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My vote definitley goes to Yosemite Ranch.
From the juicy Ranch steak, (a tasty, tender Sirloin), to the Rib Eye, (a mouth-watering extravaganza of flavor!), to the Twin Fillets, you won't find a bad one in the bunch.
Great taste and highest quality are the reasons for this enthusiastic response!
Do yourself a favor and go to "The Ranch"
Submitted by SkipFrancis on Tue, 03/27/2007 - 10:48am.
... Steak
delicious
digg
reddit
newsvine
technoratisteaks...
Submitted by millereats on Sun, 04/22/2007 - 10:56am.
Very unfortunate that the only good food discussion (debate) is about Beef... We are a steakhouse town with almost no great options, for the most part barely good.
First I would never drag Roy Harlan's name through the mud inorder to promote a mediocre steak joint that is more concerned about bar business than quality product (i.e. terrible wine selection and one of the worst Filets I have had). In order to begin being a great steak house a quality product is needed - Prime! If you are going to a Chef based restaurant like Chef's Table (maliki harlan), Cracked Pepper (Vatche M), or the kids over at Trelio - can all get away with a decent quality choice grade beef because of service, ambiance and good to great wine lists.
As for Kobe Beef, I doubt any one in Fresno has ever used Kobe Beef. Wagyu beef is what is common. Kobe is from Japan and Japan only. It is like calling all sparkling wine Champagne. I have had both Wagyu Beef Tenderlnoin (Sona in LA for as I remember $78) and Kobe (a much smaller portion at a restaurant in NY for almost double), both of which were far supperior experiences to any prime beef I have had.
The difference between the two was mostly price... the wagyu you could cut with a spoon, the Kobe could be eaten with a spork (maybe a little exageration). Basically a little higher fat content in marbling (I am guessing as I have never seen an uncooked piece of each (just pictures).
As for groung wagyu or kobe...I am not even a chef and I know that is a bunch of junk. It is beef, and it is ground beef. Kobe and wagyu are at their best as a full steak or as braised shortribs or cheeks. Ground beef is ground beef! What matters in a hamburger is the amount of fat to meat content. I put ground pork belly in with lean ground beef for the best results in the grilling world.
Yosemite Ranch and Steaks In Fresno
Submitted by ChrisLee on Tue, 04/17/2007 - 1:47am.
Ok here is the skinny for some of you poor people out there who don't know much about a good dining experience. I have never been to Flemming's but I have heard alot. They are supposed to have good food at not to moderate prices. Well Yosemite Ranch is a little high as well yet they have great food, service, and decor. I am a chef and I can tell you this much. Fresno ha no idea what to expect or not to expect when it comes to any kind of good dining experience. Clovis is just as bad. When you give awards to a place like Cool Hand Lukes for best steakhouse in clovis (No wander, it's the ONLY steakhouse in Clovis) come on. People in the valley don't know what is good from bad, they only know what they think is ok and what they can afford. Yosemite Ranch servis choice meats. At least every one I have had was at least choice. I have had almost everything on their menu. They also serve a Prime grade New York steak as a special. For awhile in the begining, they were serving Kobe burgers and nobody noticed. If you go to Cool Hand Lukes (and this isn't a recomendation) and try their steaks, you can taste a faint after taste of what i am guessing to be a marinade with a meat tenderiser added. It has a faint citrus after taste. I don't believe I have found a dish at Yosemite Ranch that I have not liked. The all red oak wood broilers they use adds a great deal of flavor and tendernes to the way the steaks come out. Not like places that use gas broilers. Also they may call their ranch steak (a sirloin roast) but it is just a higher quality and better tasting tri-tip roast at the sirloin end. Much more tender and alot more flavorfull. I will try out Flemmings and some other places soon but I have to hang my hat at the Ranch for now. I was in their the other day and Roy Harland happend to be in. For those of you who are unaware. Roy Harland was the one who started plasec like Slates, Maxes, and the restaurant Harland's. He is also the one who brought sweet potato fries to the valley. Roy even made comments like "The sweet fries here are better then Tahoe Joe's and may even be better then mine" and "The food and environment here is great and reasonably priced as well" Trust me, Roy Harland is't worried about the cost of a meal.
Well I guess that's it for now. Just thought I would add a note to the discusion about the food expections of Fresno.
P.S. Food (Steak, Seafood, Pork) doesn't have to be cooked well done to be "done". That is another common misconception here in the valley.
Still a big "NO" to Yosemite Ranch for steaks
Submitted by bizkit on Wed, 04/18/2007 - 8:53am.
Chris - I'm not sure where you are a chef at but your explanation for visiting Yosemite Ranch has more holes than swiss cheese.
I happen to know quite a bit about having a "good dining experience". I know that a place such as Cool Hand Lukes, including Yosemite Ranch should not be awarded "Best Steak". Granted Yosemite Ranch has decent sweet potato fries, but Cool Hand Lukes has great beans. Those sides don't make a best steak. I happen to know who Mr. harland, as well, but because he is present at a restaurant doesn't make a steak great. I'm sure Emeril Lagasse has visited a McDonald's in his time, but that doesn't make their hamburgers any better.
A red oak wood broiler can enhance the flavor of a steak, but it does not make a steak any more tender than gas broiler. You just have to know how to cook a steak properly. It helps that a steak is higher in quality as well.
I visited Yosemite Ranch more than on one occassion and can safely say, if you want to experience "fine dining" park out in front of Yosemite Ranch and walk over to Rhema Restaurant. That was truely a better experience than any at Yosemite Ranch. Unfortunately, some poor chef's believe they know better than the average Valley resident.
By the way...cooking steak, seafood and pork "well done" is a misconception by people all around the world. This is not a Valley thing. Also, it happens to be a prefrence. Otherwise your server would not ask "How would you like your steak prepared".
Yosemite Ranch Steaks
Submitted by Checkeredpants on Wed, 04/18/2007 - 10:41am.
This is getting interesting!
Steak eating Town...
Submitted by millereats on Sat, 03/31/2007 - 8:41am.
Bizkit... but that goes for lots of steak houses in town (Tahoe Joes, Cool hand Lukes, Yosemite Ranch... or any where you get any type of beef for under $20.00). Angus Beef means nothing... It has to be at least Choice if not Prime and Flemings is deffinitly using Choice + quality meat. If your steak cuts with a butter knife without showing a stringy grainy texture you know you are eating a great steak, if you have to use a sawing motion with a steak knife you know your eating worse quality meat than you get at a Vons or Savemart... I too have never had a good steak at any of these places and often wondering why everyone likes and frequents them.
Who is going to be the first in town to do Kobe or Wagyu!! Now that would be cool - I wouldn't go to Flemings five times so I can go to that place once!!! Hey Chef's Table - How about a $120.00 filet on the menu?
Kobe
Submitted by bizkit on Thu, 04/19/2007 - 6:55am.
Chris - I have never experienced a Kobe steak. I never saw Kobe on the menu at Yosemite (steak or hamburger). I don't understand why someone would grind up a fine steak to make a hamburger. Could it be that the ground Kobe waw from unuseable pieces or discards? I don't know. Anyhow, I have only heard of the Kobe hamburger recently and most sell in the $40.00 range.
I have a question - Were the Kobe burgers (or beef) imported from Kobe Japan or was it beef from a Kobe-style cow bread in the U.S.? From my understanding there is a large difference in quality.
But like I said, I have never had the opportunity to enjoy a Kobe steak, so I might just be blowing smoke.
NOT a steak eating town...
Submitted by bizkit on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 2:09pm.
Miller- You're correct that a lot of these establishments serve their guest with steaks that are no better quality than what can be found at Vons or Savemart. But I guess my problem is more with the consumer than with these so called steak houses. A lot of people get served overly flavored steaks or Au jous sauce on top, before it is even tasted. These same people would think a steak is bland otherwise. Not knowing they should enjoy the quality of the beef being served by its taste and texture.
Kobe or Wagyu...yeah right. Call me when that ever happens. Fleming's does claim to serve Prime beef. It is a fine steak, but I have tasted other Prime grade beef and that was below standard. But for this discussion, for the Valley, Fleming's is the best steak.
Yosemite Ranch - YUCK!
Submitted by bizkit on Fri, 03/30/2007 - 8:24am.
Anyone who thinks the Rib Eye at Yosemite Ranch Steakhouse is mouth-watering has not been out much. I live just around the block from this place and frequented it because I want to see establishments in my area florish. This place was supposed to be a better version of Tahoe Joes? I greatly disagree.
I have written Joan Orba a couple of times regarding my dissapointment of this so called steakhouse. First of all, the staff doesn't know what "USDA Grade" means. I asked what grade the rib-eye was given and a couple of times from different staff, I was told "Grade A". I'm sorry, but there is no such grade. At least one server went to the kitchen and asked the chef. Each steak I was served on my visits were less than an inch steak (Any respectable steakhouse serves one to two inches thick). The steaks were very salty and were not prepared to my liking.
The only item on the menu, I found that was respectable, was the Salmon.
If you truely want to experience a fine steak, visit Flemings Prime Steakhouse. Is it pricey? Yes, but well worth it. I would avoid eating at Yosemite Ranch three times so that I could eat at Flemings.
1 inch thick steaks`
Submitted by ChrisLee on Tue, 04/17/2007 - 2:03am.
I guess You have never cut a steak from a whole side. Most of your slabs taper from a thick side to a thinner side. Prime Rib goes from a wider "chuck" side to a thinner "sirloin" side New Yorks and Filets are the same way. One side tends to be a little wider then the other. So in turn, a 14 oz steak cut off the wider side is going to be thinner then the steak cut off the more smaller side. If you were to cut steaks but the inch not by the weight, you would lose out on alot of money. By the way, an average Filet is about 1.5- 2 inches thick if cooked mid-rare and not pressed at all. A new York at 1.5-2 inches thick would be between 16-20 oz and a Ribeye would be between 18-22 oz... That is why they sell meats by weight not by size. The only way to get steaks that are the same size and thickness every time is to order them pre cut and specify exactly what it is you want. That is to costly for the restaurant. It is much more cost effective to order sides of meat and cut them yourselves.
1 inch thick steaks
Chris - Thank you for the lesson in cutting steaks. I had no idea. Although, I have had steaks served to me from many fine restaurants and steaks were never less than 1.5" thick. Perhaps that is why I paid a premium.
But I can definitely deteremine when a steak has been pounded and some places just get carried away. Those were my experiences at Yosemite Ranch. In my experiences, their steaks are much more inferior in quality and texture to what can be had at other steak houses.