and wood-fired yakiniku grill. World-class Wagyu comes from Japan, Australia, and the US, while a deep wine list features plenty of Napa and Sonoma selections alongside a deep bench of Burgundy and Bordeaux. The carnivorous offerings don’t stop with the main course, as a Wagyu fat brownie with Wagyu fat caramel graces the dessert menu.

Cote, Miami

Photo: Andre Mathur

We finish as we started with Cote, this time down in Miami’s Design District. Unlike the New York flagship, the South Florida outpost is open for lunch with specials geared for the middle of the day. But just as in N.Y.C., proprietor Simon Kim and chef David Shim indulge in the finest beef—American Wagyu, A5 Japanese, and dry-aged USDA Prime—with delicious Korean accompaniments like kimchi Wagyu “paella”, fermented soy stew, and house-smoked crispy pork belly. If you’re going really big on the night, make sure to indulge in the Grand Plateau seafood tower, and the restaurant’s signature Steak and Eggs, with hand-cut fillet mignon tartare, caviar, and toasted milk bread. Will we see more Cote outposts on future best steakhouse lists? That really depends on whether Michelin decides to go back to Las Vegas to rate Kim, Shim, and co.’s new Cote at the Venetian.

This story was previously published on Robb Report USA.