America's 10 Best New Steakhouses Slideshow

#10. Laurelhurst Market (Portland, Ore.)

Laurelhurst was also included on The Daily Meal's America's 10 Meatiest Restaurants list, thanks to the fact that it's attached to a thriving butcher shop. The "à la carte steak menu" at the restaurant features exotic cuts including the Piemontese Teres Major, the bavette, and the culotte. The most luxurious options are the grilled Niman Ranch rib-eye and the Creekstone New York Steak, both of which come in at just less than $40.

#9. La Boca (New Orleans)

Opened in the Wild West aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, La Boca has quickly become New Orleans' top-rated steakhouse. One of chef Adolfo Garcia's three Big Easy establishments, the restaurant's menu is decidedly Argentinean, although Italian and South American elements are visible. The steak highlights include the $44 Niman Ranch rib-eye and the $38 "Cowboy Cut" bone-in rib-eye. House-made sausages and cheeses are sturdy accompaniments.

#8. Kevin Rathbun Steak (Atlanta)

Kevin Rathbun is a mountain of a man, exactly the kind of person you want to be making your steak. The menu at his eponymous steakhouse eschews some of the formality of traditional steakhouses, with down-home Southern elements (fried oysters and okra), as well as Latin, Caribbean, and Asian flavors. The restaurant sources its organic meats from the legendary Allen Brothers of Chicago, including a steak that you probably won't find anywhere else in America: a $128 prime dry-aged steak for four people.

#7. Prime 112 (Miami)

This young Ocean Drive establishment radiates cool — the website blasts Lee Morgan's "Sidewinder" the moment you open it. Part of Miami's high-end Myles Restaurant Group, Prime 112 uses appetizer flourishes like a caviar sampler and $25 Kobe beef sliders to show diners that a serious eating experience awaits. The cheapest steak on the menu is $38 and the scale rockets upward from there. Ambitious eaters can spring for a 48-ounce porterhouse for two ($88) or the Japanese A5 Kobe filet ($30/oz). In addition to the traditional sauce menu, Prime 112 also offers a selection of steak-topping butters, including one with foie gras.

#6. Chicago Cut Steakhouse (Chicago)

This less-than-1-year old restaurant in the Windy City was recently voted one of 2011's best new restaurants by Chicago Magazine. Unlike some of the other steakhouses on the list, Chicago Cut has won plaudits mainly because it is a successful, modern-day articulation of the classic concept. But don't be fooled. The restaurant reaches for the next level with its "Double Cut" menu of chateaubriand, porterhouse, and double ribsteak, all of which push $100.

#5. Prime Meats (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

There's room for healthy debate about whether this pearl of Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo's New York CIty restaurant group belongs on a steakhouse list, what with its focus on German and Alsatian farm food. The debate may end when you taste what may be the best piece of beef served in America: a DeBragga & Spitler 36-day dry-aged côte de  boeuf, listed at $3.10/oz for anywhere from 27 to 52 ounces. After parading the massive steak in front of your table, Prime Meats' staff will likely help you prepare your belly for war with one of the restaurant's vaunted cocktails, like a superlative old fashioned or an applejack sazerac.

#4. Mooo… (Boston)

The founders of this trendy Boston establishment turned convention on its head by using a name that makes sure diners don't forget the bovine provenance of their food. At the same time, chef Jamie Mammano and his team are taking luxury to new heights, with dishes like a six-ounce Australian Kobe sirloin ($100) and a beef Wellington stuffed with foie gras. In less than five years, Mooo... has positioned itself as a worthy competitor for Boston's famous Grill 23, which is regularly on lists of the best steakhouses in America.

#3. Bourbon Steak (Washington, D.C.)

This outpost of Michael Mina's luxury restaurant empire did what few other steakhouses in America have been able to do: It was named D.C.'s 2010 restaurant of the year by DC Modern Luxury magazine. While 30-year old executive chef Adam Sobel's menu is studded with super high-end steaks like a 28-ounce dry-aged porterhouse and a Montana Wagyu filet, both of which push $70, Bourbon Steak has won equal plaudits for secret appetizers (the pork cupcake and pâté melt), handmade charcuterie, a new cheese cave, and general manager Mark Politzer's bourbon program.

#2. CUT (Beverly Hills, Calif.)

Posh is a word regularly used to describe Wolfgang Puck's restaurants, but the superchef's Beverly Hills steakhouse deserves another adjective altogether. Designed by super architect Richard Meier in the super luxurious Beverly Wilshire Hotel, CUT's walls are covered with work by super artist John Baldessari. And then there's the restaurant's Tasting of New York Sirloin ($135). But if that doesn't do it for you, try the voluminous à la carte steak menu, which features a six-ounce filet of Wagyu beef from David Blackmore Ranch in Australia ($145, plus $40 for each additional two ounces).

#1. Carnevino (Las Vegas)

Perhaps the only true upscale Italian-style steakhouse in America, Carnevino is Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's over-the-top meat palace at, of course, the Palazzo in Las Vegas. Boasting BBL (Batali-Bastianich-Lang) dry-aged beef curated by celebrity butcher Adam Perry Lang, the restaurant claims to serve a product that is "beyond regular USDA prime standards for marbling and flavor."  In addition to a full array of Batali's rustic Italian delights, diners can choose the $80 Bisteca alla Fiorentina (porterhouse) or go even further by splurging for the $120 "Beef Tasting Menu," which features Wagyu crudo, beef cheek ravioli, wet-aged Piemontese beef and dry-aged BBL beef.