The 5 Biggest Steaks You Can Order At Chain Steakhouses

The American steakhouse tradition began taking shape in the 1800s, when New York City's Delmonico's helped transform a humbler style of dining establishment — the chophouse — into something more luxurious, where diners wanted to see and be seen. The expansion of U.S. railways and the advent of refrigeration led to an increase in steakhouses throughout the country. After World War II, when many Americans began settling in the suburbs, steakhouses followed them and continued to serve as emblematic fixtures of the nation's culinary culture.

Many of these establishments are known for serving hefty portions of beef, but steaks at both casual and more upscale restaurants frequently top out around the 20-ounce mark. Nevertheless, some steakhouses offer cuts that far surpass that weight. We looked at more than 20 U.S.-based steakhouse chains to determine which five serve the most generous portions of beef. We excluded teppanyaki and Brazilian rodízio-style restaurants, where you could probably request that a server drop off an entire picanha at your table. Instead, we focused on traditional American-style steak restaurants with multiple locations. The largest steaks all come from high-end restaurants, including some expected names. Below are the results, which include porterhouses and tomahawks ranging from 35 ounces to a whopping 46 ounces.

More than 20 years ago, Paul Fleming and Bill Allen opened the first Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Newport Beach, California. As of September 2026, it has more than 65 restaurants throughout the United States, but it still maintains strong gastronomic ties to its home state, especially through its wine selection. The chain's largest steak is its 35-ounce Prime Tomahawk, a USDA Prime-graded steak sourced directly from partner farms. Named after a long-handled Native American weapon, this cut of steak comes from the rib section and includes a long, trimmed rib bone, making it look like an ax or club. At Fleming's, it's coated in the steakhouse's signature blend of seasonings and grilled to perfection by the restaurant's highly trained chefs.

Like many high-end steakhouses, Fleming's steaks do not include sides, but you can order them à la carte. Options include the chain's signature potatoes au gratin, macaroni and cheese, truffle mashed potatoes, and green beans with Thai seasonings. The last side reflects the restaurant's dedication to adding some surprising elements to its menu that you may not expect from more traditional steakhouses. You can find similarly distinctive non-beef entrees, such as Chilean sea bass with ginger and soy sauce and a pecan-crusted pork chop. The rest of the menu features American classics, including desserts such as brownies, cheesecake, and layered carrot cake.

Morton's The Steakhouse opened its doors in Chicago in 1978 and has an interesting origin story. Founders Arnie Morton and Klaus Fritsch met at a club in Montreal, where Fritsch presented Morton with one of the best hamburgers he had ever tasted. A partnership was born, and the rest is steakhouse history. The chain now has more than 60 locations worldwide and is famous for its elegant, classic steakhouse fare. The largest steak you can order at Morton's is its 36-ounce Tomahawk Ribeye. You may think this is two cuts of meat in one, but the tomahawk is actually a bone-in ribeye with a long section of rib bone left intact. The restaurant uses the same purveyors it has worked with since the beginning, serves only custom-cut USDA Prime beef, and ages its steaks for a minimum of 23 days.

Among high-end steakhouses, Morton's has one of the most ample menus, featuring more than 80 items, including more side dishes than most steakhouse chains at any price point. As is customary for this type of establishment, steaks don't come with sides, which are ordered à la carte. However, you have your choice of nearly a dozen options, including lobster macaroni shells and cheese, truffled creamed corn, and au gratin potatoes with smoked Gouda and bacon. For a sweet finish, you have some interesting options, including espresso pot de crème and sticky toffee pudding.

In 1965, single mother Ruth Fertel bought Chris Steak House in New Orleans as a way to support her family. Just over a decade later, a fire destroyed the original location, forcing her to relocate and change the name of her restaurant to Ruth's Chris. The chain now has locations throughout the United States and abroad. Its 40-ounce Porterhouse for Two is a cut of beef that comes from the short loin of the cow, which is home to some of the most tender cuts. The porterhouse includes both a filet and a New York strip, the more flavorful cut that was Fertel's favorite. Ruth's Chris also has another cut that ties for the third-largest steak on this list: a 40-ounce Tomahawk Ribeye, which customers consider one of the best steakhouse chain ribeyes.

Like many high-end steakhouses, Ruth's Chris uses USDA Prime-graded beef, but perhaps the most distinctive feature of this restaurant chain is its proprietary broiler, which Fertel helped develop and which reaches temperatures as high as 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. You have your choice of several accompaniments for your steak, including a truffle crust. Its selection of 10 à la carte side dishes includes many of the usual suspects you'd find at competing chains, along with a sweet potato casserole that nods to the business's Southern roots. You can also find another tribute to the chain's New Orleans heritage in the bread pudding on its dessert menu.

Smith & Wollensky, one of the best steakhouse chains in the U.S., got its name when founder Alan Stillman selected a pair of names at random from a New York City phone book in 1977, the year the restaurant was founded. From its origins in the Big Apple, the chain has expanded throughout the United States, opening locations with architecture and décor that reflect their respective cities and offer views of some of their most breathtaking sights. Its 44-ounce Swinging Tomahawk Ribeye is made with wagyu beef, which has intense marbling, a buttery flavor, and meltingly tender flesh. It's so big that you could almost swing it around like a real tomahawk (though we don't recommend doing that here). The chain also offers another cut that is a top contender for the largest steak: the 42-ounce USDA Prime Dry-Aged Porterhouse for Two.

You can add one of eight enhancements to your steak, including a Cajun rub, a coffee and cocoa rub, a Gorgonzola crust, or a classic French-style sauce, such as béarnaise, depending on the location. The Swinging Tomahawk comes with potatoes cooked in the steak's drippings, but you can order additional sides. The original New York flagship offers more traditional accompaniments, while other locations may feature more creative options, such as zucchini with tzatziki and corn with Manchego cheese. Smith & Wollensky also features an impressive dessert selection that can differ by location, but it includes New York cheesecake so you'll remember where it all started.

Steak 48 is the youngest steakhouse chain on this list. It is also unique because its founders, the Mastro family, had already established the eponymous Mastro's restaurant brand in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1999. After achieving success, the family sold the business in 2007. In the 2010s, the family launched a new line of steakhouses named after Arizona, the 48th state and the place where it all began. As a much newer chain, Steak 48 has only six locations throughout the United States as of September, which tend to be swanky and situated in affluent neighborhoods. One distinctive feature of the chain is that its meat comes from a variety of sources, including the United States, Japan, and Australia. The Bone-In Wagyu Tomahawk is made with American beef sourced from Snake River Farms — considered a domestic pioneer of this luxurious type of beef — and weighs a whopping 46 ounces, or almost 3 pounds.

Optional accoutrements cost extra and include several truffle-infused items, such as sauteed lobster with black truffle. You also have your choice of up to 18 à la carte side dishes in case 46 ounces of beef gets a little boring. The fact that Steak 48 is a younger chain also means that it forgoes some traditional options in favor of more innovative recipes, such as potatoes whipped with garlicky Boursin cheese and asparagus dipped in vanilla-infused tempura batter and served with tomato hollandaise. Its dessert menu is also massive, featuring a dozen options, including creative items such as triple-layer key lime pie and s'mores in a jar.