The Major Steakhouse Etiquette Mistake You're Probably Making

We live in a fairly casual society these days. People used to put on a suit and a tie just to go to a baseball game, hat and all. Not even a baseball cap, either — just a regular hat. When was the last time you saw someone wearing a regular hat? Nowadays, you can get away with wearing jeans in about 75% of all social interactions; heck, you can even get away with wearing Cookie Monster pajama bottoms to school. So when someone brings up a particular restaurant faux pas you hadn't heard about, it's tempting to roll your eyes. You put your napkin on your lap, kept your elbows off the table, and chewed with your mouth closed — what other arcane, fussy Emily Post rules must you obey?

Well, you don't have to do it, necessarily. The maitre d' isn't going to grab you by the ear and throw you out if you do it — and if they do, that doesn't sound like the kind of restaurant you'd want to frequent, anyway. But if you dine at a higher-end steakhouse (not like Texas Roadhouse or anything), it's generally not the best idea to cut all your meat at once.

You've probably heard of some other things you ought not to do if you go to a nice steakhouse. We assume you know better than to ask a snooty waiter for a bottle of steak sauce or (heaven forbid!) to ask for your steak well-done. But this is a more obscure one: Generally speaking, cutting your entire steak into bite-sized pieces once you receive your meal isn't the thing to do. Perhaps it's because the meat may be cold by the time you're done. Perhaps the sight of someone furiously sawing at their cut of beef, sweat beading on their brow as they hack away like a mad surgeon, is a bit unseemly. Either way, the "proper" way to cut your steak is one bite at a time.

Once you receive your steak, take one piece with your fork, then place your knife behind it. Carefully cut away the piece with your fork in it, bring it to your mouth, and eat it. Then, repeat the process until there's no more steak to eat. That's how you properly savor your meat — and, hopefully, the company you eat it with.