Americans’ tastes for new flavors and exciting cuisines are starting to seep into some of the most straitlaced aspects of the dining scene, including the classic chop house. While one kitchen might focus on Korean barbecue and another flies in premium beef directly from Spain, they all lean into the new standard of steak houses, with caviar bumps, silky Martinis, melt-in-your-mouth carpaccios and premium wine lists. For standout steak houses with impressive wine cellars to match, check out these six Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners from across the country.
Carne Mare
Address: 300 12th Ave. S., Nashville, Tennessee 37203
Website: carnemare.com
Best of Award of Excellence
From chef Andrew Carmellini, Best of Award of Excellence winners Carne Mare in New York City’s South Street Seaport and Nashville’s “the Gulch” are reimagining the Italian American steak house: Think grilled oysters slathered in oreganata butter, mozzarella sticks as the vessel for caviar and cacio e pepe sweet corn. The primi section features the likes of a spicy lobster spaghetti, rigatoni coated in a dry-aged beef bolognese and spaghetti alle vongole. For beef, Carmellini offers a wide range of single-serving steaks, plus others cut to share, like a classic bistecca Fiorentina, as well as more premium options such as a gorgonzola-cured Wagyu strip loin.
Overseen by Josh Nadel, beverage director for Carmellini’s NoHo Hospitality Group, the wine programs specialize in Italy and California, with selections from the likes of Flowers in Sonoma, Feudo Montoni in Sicily and Oddero from Piedmont.
Cote Korean Steakhouse
Address: 16 W. 22nd St., New York, New York 10010
Website: cotekoreansteakhouse.com
Best of Award of Excellence
Opened in 2017 by restaurateur Simon Kim, Cote Korean Steakhouse’s first location, in New York City’s Flatiron District, could be considered the root of this next generation of seductive, bottle-popping steak houses, pulling inspiration from Korean barbecue. Each table is outfitted with a small grill, where servers sear beef right under guests’ noses. Known for the signature Butcher’s Feast (four cuts of USDA prime and Wagyu beef alongside plentiful Korean accompaniments, $78), Cote also offers a wide à la carte selection of cuts of beef as well as other tasting options that allow guests to try a bit of everything. The list of sides, banchan and appetizers is also expansive, with the likes of kimchi stew heartened with pork belly, shrimp cocktail laced with the fruity chili flake gochugaru and dolsot bibimbap, a rice bowl heaping with fresh vegetables. The cellars at Cote, headed by executive director of beverage Victoria James, are known for their exceptional collections of Burgundies, Bordeaux and bottles in magnum, with large bottles from the likes of Bérêche & Fils Champagne, Domaine Leflaive from Burgundy and Bergström in Oregon. Beyond its locations in Miami and Singapore, Cote is expanding to the Venetian Resort Las Vegas.
La Tête d’Or by Daniel
Address: 318 Park Ave. S., New York, New York 10010
Website: latetedorbydaniel.com
Best of Award of Excellence
Chef Daniel Boulud still has a few tricks up his sleeve. In 2024, the famed French chef opened his first steak house, the French-accented Best of Award of Excellence winner La Tête d’Or by Daniel, a temple to beautiful beef, stellar seafood and eye-catching wines. Located right off of Madison Square Park in Manhattan, the restaurant is named after an iconic park in Boulud’s hometown of Lyon. The wine list, with over 900 selections, focuses on regions such as Bordeaux and Burgundy, offering vertical options from California and Italy as well. By-the-glass offerings include the likes of Chartogne-Taillet in Champagne, Elena Walch in Alto Adige and Domaine Faiveley in Burgundy.
The menu Boulud developed for La Tête d’Or doubles down on decadence, with starters like wood-grilled bone marrow and sweetbread nuggets, an optional caviar interlude, seafood towers and a selection of chops like prime angus côte de boeuf and A5 Wagyu strip loin straight from Japan. The star of the show is the Wagyu rib eye cart, which brings back the midcentury classic, cutting ruby-red slabs tableside.
Niku Steakhouse
Address: 61 Division St., San Francisco, California 94103
Website: nikusteakhouse.com
Best of Award of Excellence
In the heart of San Francisco, Best of Award for Excellence winner Niku Steakhouse combines the terroir of Northern California with the precision of Japanese cuisine. An alumnus of Grand Award winners the French Laundry and Lazy Bear, chef Dustin Falcon has created a menu focusing on domestic and Japanese Wagyu, with hard-to-find cuts such as the A4 Satsuma breed of cattle and single-origin A5 Bushu-Gyu steaks, little seen this side of the Pacific. Falcon’s influences can be traced throughout the small plates and sides: pig ears accented with chilie de árbol, koshihikari short-grain rice stewed with lobster mushrooms and then doused in mouth-tingling salsa macha, and Parker House rolls made with earthy buckwheat and slathered in cultured butter. Niku Steakhouse’s wine list features over 700 selections, focusing on bottles from California and France, with verticals from the likes of Château de Beaucastel in the Rhône, Château Calon-Ségur in Bordeaux and Diamond Creek in Napa. For those who cannot get enough beef, next door is the Butcher Shop by Niku, where guests can take premium cuts of Wagyu home.
The Occidental
Address: 1475 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, District of Columbia 20004
Website: theoccidentaldc.com
Best of Award of Excellence
What’s old is new again at the Occidental, the historic Washington, D.C., restaurant revitalized by restaurateur Stephen Starr in 2025. Housed in the Willard Hotel—erected in 1906 and located a block away from the White House—this new iteration brings the dining room’s turn-of-the-20th-century charm to the modern day. The menu is an homage to American fare through the years, with dishes that stand the test of time, such as Maryland crab cake and lobster bisque with Cognac and cream, as well as recipes from days gone by, like a melon cocktail appetizer doused in white balsamic vinegar and Sauternes, crab-stuffed avocados, and a shrimp Louie salad. The beef is concentrated on American-raised cuts, including prime rib slabs and French dip sandwiches—all served alongside a suite of sauces, such as béarnaise or smoked bone marrow. American selections dominate the 4,000-bottle cellar, with Napa Valley Cabernets from the likes of Dalla Valle and Dunn as well as French pours from producers such as Paul Jaboulet from the Rhône, Marquis d’Angerville in Burgundy and the Bordeaux first-growths.
Asador Bastian
Address: 214 W. Erie St., Chicago, Illinois 60654
Website: asadorbastian.com
Award of Excellence
Basque Country comes to the Windy City at Asador Bastian, a wood-hearth steak house headed by chef Doug Psaltis. Tucked away in a 19th-century townhouse in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, Asador Bastian spins the typical Chicago chop house on its head, with hefty txuleton-cut steaks as well as grilled fish including turbot al pil-pil with garlic and chilis; there’s also an array of mix-and-match pintxos, small bites such as Spanish tortillas, cured sardines with salsa verde and churros with osetra caviar. The cellar—managed by wine director Thomas Kakalios—is dedicated to wines from Spain, from the crisp whites of Galicia to the rich reds of Valencia. Kakalios’ list highlights historic producers such as Vega Sicilia and R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia, with bottles from the latter dating back to the 1960s.
