Chicken fried what?
These are Houston's best steaks? National magazine surprises with its picks
Another day, another foodie-friendly slideshow from Food & Wine. This time the magazine is measuring the best steak in America by city, and the Houston choices are a little unexpected.
Despite some questionable geography, it's hard to argue there's any better steakhouse "in Houston" than Killen's — which is technically outside city limits in Pearland.
Chris Shepherd's Underbelly also got props, in part for its use of a full-scale butcher room on site. I'm certainly not going to disparage Underbelly's Akaushi skirt "Huarache" steak, but I do think of Underbelly more for pork and seafood. Of course, someone could say the same about a burger at the Original Ninfa's.
Here's my real beef: The third choice, made by Houston-native Ray Isle, is the chicken fried steak at Beaver's. Call me crazy, but chicken fried steak is NOT steak. True, Beaver's version is made with authentic New York strip steak, but if pounding it flat, breading and frying it and serving it with cram gravy doesn't transform the dish in a basic way, then anything could be a steak. The Kobe beef burger at Branch Water Tavern could be a steak.
There are quite a few places to get a great steak in Houston — Vic & Anthony's, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse and Taste of Texas, just to name local or Houston-based concepts.
What's your favorite? And is a chicken fried steak really a steak? Voice your opinion in the comments.